Chattanooga is more than 400 miles from the nearest ocean, but the city’s high-speed internet links, reliable power and low cost of living helped make it the choice of an emerging maritime business that relocated here last year.
International Maritime Security Associates, a software startup business developing a platform to provide real-time data for ships around the world, was launched in 2013 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., by veterans of the Coast Guard and Navy who saw a need for more integrated, immediate information for those operating on the high seas.
Without any recruitment by Chattanooga, IMSA CEO Corey Ranslem said his firm decided in the spring of 2016 that Chattanooga would be an ideal site for the data center and software operations of his global company. EPB offers 10-gigabit-per-second internet links – the fastest citywide internet service in the Western Hemisphere – and power, real estate and living costs were much lower.
Since moving to the self-proclaimed “Gig City” last year, Ranslem and his partner, Navy veteran Frank Fenner, have quickly been embraced by Chattanooga’s entrepreneurial support network and on Friday the company was recognized by the Chattanooga Technology Council (CHATech) with the “Early Innovator Award.”
“It’s really worked out well here and we love it here,” said Ranslem, who hopes to build a data and intelligence control center in Chattanooga with 70 to 80 employees to offer around-the-clock, targeted data and information for ships and other ocean carriers around the globe.