Disney’s Entrepreneur Center Makes Plans to Relocate to Orlando Fashion Square
0The Orange County Board of County Commissioners voted to approve a five-year lease at the Orlando Fashion Square for the relocation of the Disney Entrepreneur Center (DEC). The DEC is a public/private partnership established in 2003 to support and assist small business development in Central Florida backed with the full support of Walt Disney World Resorts (NYSE:DIS), Orange County Government Florida, the City of Orlando and several other organizations.
More coverage here on The Real Estate Channel.
GrowFL is cultivating growth companies
0[More information at www.GrowFl.com]
Did you know that the 8% of Florida companies that considered “second-stage” are generating 36% of Florida jobs? If you are the CEO of one of these companies, you should be aware of the GrowFL initiative. There are a range of business services and even a special low-interest loan fund set up for qualified second-stage companies. More information about required qualifications are visible here.
Cultivating growth companies across the state is the mission of the Florida Economic Gardening Institute, funded by the Florida Legislature at the University of Central Florida and involving a host of partners committed to local delivery of statewide services to help second-stage companies achieve their potential. At no charge, GrowFL will provide a suite of high-end, high-speed technical assistance and business resources to companies that have grown beyond the startup phase and need access to information and decision-making tools typically only available to larger companies.
There are 5,000 companies in Florida that fit the specific criteria of second-stage growth companies. These for-profit, privately held businesses employ between 10 and 50 people, generate $1 million to $25 million in annual revenue, demonstrate growth in number of employees and gross revenues during three of the past five years, and qualify for the tax refund program for qualified target industry businesses.
Recently I attended a breakfast briefing regarding the program, and here are some of the highlights:
- Funded by the Florida legislature / No cost to companies.
- Focused on job-producing second-stage companies.
- Providing one-on-one technical assistance in growth sectors.
- Giving CEOs powerful new tools & ideas for business, matchmaking, and referrals.
- Community-based CEO networks for growth companies.
- Business loans available up to $250K @ only 2% interest.
Metro Orlando’s Emergence as an Entertainment Technology Leader in new TEXTURE magazine
The Metro Orlando EDC is proud to showcase Texture, a publication focused on the technology companies, personalities and innovations that are “putting imagination to work” throughout Metro Orlando.
View it here: Texture Vol 7 Issue 1 2010
Subscribe to Texture Magazine here
Can the iPad Be Your Only Work Machine? (Part 1)
Part One: Creating on the Road
For the past two months, I’ve used my iPad more often than my MacBook or iMac for communication and socialization, primarily web surfing, email and Skype. I can easily get someone else’s creative content: ABC Player, Netflix for Instant Watching, the movies and television shows I subscribe to on iTunes, and more games than I have for my Nintendo DS and of equal (or better) quality. But I haven’t done as much creating on the iPad. Occasionally, I made changes to the DMAF website through the Bluehost Control Panel and via the WordPress engine; but my MacBook and iMac have the programs and workflow I’ve used for years to create new content.
Heading cross-country for a wedding, I decided to leave my MacBook and accessories behind and travel light: iPad and Apple’s small wireless keyboard, Kindle, pocket Nikon and my iPod Nano as my video camera. As an avid photographer, leaving my Nikon DSLR behind was the hardest. Not taking the laptop saved me eight lbs. and a carry-on. Although this was a week-long vacation, it’s hard for me not to bring some work along.
Work-wise, I’m creating a help manual for the DMAF website that includes 60 screenshots, many of them full screen, and decided that this trip would be the perfect opportunity to see how much creative content I could generate with only my iPad and it’s software.
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