The program will reimburse UCF up to $85,000 to provide the four-month-long training module. “We are fully committed to providing veterans with the guidance and mentoring that will put them on the path to successful business ownership,” said Gordon Hogan, director of UCF’s incubator program and a U.S. Army veteran. “We want to be sure that when they make the decision to go ahead with forming a business that they make an informed decision.”

UCF already has a history of helping veterans through the business-incubation program. The UCFBIP has helped launch at least 20 veteran-owned companies and it has benefited from having leaders who are also veterans eager to help others make the transition from the military to entrepreneur.

Rafael Caamano, site manager for the UCFBIP’s Winter Spring location, served in the U.S. Army from 1991 to 1999. In 2013, as an associate director of the UCFBIP, he was trained by the Kauffman Foundation to lead its veteran’s entrepreneurship course.

Ricardo Garcia, who manages the government resources program for the UCFBIP, took the course and afterwards felt compelled to help lead it. A U.S. Air Force veteran who served in Afghanistan, Garcia said that he was impressed with the course because it focused on the strengths that veterans typically possess – loyalty, commitment and a sense of discipline – and helped them parlay that into success in the business world.

“The Veterans Florida Entrepreneurship Program offers veterans in the state access to high-value, entrepreneurship education through our world-class state colleges and universities,” said Bobby Carbonell, the organization’s executive director. “This education will empower the next generation of great veteran entrepreneurs to make lasting contributions to the state’s economy.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, military veterans own an estimated 2.4 million businesses which account for 9 percent of all businesses nationwide.

“The VARC looks forward to collaborating with the UCF Business Incubation Program as a partner in our quest to offer as many opportunities as we can for student-veterans to succeed and excel in their academic and post-academic careers,” said Paul Viau Jr., director of the center. “With the approximately 1,400 student-veterans at UCF, we look forward to helping UCFBIP expand its offerings to this most-deserving population.”

The Veterans Florida Entrepreneurship Program is a 15-week course, consisting of both online and in-person training, where participants will attend in-class training at the UCFBIP University Towers office every two weeks on Saturdays from Jan. 20 through May 6. Online coursework will be held in between the Saturday sessions.

Following the completion of the education phase, participants will receive ongoing mentorship from Florida SBDC business consultants and businesses leaders from their local area.

Applications are being accepted now at http://www.veteransflorida.org/veterans/veterans-florida-entrepreneurship-program/. A program open house will be held at the UCFBIP on Dec. 16. The office is at 12201 Research Parkway, Suite 2001, Orlando.

��

Since 2011, the UCF Business Incubation Program has helped international firms, as well as domestic companies headquartered outside the region expand their business to Central Florida. Over the past four years, the incubator’s Soft Landing program has attracted more than 20 companies from various countries throughout Europe and South America, as well as from eight states throughout the U.S., including other parts of Florida.

“Our organization’s mission is to help diversify Central Florida’s economy by facilitating smarter, faster growth among early-stage businesses,” said Thomas O’Neal, Ph.D., founder of the UCF Business Incubation Program. “While we have traditionally been fulfilling that goal by offering entrepreneurial assistance to local ventures, we recognize that more jobs and economic growth can be generated here by offering similar services that help companies from around the world establish business in Central Florida.”

According to the UCF Business Incubation Program’s director, Gordon Hogan, the Soft Landing program helps alleviate some of the challenges that might otherwise prevent these companies from establishing a subsidiary or division in Central Florida.

“Testing a new market can be a capital-intensive and confusing process, especially for those who are operating from abroad and who are unfamiliar with how to conduct business in the U.S.,” said Hogan. “The goal of the Soft Landing program is really to help reduce barriers to entry. Whether it’s providing sensible infrastructure, such as office space with flexible short-term leases, or helping companies transition to their new business environment by assisting with domestic market research, meeting government regulations or finding employees, we are helping these firms quickly adapt and connect to the Central Florida business community.”

Freshorize, a U.K.-based company that manufactures patented soap dispensers for aircrafts, is one of many companies that have benefited from the Soft Landing program.

“We had reached a point where we supplied most of the airlines in Europe and needed to look for new growth markets, with the United States being an obvious choice due to the number of airlines,” said Freshorize founder, Aziz Patel. “However, I did not know how to set up the company in the U.S.��or find employees, accountants, lawyers or establish new contacts. As anyone can image, it is a lonely, daunting task to figure all this out on your own in the shortest possible time.”

Patel, whose U.S. office currently operates from UCF’s incubator in Winter Springs, Fla., added, “What I found indispensable was the level of resources available at my disposal through the incubator’s Soft Landing program. I was also being introduced to the right people faster than I could remember their names. The result of all the activity at the incubator helped us land the biggest contract we could have dreamed of with Delta Airlines.”

The UCF Business Incubation Program, which has facilities in Orlando, Apopka, Daytona Beach, Kissimmee, as well as Winter Springs, is the first and only incubation network in the state of Florida to hold the Soft Landings International Incubator designation, and becomes one of less than 30 in the world to earn this distinction.

Kirstie Chadwick, NBIA’s President & CEO said, “The Soft Landings designation is awarded to outstanding incubators that have demonstrated success assisting international firms with entering into new domestic markets. The entrepreneur services offered by these facilities help cut through governmental regulations, find access to capital, provide domestic market research, and other vital business support services. We are excited to award UCF the Soft Landings designation and know they will continue to provide tremendous support for global entrepreneurs.”

