Rock Solid Technologies lands Pridco incentives to hire, expand R&D
Rock Solid President Angel Pérez, right, welcomes Gov. Fortuño during his visit Tuesday.
Local software consulting and development firm Rock Solid Technologies is getting the boost it needs to speed up its expansion plans and create solutions to be exported and sold worldwide, company President Angel Pérez told News is my Business.
On Tuesday, Rock Solid’s San Juan headquarters were the focus of attention brought on by a visit by Gov. Luis Fortuño, who took to the podium to announce a pair of incentives the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company approved last week.
Rock Solid is benefitting from two tax exemption decrees, one to export computer services to foreign markets and the second to develop and license software. Pridco will provide payroll incentives as well.
As a result of the government breaks, the company will be able to hire 33 new employees to add to its existing staff of 97 — who are mostly engineering graduates from local universities — and expand its payroll to $8.9 million over the next three years, Pérez said.
“For us, this is fantastic because the incentive somewhat reduces our investment risk, and we’ll be able to create jobs quicker,” he said. “The governor’s visit supports our belief that we’re doing the right thing and moving forward.”
Rock Solid was founded in 1997 to provide consulting, development, implementation and support of customized applications to facilitate interaction between public and private sector organizations and their clients. Initially, the company sold its solutions to local municipal governments, but now includes several central government agencies in its client roster.
The company has also been expanding to the English-speaking Caribbean, Panama and Indiana, Pérez said, adding that Rock Solid is currently submitting proposals to potential clients in Peru, Costa Rica, Jamaica, as well as York County in Canada.
“Rock Solid Technologies is representative of emerging companies in Puerto Rico that use the talents and capabilities of our young Puerto Ricans to enter markets and compete with high quality products,” Fortuño said. “Sometimes we hear that Puerto Rico — for its size —has few natural resources, but nothing is further from the truth … our most precious resource is our people, and employees of this company are a living example that we have a wealth of talent [on this island.]”
Rock Solid’s achievements have not gone unnoticed. For two years in a row, the company has been recognized by Microsoft, which bestowed its “Microsoft Dynamics Public Sector Partner of the Year” award last year and its “Microsoft Dynamics Partner of the Year” award in 2010. On both occasions, Rock Solid beat out thousands of companies that were vying for the distinction.
As part of its growth plan, Rock Solid will invest $225,000 in equipment, $4.6 million in R&D and an additional $4.1 million in payroll. The company anticipates it will achieve sales of more than $10 million with the new products it has in the pipeline.
