Forward Focused (Business Florida 2019 – The Regions)

North Central Florida — where innovative companies are born and workforce talent thrives — is home to the University of Florida, the nation’s 8th ranked public university, 12th most prolific patent earner worldwide, recipient of a record $837.6 million in research funding in FY 2018 and a catalyst for economic development. Many who were drawn here first for study have become permanent residents and business owners, helping to fuel the region’s growing technology and advanced manufacturing industry sectors. Another plus: I-10 and I-75 intersect in this region, and companies in need of seamless logistics are taking notice and moving in.

Given that the University of Florida (UF) is one of the nation’s leading research institutions and home to the third most powerful university supercomputer in the U.S., it’s no surprise to find that technology companies of all sizes thrive here.

In 2018, UF consolidated its commercialization efforts under one name. The new organization — UF Innovate — includes: Tech Licensing, which commercializes discoveries; Ventures, which helps create startup companies; and two incubators — The Hub and Sid Martin Biotech. Located in downtown Gainesville, The Hub recently doubled in size, adding office and laboratory space. Sid Martin Biotech in nearby Alachua has twice been named Global Science and Technology Incubator of the Year by Business Innovation Center and has launched more than 100 biotech, biomedicine and bioagriculture startups since its founding in 1995.

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