Incubator breaks ground

   The UCF Business Incubator Kissimmee broke ground at City Centre in downtown Kissimmee. Check out photos here.
   Osceola County, City of Kissimmee and University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program officials participated in the ground breaking of the UCF Business Incubator–Kissimmee on Thursday, June 24, at the City Centre Avenue.
    The University of Central Florida partnered with Osceola County, the City of Kissimmee and Kissimmee’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) on the facility that will offer support services to help start-up companies accelerate their growth and generate jobs in downtown Kissimmee.

Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ: CTAS), the leader in secure document management, announced that nominations for its 2010 Excellence in Healthcare Information Management Award are open. The award will recognize one leading healthcare facility that has gone above and beyond to implement secure document strategies to protect its patients’ private information and remain compliant with government standards. The winning organization will receive accommodations for two to learn more about data protection at the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) Convention and Exhibition taking place September 25-30. The winner will receive two complimentary registration passes and three nights stay at the Gaylord Palms Hotel. The organization may also opt to make a donation to its charity of choice instead of attending the conference. All practicing healthcare organizations are eligible. Entries must be received by 5 p.m. Eastern on August 1, 2010.  Submissions can be made at www.cintas.com/healthcareaward.

Unemployment dips

   TALLAHASSEE – Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for May 2010 is 11.7 percent. Thisrepresents 1,086,000 jobless out of a labor force of 9,272,000. The unemployment rate is down 0.3 percentage point from the April rate of 12.0 percent. This was the second monthly decline in the state’s unemployment rate since February 2006.
    “A growing number of positive indicators, including an increase in job opportunities and a decline in the
unemployment rate, provide continued evidence that the state’s economy is recovering,” said Agency for
Workforce Innovation Director Cynthia R. Lorenzo. “With the leadership of Governor Crist, we remain focused on providing resources to Florida’s families and supporting employers as our economic climate improves.”
     Osceola's rate also fell to 12 percent from12.3 percent in April.

CI in the news

   Celebration's Channel Intelligence Inc. (CI), the leader in technology innovation for Web-initiated commerce, announced last week adoption of its patented retailer solutions technology by PETCO.COM. The specialty pet retailer is implementing CI’s SellCast™ RetailerSolutions service, the industry-leading solution for improving retailers’ data performance on comparison shopping engines (CSEs) and online marketplaces. 

    CI, which connects manufacturers and retailers through e-commerce portals, has named industry veteran Ron Sparks to head up development of its suite of retail data-feed management software. Sparks, who joined Channel Intelligence in June 2006 as program manager for the client engineering team after working for retail organizations including Blockbuster Online, will serve as vice president of SellCast development, leading ongoing improvements to the company’s SellCast suite of software.

   Florida Hospital and Nicholson Center for Surgical Advancement all mentioned in Orlando Sentinel story about Robotic Surgery. Urologist Vipul Patel, a world-renowned robotic surgeon who is largely responsible for the development of Florida Hospital's robotics program and its Nicholson Center for Surgical Advancement, which focuses on robotic surgery and training.
   Training on the da Vinci system is typically in two parts: Surgeons receive on-site, half-day training by Intuitive Surgical at their hospitals to become familiar with the robot and its instruments. Then they are sent to a two-day surgical-skills training at one of da Vinci's 19 regional training centers, which include Florida Hospital's Nicholson Center at Celebration Health.
   Patel said the center also provides advanced training opportunities. "Our training is individualized; a surgeon could spend a day or a month with us," he said.

UF "Super Incubator" breaks ground

University of Florida and Gainesville leaders broke ground Monday on the Florida Innovation Hub, a business “super incubator” designed to promote the development of new high-tech companies based on UF research. Funded through an $8.2 million grant from the federal Economic Development Administration and $5 million from the university, the 45,000-square-foot facility is the first building in a proposed research park called Innovation Square. The building is scheduled for completion by fall 2011.

    Central Florida's planned high-speed train could create an economic boon worth billions of dollars for the region, according to a study sponsored by an international conglomerate that will bid on building the system, according to an Orlando Sentinel report by Dan Tracy.
    Up to 27,500 jobs would be created and nearly $3 billion worth of new business would occur annually in Orlando if the city is linked with Tampa to the west and Miami to the south by the year 2035, the analysis says. The surrounding area could pick up $1.7 billion each year in economic activity, as well.
     The report, paid for by Siemens, will be released today during a U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Oklahoma City. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer will be there and speak about his city's successful efforts to win a high-speed train.

Chamber's Legislative Update Wednesday

The Financial Times catches up with chairman and chief executive of Tupperware Brands, Rick Goings. The head of the Kissimmee-headquartered business oversees a portfolio of companies with products ranging from storage containers and tea towels to beauty products under brands such as BeautiControl and NaturCare. See what he has to say here.

