Location Location Location Florida Trend Magazine

Mar 16, 2022

Hey friends,

We’re honored to be included in Tampa Bay's Emerging North article in the March 2022 issue of Florida Trend. Below is an excerpt from the magazine, with a few corrections and clarifications.

Industry Leads the Way

GENERAL BUSINESS SUPPORT
And business resources are available throughout the county. One such is Digital Lightbridge, a full-service marketing firm that began in Tampa, FL before moving to Pasco County. While the majority of clients are outside of Tampa Bay, when Pasco-based Pikos Institute needed to quickly go online for its global oral-surgery courses at the start of the pandemic, it turned to Digital Lightbridge. The task was completed in about five weeks, according to Digital Lightbridge CEO Richard W. Hayes.

Rich was born on Long Island, NY, and moved to Florida with his family during his elementary school years. Initially, the Hayes family settled in Hollywood, FL, then the City of Largo in Pinellas County. In the early ‘90s, as a young adult, Rich discovered Pasco County and the then quiet small town of New Port Richey. There he built a home and raised a family. Rich held executive positions with Fortune 500 companies and several major communications businesses. Past positions include Chief Operations Officer for Inteledigm Communications, a new-media development company; Vice President of Cortex Communications, a leading medical education firm; Senior Project Manager and Creative Director for Tech Data Corporation (NYSE: SNX); and creative leadership positions with The Tampa Tribune (NASDAQ: NXST) and several innovative advertising agencies.

In 2001, Digital Lightbridge was founded and headquartered, for its first five years, in downtown Tampa. In 2006, Digital Lightbridge was relocated to New Port Richey. 2019 brought the marketing firm to a custom-built, new office in San Antonio, FL within the One Pasco Center business park. On April 2, 2022, Richard and Nikki Hayes, Paul Tejera, Chris Whitten, and the Digital Lightbridge team will celebrate its 21^st year in business.

Thank you to Dave Denor, Publisher of Florida Trend, and Mike Candelaria for writing the wonderful article about business leaders in Pasco County. Bill Cronin Pasco Economic Development Council Mike Fasano Pasco County Tax Collector Office Moffitt Cancer Center Digital Lightbridge Pikos Institute Michael Pikos Pasco County Schools Kurt Browning Templar Contracting, Inc Regan S. Weiss Pasco-Hernando State College Timothy Lamar Beard Nikki Alvarez-Sowles Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller Dan Biles Hope Kennedy Jack Mariano Mike Moore John Moors Christopher Nocco Pasco Sheriff's Office Ron Oakley, Pasco County Commissioner District 1 Christina Fitzpatrick Stefanie Ambrosio Pontlitz Kathryn Starkey Chuck Anderson Kelly Sinn Patti Templeton Will Weatherford Mike Wells Mike Wells Pasco County Property Appraiser Pasco County, Florida, Government