TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Today, the ITFlorida Board of Directors announced that Sandy Baruah, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), will address the attendees of the upcoming ITFlorida Awards Gala and Tech Forum on October 6 at Disney's Contemporary Resort. Administrator Baruah joins a deep lineup of speakers for the annual event, including U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson; Florida Senate President-Designate Jeff Atwater; State CIO David Taylor; Sen. Jeremy Ring; Dr. Dale Brill, director of Gov. Charlie Crist's office of economic development; and Terry Tamminen, former Secretary of the California EPA.

"Sandy Baruah is the touchstone to what has shaped up to be a can't-miss event for Florida's high tech entrepreneurs and small businesses," said Jim Albert, chair of ITFlorida. "It is a fitting time to reemphasize the critical role our small business entrepreneurs play in the economic health of our state, and of our nation."

Administrator Baruah's remarks will touch on competitiveness, innovation, and trends for small, high tech businesses. Attendees will have access to new information about both federal and state programs for starting or growing small businesses, including a presentation regarding Florida's new Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research, which aids entrepreneurs who are creating start-ups in high tech industries.

Details for registering for the event are available at http://www.itflorida.com/gala.

The announcement comes simultaneously with the much anticipated release of the list of finalists in ITFlorida's Awards Program, casting the spotlight on those who have distinguished themselves and their industry in the best application of information technology throughout Florida. Award winners are to be announced at the Gala dinner the evening of October 6.

Awards finalists, from every corner of the state, represent a wide cross-section of organizations, from large, well-known organizations such as Citrix and Honeywell, to small firms with fewer than 10 employees.

The finalists are as follows, by category:

• Angels Helping Hands
• City of Tallahassee/Digital Harmony
• Sarasota County School Board
• The School District of Lee County

• Allen Byington/Executive Director of BBRHIO
• Asysco
• Avalanche Technology Corporation
• Gulf Coast Community College - eCampus

• Beeline.com, Inc.
• EverBank
• Fidelity National Information Services, Inc
• IxReveal

• Creative Network Innovations
• Engineering and Computer Simulations
• Orlando Regional Medical Center
• UCF Technology Incubator - Group Table

• Bisk International Inc
• Doctors' Administrative Solutions
• Jabil Circuit
• ProV International Inc

• Florida Atlantic University
• Generation ñ
• New World Symphony
• Telefonica

• Enterprise Development Corp. of South Florida
• Ocala EDC
• Osceola Economic Development Council
• Tampa Bay Partnership

• America's Emergency Network
• BearingPoint, Inc.
• Honeywell
• SGIS

• City of Altamonte Springs
• City of Fort Walton Beach
• City of Winter Park
• Florida Department of Management Services

• Advanced MarketPlace
• Broadband National
• Host.net
• Myxer

• Agent Shield Inc
• Aleriant
• Citrix
• Scripps Florida

• Avocare
• Black Box GPS
• iDatix, Corp.
• Virsona Inc.

• RefreshMiami.org
• Sayfie Review
• The Krongrad Institute for Minimally Invasive Prostate Surgery
• TradeKing

• Robert M. Dutkowsky - CEO, Tech Data
• Bill Lindner - FSU Career Center for Professional Development
• Stephen Nation - Biometric Management Systems
• Jon Yob - Founder and CEO, Creative Recycling Systems, Inc.

• BigFix Power Management - Miami Dade County Schools
• Florida Power & Light Company / Silver Spring Networks
• Florida Solar Energy Center
• The Energy Efficient Internet Project

• CareerCampaigns LLC
• Dunbar High School Academy for Technology Excellence
• Integrity Networx
• Neighborhood America

lTFlorida is an umbrella, not-for-profit, membership organization that represents Florida's diverse information technology communities on a statewide basis. ITFlorida was formed in October 2001 after the dissolution of the Information Service Development Technology Task Force (IT Task Force), which focused on developing state policies to enable Florida to compete in the information age. ITFlorida built on the momentum of the IT Task Force and fills the need for a single statewide advocacy organization to represent Florida's IT-related technology sectors. It is organized to provide its members with access to lawmakers, businesses, capital, and domestic and international technology leaders. More information is available at www.itflorida.com.

Contact: Matt Doster
Phone: 800-748-1120
E-mail: mdoster@itflorida.com