Local Flagler County officials rallied behind Coastal Cloud Jan. 26 to celebrate its fifth year in business. Tim and Sara Hale founded Coastal Cloud, which assists companies in the implementation of SalesForce, in Palm Coast in 2013 while Flagler endured Florida’s highest rate of unemployment.
“Tim and Sara could have worked anywhere in the world,” said Milissa Holland, Palm Coast mayor and Coastal Cloud director of business development. “Every time we can support growing Coastal Cloud here locally, we’re adding jobs here.”
Holland lauded the company for investing in local education initiatives – including a new internship program – as well as environmental, safety and other county programs.
“There have been countless times that this community has had a need, and Tim and Sara have stepped up time and time again,” said Holland, encouraging those in attendance to shop locally and support public-private partnerships.
Several local representatives and Coastal Cloud clients praised the company as an economic engine. Coastal Cloud employs about 140 at twice the county’s average salary.
“This is and will stay our headquarters and home base,” said Tim Hale, noting that the company has expanded to Kentucky and Colorado.
He noted that Coastal Cloud was the only Florida-based, Platinum-rated SalesForce consultant, meaning it was among the top 3 percent of SalesForce consultants worldwide.
“We put together legos,” said Tim Hale. “The pieces are made by SalesForce. We just put them together.”
The co-founder noted that Coastal Cloud was founded in Flagler to take a slower pace than larger cities. The balance of quality of life and a lower price point than many competitors has led to an average of a new client every week, along with high client retention.
“We wanted to create the company we would have wanted to work for,” said Sara Hale, who noted that the company is 43 percent women, a higher percentage than is typical in technology and consulting industries.
Read the full article on the Jacksonville Business Journal.