Celebration-based Channel Intelligence in the trades

  Many advertisers currently struggle to engage consumers through their displays ads. This medium is a commonly used online marketing tool to drive brand awareness, acquire new customers and increase sales. The solution, according to Channel Intelligence Inc. (CI), is to track consumer actions thoroughly to better understand where the consumer is in the purchase funnel as well as their buying behaviors, and then use that information in retargeting efforts to create a personalized and relevant message. This provider of technology-driven performance-based commerce solutions is seeing exceptional results with its Display Advertising Solution; with some clients achieving a 12x return on ad spend.
   According to CI, current retargeting solutions used by many advertisers are missing key capabilities to make them truly effective. "Through CI's unique technology advertisers can better tailor their ad messages to communicate to consumers in the way that best compliments their buying behaviors," says Mike Rombach Chief Marketing Officer for Channel Intelligence. "Our Display Advertising Solution differs by providing advertisers the ability to track a user's behavior within their website to create buyer profiles for retargeting campaigns at a later date."
    Entire article here.

State GDP will grow: Enterprise Florida

   Florida's economy, as measured by gross domestic product, is expected to grow by 2.5 percent this year and 3.3 percent in 2011, according to a report by Enterprise Florida. The economic development organization said state GDP expanded at "a feeble but positive rate of 0.9 percent" in the first quarter. Recovery in jobs is likely to take long, given a 900,000 drop over three years. In April, the state gained 15,500 jobs over the previous month and the unemployment rate fell from 12.3 percent to 12 percent.
   The hospitality industry, government, health care, manufacturing, professional services and the construction industry gained jobs, the group said. Real estate, finance, wholesale/retail trade and transportation were still cutting employment.
   The international trade sector was a bright spot, with exports running above record levels set in 2008.
   Read more: http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2010/06/07/daily24.html

Gateway High School IB Student Accepted into Medical Program

    Heena Ahmed, a 2010 graduate from the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at Gateway High School, has been accepted into a special seven-year program. Her first three years will be at the University of Central Florida in the Honors Program, with a seat reserved in medical program at the University of South Florida. She has chosen to major in Molecular Biology and Microbiology
    “I've wanted to be a doctor since I was eight years old, and I intend on continuing on the right track in that direction,” said Heena. “I would really like to work for the U.N. or one of its agencies like the World Health Organization, so that I may make a difference, not only in my community but around the world. I could not have asked for a better high school experience. The IB program truly instills in its students the knowledge, work ethic, and drive needed for success. I am blessed to have such support and encouragement from my family, especially my parents who sacrificed so much so I could achieve my dreams. My intent is to continue working hard in the future to not only make my parents proud but to gain the skills needed to help as many lives as possible.”

Poinciana Medical Center News

   News from Community Activist Fernando Valverde on Medical Center in Poinciana:
   "The purchase of 10 acres for the first phase of the Poinciana Medical Center was announced June 1, 2010 at a town hall meeting in Poinciana. Dan Miller, President of West Florida Division, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) made the announcement.
   Phase I, HCA will build a Medical Office Building for doctors, free standing emergency room in the building (same as Osceola Regional), Laboratory (drawing station), Radiology, etc. to set up these offices prior to the building of the Medical Center. In addition an architectural drawing of the proposed Medical Center was shown to the residents of Poinciana, Miller explained that this was just a standard rendering and is used to start the process. It will most likely change in the future to fit the hospital to the needs of the community and to adapt to the newest technology. He promised a state of the art medical center for the Poinciana community, and located adjacent to the Solivita Market Place on state road 580. The site is in Osceola County.
    The next step for the Medical Office Building is “Due Diligence”. He stated it would be about 6-8 months before construction will begin and should be completed by late 2011. Their contractors and architects are in Nashville, Tennessee but that 95% of the sub-contractors are local. HCA uses three to five major contractors. Bids are required from sub-contractors, there are background checks for fraud; contracts to minority subcontractors; and HCA has criteria and list of qualification."

Save the date. Incubator breaks ground June 24

    The University of Central Florida will join officials from the City of Kissimmee and Osceola County on June 24 to mark the start of construction of the UCF Business Incubator-Kissimmee in the City Centre Kissimmee building at 111 East Monument Ave.
     Gordon Hogan, director of operations for the UCF Business Incubation Program, said the UCF Business Incubator-Kissimmee will take over 8,000 square feet of office space on the fourth floor of City Centre Kissimmee. Incubator facilities will open in about two months, Hogan said.
     The groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m.
     Business incubators rank among the most cost-effective ways to generate sustainable local economic growth.
     Research has shown that 87 percent of incubator graduates are still in business five years after graduating from an incubation program, said UCF’s Business Incubation Program Founder Dr. Tom O’Neal.
     The UCF Incubation Program currently operates Business Incubator facilities at Central Florida Research Park and in Orlando, St. Cloud, Sanford, Winter Springs, and Leesburg.

http://www.incubator.ucf.edu/newscenter/2010_PressReleases/6-1_kissimmee.html