expanding its Palm Bay campus
with two buildings to improve facilities for its joint programs with
the Universityof Central Florida and Purga sees the potential for more
medical training programs on campus once construction is complete .Harris
Corporation was the earliest believer in the overall potential of Palm
Bay. Harris located its Government Communications Systems division here
in 1959 during the 
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| early growth of the Space Coast. The Palm Bay division
of this international communications equipment company specializes
in airborne, space borne and ground based communications and information
processing systems for the U.S. government and its prime contractors.
Since Harris arrived, Palm Bay has grown from a sleepy community
of 6,000 to a sophisticated but laid back city that offers advantages
in addition to space programs and government contracts. Among
other things, there is excellent transportation access. Tim Hartsfield,
Harris's marketing director, says, "This place is one of
the few truly multi modal transportation points in the country.
Ground, air, Port Canaveral, rail, and especially significant
to Harris because of our involvement with the space industry over
the years, the Space Port it's all right here. "In addition,
Palm Bay is on the Indian River, part of the Intracoastal Water
way. Local marinas give water enthusiasts quick access to the
Indian River Lagoon (a national estuary), the Indian and Banana
Rivers, the Intracoastal water way and the Atlantic Ocean. Hetra
Secure Solutions is an example of a relative newcomer to Palm
Bay. When this once public manufacturer of" Tempest"
secure computers and |
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| peripherals that protect against
electronic espionage went private in 1999, Palm Bay was their
location of choice. "We decided to come to Palm Bay for three
reasons," says President Kent Bartlett. "Our major reason
was access to highly skilled technicians and assemblers. We also
wanted access to Brevard Community College's Palm Bay campus for
training programs for workforce development and technicians. We
also liked the ad valorem tax exemption program, for which we
qualified. The city just had a lot of ways to help a small manufacturer
like us get well established and grow." Since their late
summer 1999 arrival in Palm Bay, Hetra has increased its workforce
3800 and plans to keep growing. A number of other companies have
found Palm Bay an excellent location: Align-Rite, manufacturer
of quality photo masks for the semiconductor industry; Accudyne
Aerospace & Defense Systems, maker of 'fracture critical"
aerospace components from titanium, aluminium and other materials;
DRS Optronics, manufacturers of a broad range of mission critical
products from missile components to its ' Nightstar" night
vision system to laser tracking and imaging systems; Methode Communications
Modules Inc., (a division of multi-national Methode Electronics),
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