Launch Pad in Odessa named one of Pasco's best companies

WESLEY CHAPEL

Ilene Rosoff has never been afraid of adventure.

She moved to Tampa from the Washington, D.C., area because she visited a friend and liked the beach. She picked up The Whole Earth Catalog, a book that began in the countercultural 1960s and is crammed with information about independent living, and compiled a similar catalog aimed at women. She signed a copy for Gloria Steinem.

So it comes as no surprise that the 47-year-old entrepreneur would eventually run her own business.

"I was always the one who liked the Erector Sets" said Rosoff, who was also the only girl on her school's chess team. "I was always taking apart the telephone. I always had an aptitude for engineering and design."

Today, the Georgetown University grad is the founder and chief executive of the Launch Pad, a managed information technology services firm based in Odessa. Founded in 1992, the company provides IT and support services to small and mid-sized businesses and nonprofit agencies.

On Wednesday night, the Launch Pad was among six companies honored by the Pasco County Economic Development Council at its annual industry awards banquet. The awards recognize companies that have expanded, added jobs or done something else noteworthy.

The company, once based in south Tampa, moved to Pasco about four years ago and recently invested $60,000 into renovating a 4,000-square-foot headquarters. It also is expanding into a franchise, with inquiries from Maryland, Boston, Dallas, Sarasota, Iowa and Raleigh, N.C., expressing interest in the company's "business in a box."

Rosoff said she made sure of one thing: the new building would be dog-friendly.

"We had that written into the lease," said Rosoff, who frequently brings her Australian shepherd, Indie, to the office.

The company now employs 26 and is looking to hire more to support the expansion and train franchisees. Rosoff also would like to someday use part of a new suite to expand the training area and start an on-site day care center for staffers' children.

The company has 200 IT clients. Nonprofit agencies get services at a discount.

The company operates by charging fees to clients to act as their IT departments.

"In the old days, things would break, you'd go fix and bill hourly," she said. In the new system, the company is integrated into the clients' computer system and actively troubleshoots.

The company has won numerous awards, including being named to Inc. magazine's list of the 5,000 fastest-growing companies in 2009 and 2010. Rosoff has also twice been a finalist for Tampa Bay Business Woman of the Year, and last year was a finalist for a Stevie Award, a national program that recognizes women in business.

But the next honor on Rosoff's list: a paintball title.

"We're thinking of challenging the people on the other side of the building," she said with a grin.