The NBIA’s Soft Landings International Incubator designation provides worldwide exposure and credibility to business incubators who offer programs specifically designed to meet the needs of foreign companies.

For more information about the UCF Business Incubation Program’s Soft Landing program, including services and company application, please visit

Commissioned by the , the 2013 Regional Impact Study was issued to analyze and document the productivity and sustainability of the , a 14-year-old economic development partnership between private enterprise and several local governments throughout the region.

Conducted independently by Dr. Vernet Lasrado, assistant director of research programs at ��AV, the 2013 Regional Economic Impact Study concludes that between October 1, 2011 through June 30, 2013, the UCF Business Incubation Program helped generate a direct regional economic output of more than $327 million, from an estimated total output of more than $620 million.

During the study period the UCF Business Incubation Program also directly sustained 1,856 jobs in the Central Florida region and indirectly sustained an additional 1,500 jobs, resulting in more than $18.5 million in state and local tax revenues. Additionally, it is estimated that employees of UCF Business Incubation Program firms on an average earned an income of more than $58,000.

“For me, the most impressive finding was the ROI [Return on Investment],” said Dr. Tom O’Neal, founder and executive director of the UCF Business Incubation Program. “The study concludes that during the study period the UCF Business Incubation Program helped generate a fiscal return of $6.16 for every $1 of public investment.”

According to O’Neal, the study ultimately indicates what he has been saying all along: that a focused university-based incubation program can be one of the most effective ways private enterprise can stimulate local economic development, spur job growth and help rebuild the economy.

“It’s our client companies and graduate companies that create the new jobs and generate all the local community economic growth. Our sole effort is to accelerate the rate at which they attain their most productive, most sustainable performance,” O’Neal concluded.

According to Gordon Hogan, director of the UCF Business Incubation Program, the 2013 Regional Economic Impact Study used a highly regarded and highly sophisticated methodology to more precisely determine economic impacts.

“The IMPLAN methodology (IMpact analysis for PLANning) was developed by the University of Minnesota for the U.S. Forest Service more than 30 years ago and is widely regarded today as the most reliable tool for accurately assessing economic performance,” Hogan explained.

To obtain a copy of the 2013 Regional Economic Impact Study or for additional information on how the UCF Business Incubation Program helps entrepreneurs grow their businesses, visit .

In just a few weeks, UCF’s mixed-business incubator at Daytona Beach International Airport will have its June grand opening. This $1.4 million renovation project was three years in the making.

The 8,000-square-foot building will house 20 companies with two meeting-style consultation rooms, and Volusia County will pay UCF $775,000 to manage the incubator under a three-year contract.

Gordon Hogan, director of the UCF Business Incubation Program, is optimistic that, once launched, more companies will be anxious to apply.

“Once things pick up steam and people come in and see for themselves, they will get interested,” Hogan said. “We have a great network system, one-on-one counseling, with lawyers ready to sit down and support our future clients.”

To date, one tenant has already signed on: Innovation-Research Engineering & Development, a small firm based in Edgewater. This company, although still growing, is technology-based, pioneering a new type of wind-turbine generator.

Currently, there are two other businesses interested in the location and several others considering.

UCF has nine other business incubators up and running within the Central Florida region; all have triumphed.

Hogan stressed the importance of the location with the neighboring Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, UCF Daytona Beach and nearby Stetson University.

Aside from the ready-made accessibility of Daytona itself, a solid infrastructure will guarantee this business incubator longevity. The community is excited about this project and especially the tallying of new jobs.

According to the Volusia County Department of Economic Development, the unemployment rate for Volusia County currently stands at 10.9 percent.

Hogan is also anxiously awaiting the new signage that will soon direct traffic from the already-busy Speedway Boulevard directly into the Daytona International Airport.

Phil Ehlinger, the county’s economic development director, has overseen the construction planning of the building from day one.

Ehlinger is pleased with the team who brought this business incubator to reality, emphasizing that they were not only on time, but under budget.

Potential tenants that are approved will be able continue to flourish in the mechanical and engineering sectors.

“Perhaps we may also prospect from a few entrepreneurs? I’m ready to hand this off to UCF, as they are such professionals,” Ehlinger said. “They know what they’re doing. UCF has a great track record and is No. 1 in the county as far as we’re concerned.”

Paul Mitchell, a business specialist who also works for the Department of Economic Development, has seen the incubator come to fruition since its first draft.

“I’ve watched and cultivated this incubator plan since the drawing board. I am so proud that it is happening here, and especially with UCF. Everyone, even the construction workers, have taken a little bit of ownership.”

Mitchell likes to describe himself as the man who has handled the “nuts and bolts” of the original blueprint.

“The construction is almost complete and we’re finally adding the finishing touches,” Mitchell said. “UCF will be managing the furniture, office supplies and the entire application process. This really is an awesome adventure, and I think we are ready.”

Source: Central Florida Future, Volusia energetic over new ��AV incubator, by Andrea Keating, contributing writer. Published: Sunday, May 29, 2011;�� Updated: Sunday, May 29, 2011 18:05