Innovation Quarterly Winter 2009 Issue

Think Tank

Innovation in Motion

	• Download the new issue of the Florida Economic Bulletin for an expanded analysis of Florida’s recent economic performance and the current national economic context (Updated December 2008).

	• Check out the Florida Economy at a Glance for highlights of Florida’s industries, trade, and other economic indicators. (Updated December 2008).

Explore the wealth of resources located in the My eFlorida Intelligence Center.

EFI’s innovative new webinar series brings together industry experts and business leaders to discuss new technologies, best practices and current industry challenges.

View the Personalized Medicine: From Concept to Reality Webinar

Did You Know...

Florida continues to gain ground as a top state for entrepreneurs, ranking 4th in this year’s Small Business Survival Index (up from 6th in 2006, and 5th in 2007). (Learn more)

Business executives rank Florida’s business climate among the best in the United States. (Learn more)

Florida is the No. 1 provider of virtual education in the U.S., according to a nationwide study which ranked Florida 1st for its policies, programs and strategies to promote online learning (Learn more)

University of South Florida Research Park is chosen as the nation’s Emerging Research Park of the Year, noted as “a unique hub for the growth of science and technology.” (Learn more)

Florida’s high school graduation rate is on the rise, growing by three percentage points in the last year.
(Learn more)

View more of Florida's recent accolades here.

Florida On the Move

Clean Energy

University of Central Florida expands its partnership with German-owned Siemens Energy to house the $850,000 Siemens Energy Center – a collaboration that will not only develop new energy technologies, but also help fill Florida’s pipeline with highly skilled, highly qualified engineers. (Learn more).

Florida State University’s Energy and Sustainability Center, a state-of-the-art energy research facility, will open at the Florida Energy Research Park in the green-certified development of Harmony, to develop and test sustainable clean energy technologies. (Learn more)

South Florida’s Tri-Rail, one of the country’s fastest growing commuter rail systems, announces plans to operate on a 99-percent blend biofuel – something very few U.S. systems have the capacity to do. (Learn more)

Information Technology

Sarasota-based Medical Education Technologies, the world’s leading supplier of human patient simulators and related training software, is expanding their local presence with the construction of a 70,000 sq. ft. headquarters facility. (Learn more)

Jacksonville’s Fidelity National Information Services has been named the world’s No. 1 banking technology provider for the third year in a row.
(Learn more)

Aerospace/Aviation

Melbourne’s Harris Corporation, an international communications and IT company, scores a deal to provide launch-tracking software for NASA’s Constellation, the space exploration program that will replace the Space Shuttle. (Learn more)

Space Florida joins forces with Gulf Breeze-based Andrews Institute to launch the world’s first Personal Spaceflight Medical Program for commercial space tourists. (Learn more)

Financial & Professional Services

Central Florida Research Park’s newest resident, Kaplan University, will hire up to 750 people to open an online student support center. (Learn more)

Life Sciences

Scripps Florida and West Palm Beach-based BioMotion Institute for Mobility and Longevity team up to create the Center for Skeletal Aging Solutions and study the effects of aging on bone and muscle.
(Learn more)

Cutting-edge Alzheimer’s research at Sarasota’s Roskamp Institute leads to the creation of spinoff for-profit company, Archer Pharmaceuticals.
(Learn more)

Alachua’s Sharklet Technologies, a University of Florida spinoff and developer of unique surface technologies that inhibit bacterial growth, wins the highly regarded Early-Stage Shootout at SEBIO, the Southeast's premier life sciences venture capital forum. (Learn more)

Florida’s Tampa Bay Region continues to attract medical device manufacturers with recent project announcements made by Quasar Bio-Tech (Learn more) and Exactech (Learn more) in Manatee County, and Biopsy Sciences in
Pinellas County (Learn more).

Orlando’s blossoming medical industry gets an added boost as Solantic opens Florida’s first airport-based urgent care medical facility at Orlando International Airport. (Learn more)

Homeland Security/Defense

Miami International Airport is named Airport of the Year by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration. (Learn more)

Manufacturing

Jacksonville welcomes Korean shipping giant, Hanjin Shipping Company, and its $300 million, 90-acre container facility – an agreement expected to create over 5,600 private sector jobs. (Learn more)

Lakeland lands GTECH Printing’s new $45 million, 100,000 sq. ft., state-of-the-art printing facility and 200+ jobs. (Learn more)

Key Upcoming Events

January 26-29: Arab Health 2009
Be sure to stop by the Florida Pavilion, Booth 1G27, at the Middle East’s largest medical trade show, held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

February 3-4: Florida Venture Capital Conference
Venture capitalists from across the nation will come together to network with Florida entrepreneurs, service providers and academics in Naples.

March 3-7: Dubai International Boat Show
Join Enterprise Florida and select Florida companies at the Florida Pavilions, located in the ESS and LLS areas of the marine leisure industry’s premier Middle East event.

For additional international and domestic events, click here.

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