Top Universities to Visit the Florida High Tech Corridor;
Research Career Opportunities for Their Students

Visits designed to make the Corridor one of the first places
career center directors recommend to students starting high tech careers
 
ORLANDO, Fla. (February 26, 2007) – Career center directors (CCDs) from more than 50 of the nation’s top universities will visit the Florida High Tech Corridor tomorrow to explore high tech job opportunities available for their students within the 23-county region, a sign of the Corridor’s growing reputation as a high tech cluster. 

A full 10 of U.S. News & World Report’s top 35 universities are scheduled to participate in the event, titled Career Expo ’07 including Princeton, NYU, Northwestern, Penn, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon and Notre Dame.

“The willingness of so many world-renowned universities to participate in visiting the Florida High Tech Corridor clearly demonstrates the emergence of this region as a cluster of high tech activity,” said Randy Berridge, president of the sponsoring Florida High Tech Corridor Council (FHTCC).  “Dozens of Corridor employers will be on-hand to talk to these university career center directors about their growing needs for well-educated personnel.”

The two-day Career Expo ’07 will begin on the evening of Monday, Feb. 26 with an opening reception at The Peabody Orlando.  The event’s second day features individual meetings between Corridor companies and CCDs, presentations and informal gatherings at the Orange County Convention Center’s West Concourse.  

The attending CCDs, who combined provide career advice to tens of thousands of highly skilled graduates each year, are an audience that is uniquely positioned to assist FHTCC in its efforts to develop the workforce to support high tech industry in the 23-county Corridor.

“By showing career center directors the tremendous opportunities the Corridor provides, our hope is that the Corridor will be one of the first places they recommend to students looking to start high tech careers,” said Berridge.   

The demand to hold Career Expo ’07 arises from the growth of the Corridor’s high tech industry and the resulting companies’ needs to fill technology positions in the coming years.  Companies scheduled to participate include Lockheed Martin, Electronic Arts, Northrop Grumman, Coca-Cola, Harris Corporation, Fiserv, Universal Orlando and Geico.

“The three Corridor universities – the University of Central Florida (UCF), the University of South Florida (USF) and the University of Florida (UF) – together produce some of the finest applicants for entry into our workforce, yet the industry demand in certain skill areas still exceeds our supply,” said Tom Patton, executive director of the Central Florida Development Council and chair of FHTCC’s marketing committee.  

“Providing job opportunities to graduates from other universities allows us to fill our voids, gain diversity in workforce and showcase our technology opportunities to other areas of the country.”

The influx of new workers can further the expansion of the industry and stimulate the diversification of Florida’s innovation-driven economy.  As well, once these graduates have relocated to the Corridor, they become prime candidates for graduate educational opportunities at the three Corridor universities, UCF, USF and UF.

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.

The unique partnership has resulted in a strategic approach to high tech economic development that involves matching funds research, workforce development and a marketing program leveraging governmental, EDO and corporate budgets on a regional rather than local basis.