Dear Fellow Floridians:

These are heady times for economic development in our state.

Our government leaders continue to invest in programs that are attracting high-wage, high-value jobs to Florida at a record pace, and the resulting diversification of our economy is good for all of our residents.

The Florida High Tech Corridor Council and its Matching Grants Research Program, workforce development, education and marketing programs are just such an investment … one created more than a decade ago when the Florida Legislature looked into the future and predicted that partnerships between our state universities and high tech industry could produce powerful results.

This year’s annual report of the activity of the Florida High Tech Corridor proves that their vision continues to bear fruit.  Our year-end report notes another $4.5 million of Corridor Council grants to help fund 100 research projects in partnership with 66 companies that brought more than $13.7 million in cash, equipment and in-kind matches for a total of $18.3 million in research being conducted on our three university campuses.

The magic of these programs is that company researchers work side-by-side with faculty and graduate and doctoral students at the University of Central Florida, University of South Florida and University of Florida, creating an unmatched culture of cooperative research and opening career doors for the gifted students attending our universities.

We are also able to report this year on major new initiatives in workforce development and marketing.  As is the case with everything the Corridor Council does, our Virtual Visit, an online experiential Web site promoting our region, and Career Expo, a unique forum introducing employers to career counselors at universities from throughout the country, were made possible through contributions of time and money by more than 50 partners.

I hope this report will give you a new appreciation for Florida’s unique approach to economic development through a partnership that involves not only UCF, USF and UF, but more than two dozen local economic development organizations, 14 community colleges, and workforce boards, local governments, public school systems and corporate leaders from across our region.

Sincerely,

Randy Berridge
President