VIRTUAL ENTREPRENEUR CENTER EXPANDS; WEB SITE PROVIDES RESOURCES FOR CENTRAL FLORIDA’S BUDDING BUSINESS VENTURES

Orlando, Fla. (March 29, 2007) –The Florida High Tech Corridor Council (FHTCC) has announced the expanded launch of the Virtual Entrepreneur Center (www.flvec.com), a Web site that connects entrepreneurs starting, growing or relocating their business with the resources, people and services they need to be successful.

The database-structure site serves entrepreneurs and businesses in Flagler, Pinellas, Polk, Seminole and Volusia counties and features hundreds of links offering insight for entrepreneurs such as books, periodicals and business development conferences.  Entrepreneurs can also search through a listing of registered businesses and consultants to find the expert they need.  Through the Virtual Entrepreneur Center’s (VeC) user login, businesses and consultants can post their products, services and contact information online. 

“The VeC serves as an invaluable tool for any entrepreneur looking to utilize the experience and knowledge of central Florida’s business resources,” said Steve Burley, key partner in the development of the VeC and director of economic development at Daytona Beach Community College.  “With the collective wealth of information compiled from such esteemed organizations as the National Entrepreneur Center in Orlando and the regional business development centers at the colleges and universities all over the region, this Web site organizes its information logically and intuitively for even the most novice beginners to obtain relevant entrepreneurial resources.”

Initially conceived as a project by the Volusia-Flagler Higher Education Consortium, the new VeC Web site includes Pinellas, Polk and Seminole counties as participating partners.  The original project and the latest expansion into three other counties were made possible by grants from the Florida High Tech Corridor Council. 

“The spirit of entrepreneurship is what drives the economy in the central Florida region, and the partnerships among the colleges and universities, and economic development organizations that comprise the Florida High Tech Corridor continually succeed in fostering new business,” said Randy Berridge, FHTCC President.  “This Web site illustrates the collaboration of numerous organizations and institutions working together to stimulate a stronger economy.”

About FHTCC
The Florida High Tech Corridor Council (FHTCC) is an economic development initiative of the University of Central Florida (UCF), the University of South Florida (USF) and the University of Florida (UF) whose mission is to attract, retain and grow high tech industry and to help develop the workforce to support those industries in the 23-county Corridor.

A partnership involving more than 20 local and regional economic development organizations (EDO) and 14 community colleges, the Council itself is made up of the presidents of UCF, USF and UF, the presidents of two of the community colleges who serve on a rotating basis, the president of the Florida Institute of Technology and representatives of high tech industry.