Creating a Better Tomorrow

Growing the Gainesville/Alachua County Tech Cluster

By Donna Foster, GTEC Communications Manager

With more brains and bucks being devoted to building the local tech economy every year, Florida and the Gainesville/Alachua County community are beginning to emerge as leaders with such recognizable names as North Carolina’s Research Triangle, Austin, Boston and San Francisco’s Silicon Valley.

The roster of tech companies that makes up the Gainesville/Alachua County Tech Cluster is growing quickly while homegrown big boys like RTI Biologics, Inc. and Exactech, Inc. continue to expand—a trend the University of Florida, area policymakers and local investors are trying to encourage.


“The Gainesville/Alachua County area has a tremendous reservoir of untapped economic potential at the University of Florida,” said David Day, Director of the UF Office of Technology Licensing.  “We look forward to working cooperatively and collaboratively with one and all to raise the financial resources necessary to exploit the commercial opportunity of UF technologies and thus reap the benefit of those high-tech, high-wage jobs.”

The six building blocks critical to creating a successful tech cluster include growth sector, critical mass, asset base, entrepreneurial activity, capital and community support.  Here is a breakdown of the six building blocks that make up the Gainesville/Alachua County Tech Cluster:

Asset Base—

Strong, Diverse Research Program

Every year, UF is awarded both federal and non-federal dollars to help promote and further research.  In 1998, UF research was awarded $279.8 million in federal and non-federal dollars, and that number has continued to increase.  In 2007, UF research was awarded $583 million, a doubling in less than ten years.

Work force

Santa Fe Community College (SFCC) is now offering degree programs to meet the specific needs of the Gainesville/Alachua County Tech Cluster, and SFCC will soon open a new site directly across from Progress Corporate Park (which is the largest collection of the tech companies in our community).  The Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce (GACC) knows that a qualified workforce is an essential element of a strong local economy.  GACC has partnered with FloridaWorks to provide workforce development business services, and its mission is to help grow business and jobs through a skilled workforce.

Critical Mass—

Technology Transfer Expertise

Established in 1985, the UF Office of Technology Licensing (OTL) has more than 2o employees with the necessary expertise, and they continue to grow to meet the increased demand for tech transfer.  The OTL facilitates the transfer of technologies created at UF to the commercial sector for public benefit, and in 2007 UF licensed 74 new technologies.  Some of the most recognized UF-developed products include:

  • Sentricon, which is a colony elimination technology for termite control, which was developed at UF and introduced to Markey in 1995.  This technology saved the Statue of Liberty, and it has led to 300 metric ton reduction in chemical use in homes nationwide.
  • Gatorade, which is the most well-known product developed at UF.  Since its inception, Gatorade had maintained 80 percent market share, which is better than any other sports drink available.
  • Trusopt®, which is a treatment for glaucoma, a disease that affects more than 2 million Americans.  It was developed at UF, approved by the FDA in 1994 and brought to market by Merck in 1995.


Entrepreneurial Activity & Growth Sector—

Business Startup Facilities and Parks

Having the appropriate facilities and business parks is important because they help to promote the clustering of like-kind tech companies.  The sectors that make up the Gainesville/Alachua County Tech Cluster have a direct correlation to the research fields in which UF has had the most success and include such fields as:

  • biotechnology and life sciences
  • medical devices and medical technologies
  • software and Internet based applications
  • advanced materials
  • alternative fuels
  • electronics
  • environmental
  • chemistry

UF Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator - Opened 1995
•35,000 sq ft; 19 labs and 13 offices
•Small and large animal facilities
•31 companies admitted
•$42 million in equity investment
•$15 million in grant awards
•680+ job-years created

Gainesville Technology Enterprise Center (GTEC) - Opened 2001
•30,000 sq ft; 6 labs and 26 offices
•22 companies admitted; 6 partners
•$49.12 million in funding for startups, including $26+ million in investment capital.
•Indirectly attracted nearly $49 million
•140+ jobs created directly; 120+ jobs created indirectly

Capital & Management—

These two blocks—capital and management—are so incredibly important to the success of any tech cluster that companies will locate and even relocate specifically to satisfy these needs. While the largest hurdle for the Gainesville/Alachua County area remains attracting more investment capital and quality, seasoned tech company management, this area has seen considerable progress in the last four years. It is anticipated that area tech companies will have raised more than $100 million in a 12-month period.  But more is still needed.

Community Support—

What can you do?  Why should I care?

The overall goal of the Gainesville/Alachua County Tech Cluster is to improve the quality of life in Gainesville/Alachua County, and community support is extremely important.  A couple ways you can help include supporting needed legislation and helping to find and attract capital and quality management.  

Creating clusters helps to stimulate economic development of the Gainesville/Alachua County community by:

  • accelerating new business formation and the creation of high-skill, high-wage jobs
  • accelerating innovation and product commercialization
  • diversifying the economy and increasing tax revenue
  • supporting targeted economic development strategies and in turn positive, targeted growth of the Gainesville/Alachua County community
  • helping to create and strengthen the identity of the community

UF Impact on Local & State Economy

UF-based startup companies have an enormous impact on Florida’s economy, and the numbers continue to increase every year.  In 2003, UF-based startups had a direct economic impact of $186.2 million and UF added 921 new jobs.  The total of direct, indirect and induced economic impact on Florida’s economy in 2003 totaled $456.2 million and added 1,925 new jobs.