Computer Services Firms Merge, Move Headquarters to St. Petersburg, Fla..

Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Oct. 1 -- Two fast-growing Tampa Bay computer services companies said Thursday they are merging and moving their combined headquarters and about 100 jobs to downtown St. Petersburg.

U.S. Technologies Inc. of Tampa and Digital Chainsaw Inc. of Largo said they will combine forces under the attention-getting Digital Chainsaw name and occupy the fifth floor of the SunTrust Bank building at Third Street and First Avenue S.

Digital Chainsaw is a two-year-old company that hosts about 5,000 Web sites for businesses. Founder Gary Allen said the "chainsaw" name grew out of the company's low prices, which start at $9.95 a month.

"We were cutting prices to the bone," he said.

The company also designs Web sites and develops software.

U.S. Technologies, which dates back to 1992, specializes in software development and services and Web-based corporate training.

Both companies are privately held and declined to disclose the terms of the merger.

U.S. Technologies founder Peter Steele said the merged company will be able to provide a comprehensive package of Internet-related services, including electronic commerce and Web-based software applications.

The merged company expects to have $8-million to $10-million in revenue in the coming year and to add about 75 jobs, said Jim Stefan, who heads corporate strategy for Digital Chainsaw. He said the company is hiring Web site designers and developers, programmers and sales representatives.

Company officials said they were attracted to downtown St. Petersburg by the tax breaks available to businesses in the city's Enterprise Zone. Those include sales tax rebates on purchases of business equipment and tax credits for hiring people who live in the zone.

"That's a nice type of business for us to be attracting," said Cindy Margiotta, St. Petersburg's economic development coordinator. She said Digital Chainsaw will be the largest business to move downtown in 1999.

The company plans to keep a sales office in Tampa in addition to offices in Jacksonville, Atlanta and Boulder, Colo.

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