Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/110509
YEAR IN CORRIDOR COUNCIL REVIEW FLORIDA HIGH TECH 2011-2012 ANNUAL REPORT Dear Fellow Floridians: Over the last year, our Florida High Tech Corridor Council partnership has reached new heights through our efforts to grow high tech industry and innovation. We���ve done that by focusing on three critical aspects included in our mission: increasing university and industry research partnerships, cultivating tomorrow���s workforce and marketing the 23-county region. Yet, one pillar in our initiative���s foundation that has always been central to our economic development strategy but was never directly cited in our mission is entrepreneurship. FHTCC has been a strong supporter of the growth of high tech businesses by funding our universitybased incubators that support startups, by providing small companies with ways to connect to vendors and by furthering the development of second-stage businesses. Our new mission statement reflects this expanded focus: to grow high tech industry and innovation through partnerships that support research, marketing, workforce and entrepreneurship. Perhaps no other Corridor program better exemplifies this focus than the FHTCC���s Florida Virtual Entrepreneur Center (FLVEC), which over the last year has grown by leaps and bounds. At the end of the fiscal year, the online portal expanded its service area by launching directories for 29 additional counties making the site available for every county in the state. The site grew not only in width, but also depth through a study that was initiated as part of an Enterprise Florida program to identify entrepreneurial resources. As a cochair of Enterprise���s Innovation & Entrepreneurship Task Force, I was honored to help lead a survey of economic development organizations across the state that added nearly 100 programs and assets that support small businesses to FLVEC���s already expansive database. Likewise, our signature Matching Grants Research Program (MGRP) has seen similar growth over the last year with 12 new companies that have engaged university researchers for the first time, totaling nearly 350 industry partners in 16 years. Since the MGRP was established, the Florida High Tech Corridor Council has leveraged more than $58 million into an impressive return of $746 million in quantifiable downstream impacts ��� more than 2,600 student and faculty research positions, and a broader direct and indirect economic impact that has been projected to exceed more than $1 billion. Looking back on the past year, it���s clear that the common denominator is growth ��� growth of our partnerships, growth of the services we offer regional businesses and growth of the caliber of our research programs. It���s no wonder that the year ended with a nod to our status as one of the biggest high tech hubs in the country thanks to research published by Mashable.com. The nationally recognized tech news site ranked the Florida High Tech Corridor as the fourth-largest ���high tech hot spot��� in the country for jobs, beating out Boston, Austin and North Carolina���s Research Triangle. I see it as a sign of what���s to come. Best regards, Randy Berridge, President fht_annualreport_2013.indd 58 2/11/13 2:24 PM