Breaking

The University of the Virgin Islands Research and Technology (RTPark) Board of Directors announced today the approval of four new companies which have entered the organization’s program after review at recent executive committees in December and most recently on Wednesday, February 27, 2019.

According to the release, the new four UVI RTPark clients include Buck Island Partners, LLC, Royall Media Worldwide, LLC, Island Holdings, LLC, and Columba Energy, LLC. Buck Island Partners and Royall Media Wordlwide are both based on the island of St. Croix, while the latter are headquartered on the island of St. Thomas. Royall Media Worldwide was approved during the board’s February session, while the other three were approved during their meeting December 12, 2018.

Brief Company Profiles

Buck Island Partners, LLC is a team of experts with experience in strategy, technology and business process reengineer that help entrepreneurial companies make infrastructure changes that better position the company for continued growth. They focus on small to medium size companies who are growing rapidly. Typically, these companies are built on “extraordinary effort” by a small number of founders and initial team members. Small teams of people working countless hours and wearing many hats puts pressure on team members and the organization that eventually results in growth stagnation and/or team member turnover. Buck Island Partners brings expertise in strategy, technology and business process reengineering with startup experience to identify, deploy and fully leverage technologies/IT systems that facilitate continued growth for our clients.

Royall Media Worldwide, LLC is a digital marketing, ecommerce, community events and software development-focused firm which services business both locally and globally. The company, through its subsidiaries, has received market recognition from working with well-known promotion companies such as Eventbrite, as well as some of the largest festivals around the country.

Island Holdings, LLC is loan servicing and portfolio management company with a focus on marketing, data and analysis and technology development that enables clients to evaluate risk and maximize return on investment. Additionally, they utilize industry leading-technology and expertise to manage, develop and improve their parent company’s sophisticated management software platform to monitor and service client loans.

Columba Energy, LLC specializes in providing knowledge-based, technology-driven advisory services, primarily in energy commodities across natural gas, electricity, and the fast growing- renewable sector. Their platform can identify imbalances in the flow of energy and resulting inefficiencies from the anticipated changes in electric demand and fuel apportionment across multiple channels, sectors, and jurisdictions. They seek to help fill in the gaps of inefficiencies across the energy supply chain from production to consumption with their technologies.

Chairman of the RTPark board, Edward Thomas, was pleased that the program is continuing to attract new businesses to the Territory, thus enhancing economic growth, according to the release.

‘Apart from creating employment opportunities for Virgin Islanders, these companies contribute significant scholarship dollars as well as internship opportunities for UVI students,” Mr. Thomas said. “Research has shown that the individual investors spend extensively in real estate and other business transactions here. Most importantly, those who become bona fide residents are required, under current income tax laws, to pay taxes on their worldwide income to the Government of the Virgin Islands, thus increasing the tax base.”

According to the release, the RTPark — a rapidly growing economic development program concentrating on attracting technology and knowledge-based businesses to the U.S. Virgin Islands — has assumed a more targeted sector focus. RTPark Executive Director Peter Chapman noted that these most recent business attraction and expansion wins, as well as the organization’s pipeline of pending new clients, are consistent with the RTPark’s new strategic framework approved by the board of directors in October 2018.

“Not only do we continue to pursue IT and telecommunications firms but recognizing that the USVI has competitive advantages that lend themselves to securing high-growth businesses in other clusters, we are presently also aggressively focused on enterprises specializing in financial technology (FINTECH), sustainability solutions (including renewable energy), and healthcare and life sciences technologies,” said Mr. Chapman. “This well-defined cluster strategy will also serve our community well as we seek to attract businesses that can enhance and improve the quality of life for all Virgin Islanders.”