Three Startups Jump to the Next Level of Success Field Forensics In 2007 Field Forensics needed a home and some help, says Field Forensics president Craig Johnson. “I had moved the company’s lab from my garage to a sublet apartment that a friend had set up for his own lab,” says Johnson. “We had access to the lab after hours and on weekends.” That arrangement worked for a while, but eventually Field Forensics was at the point where it needed more space, says Johnson. The Innovation Center was the solution. “The Innovation Center provided an Advisory Board, which was invaluable as it helped me think of the business as a whole and not just the problem of the day,” says Johnson. “It’s easy for entrepreneurs to lose sight of the big picture and without an Advisory Board I might have done that.” Field Forensics on-site location at the Innovation Center also increased the company’s visibility locally and regionally, and the close proximity to non-competitive companies working in similar markets was helpful in promoting our products, says Johnson. The company’s first product, a self-contained explosives detection kit, won the 2006 “R&D 100 Award” from Research & Development Magazine. The kit can fit into a short pocket, can detect more than 40 different explosives compounds and has a two-year shelf-life under virtually any storage conditions, says Johnson. It’s currently in use by all branches of the U.S. military, as well as most NATO military forces and other military and police forces around the world. Today, Field Forensics specializes in developing and manufacturing forensics sampling and identification devices for law enforcement, homeland security, and military customers. In 2012, Field Forensics moved out of the Innovation Center and into its own headquarters in the former historic Sealtest Ice Cream facility near the USF St. Petersburg campus.
Finalist Tampa Bay Tech Forum Emerging Technology Company - 2009 (Alakai & Field Forensics) Regional Innovation Alliance Network - Success Story 2011 (Alakai) Pinellas County Emerging Entrepreneur Award 2009 (Alakai)