UF's Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator wins national award

September 19, 2014

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- The University of Florida’s Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator has been recognized as a national leader in technology-based economic development by the State Science and Technology Institute, known as SSTI.

The incubator won SSTI’s 2014 Excellence in Technology-Based Economic Development award for its exceptional achievement in the technology commercialization category.

Sid Martin Biotech companies and graduates have attracted more than $1.2 billion in funding activity. Incubator companies have created more than 2,000 high-wage jobs and have had an economic impact of well over $100 million per year in Alachua County.

“Gator research discoveries are transforming both the laboratory and the marketplace. We're thrilled to earn another recognition of our efforts to fuel the state and nation's economy through technology commercialization,” said UF Vice President for Research David Norton.

The award was presented during a ceremony sponsored by JPMorgan Chase & Co at SSTI’s Annual Conference in Chicago, attended by more than 300 local, regional and national leaders in economic development from 42 states and two Canadian provinces.

 Award winners serve as national models for states and regions investing in science, technology and innovation to grow their economies and create high-paying jobs, according to the SSTI.

“The Sid Martin Biotech Incubator at the University of Florida has consistently moved forward in achieving its vision,” said SSTI President Dan Berglund. “Any incubator, regardless of technology focus, could learn something from this program, its flexibility, and the long-term commitment of its community of partners.”

Successful technology-based economies tend to include a research base that generates new knowledge, mechanisms for transferring knowledge into the marketplace, an entrepreneurial culture, sources of risk capital, and a technically skilled workforce, according to the SSTI.

Built in 1995, the UF Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator is one of the country’s first bio-business incubators. The 40,000-square-foot bioscience complex was created with the goal of commercializing UF technologies around the life sciences,

For more information, contact Patti Breedlove, UF Sid Martin Biotechnology director, at 386-462-0880 or pbreedlove@sidmartinbio.org.