Ocoee firm poised for hiring spree.
A homegrown Ocoee medtech firm, Rx30, is starting a hiring spree this summer.
The company builds and services a platform that helps independent pharmacies track your meds and your medical care.
According to CEO Steve Wubdek, it will be hiring more than 100 people over the next year. Most of that expansion is in a call center, but some are technicians and pharmacists.
“It’s kind of the brains of the pharmacy,” said CEO Steve Wubdek. “We’re pretty advanced in what we do, we’ve been around for 30 years, and we specialize only in independent pharmacies.”
Rx30 is part of Transaction Data Systems, which reports a total of around 425 employees, 175 of which are based in Ocoee.
Wubdek took over the company from his father 17 years ago. He continued to modernize it and expand after selling in 2015 to Chicago-based private equity firm GTCR.
The company built a new corporate headquarters in Ocoee a few years ago, at 788 Montgomery Ave. The call center is growing at the AT&T office tower just off Orange Blossom Trail, at 1500 W. Oak Ridge Road.
Wubdek said his firm’s ability to adapt and scale for small to medium pharmacies makes it unique. The company has about 20 developers for the software platform.
Since then, the company has also signed a number of partnerships with companies like Creative Pharmacist, which allows pharmacies to document, communicate, and bill for the clinical services they provide, such as diabetes education or chronic care management.
Rx30 also helps manage prescription dispensing, refills and reminders, document management and label printing, among other things.
Digital mortgages
A new all-digital mortgage company, New York-based Better Mortgage, says it is now licensed to lend to homebuyers in Florida. The company says its employees find the best loan without commission fees.
It also promises 24-hour delivery time for verified pre-approval letters for qualified borrowers; a guarantee that borrowers are getting the best price; 100 percent digital experience, from pre-approval to a funded loan; and 24-hour access.
The company, which launched in 2014, claims its technology gets your loan closed 10 days faster than the industry average.
The company says typical commissions of 1.5 percent translate into huge costs for the consumer.
Better says it is backed by Kleiner Perkins, Goldman Sachs and Pine Brook Partners and was developed by engineers from
Google and Spotify.
Its CEO, Vishal Garg, has said that the mortgage industry is one of the last to act like the Internet doesn’t exist.
Norwegian to Paris
Norwegian Airlines’ first flight from Orlando International Airport to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport left Florida on Tuesday night. the airline said.
The airline plans to fly to Paris from Orlando once a week on Mondays, with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. Norwegian says it now offers more European connections from Orlando than any other airline.
“These new flights will also bring thousands of more tourists to Florida,” said Thomas Ramdahl, Norwegian’s chief commercial officer.
The new route also makes Norwegian one of MCO’s busiest airlines with service to European markets, said Phil Brown, executive director of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, in a news release.
Service from Fort Lauderdale to Paris will launch later this month, on Aug. 22, operating twice weekly.
Norwegian recently announced new routes to Paris from Boston, Denver, Newark and Oakland that will launch in 2018.
Norwegian now offers 58 transatlantic flights from 13 U.S. airports. Upcoming launches from the U.S. include: Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona (Aug. 22); Denver to London (Sept. 16) and Seattle to London (Sept. 17).
The growth shows European Union and Latin American airlines view Orlando as a worldclass tourist destination, airline industry consultant Robert Mann recently told the Sentinel. But some experts warned the future of these new flights is uncertain.
“Summer is high season, and some of these are experimental and may not last into the winter,” said Mann, who is based in New York.