Manny Vivar

Founder & CEO, HostDime, Orlando

HostDime is building a $100 million headquarters and Tier-4 public data center in Eatonville. This would be one of only five such centers in the world that enable cloud computing. The building is the latest milestone for Vivar, who emigrated from Mexico as a child and started HostDime in 2003 with a $100 investment. HostDime now owns and operates data centers in Florida, as well as Mexico and Brazil, with network facilities in Colombia, Hong Kong, India, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. The company has about 350 employees; most of its Orlando-area employees are either current University of Central Florida students or graduates. Vivar has turned the construction of his company’s new headquarters in Eatonville into a local economic development and innovation project. The five-acre site was purchased from the local school board for $1.4 million. The center will be partially powered by solar energy and HostDime is providing free Wi-Fi to the community's 2,300 residents.

EDUCATION: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (BS)