Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Randy Berridge Recognized by TechJournal South

Local Tech Partnership Leader Earns Repeat Regional Recognition
FHTCC President Randy Berridge Named for Second Straight Year as One of
TechJournal South’s ‘25 Most Influential People in Southeast Tech’

HEATHROW, Fla. (Nov. 24, 2008) – For the second straight year, Orlando’s Randy Berridge, president of the Florida High Tech Corridor Council (FHTCC), has been recognized as one of the most influential people in the technology and entrepreneurial industry in the Southeastern United States, according to TechJournal South’s “25 of the Most Influential People in Southeast Technology Community.”

“This continued recognition illustrates that people across the Southeast recognize and appreciate the tremendous role that Randy Berridge and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council have played in helping to cultivate the growth of technology industry clusters across Florida’s High Tech Corridor,” said Bill McDermott, economic development director for Seminole County and chairman of the Corridor Council’s marketing committee.

Berridge was nominated by venture capitalists, tech organizations and entrepreneurs to become part of the Southeast’s top 25.

Based in Heathrow, Fla., Berridge and the Council have spent the last dozen years working to attract, retain and grow high tech industry and the workforce that supports it in the heart of Florida. Since Berridge took the lead of the organization at its formation in 1996, he has helped develop an extremely successful Matching Grants Research Program that connects companies with funding for research as well as the expertise of university faculty and students.

Over the last 12 years, the Council has partnered with more than 300 companies on 924 research projects in sectors ranging from Agritechnology to Sustainable Energy. The nearly $50 million in funds that have been invested by the Council have been matched by corporate cash and in-kind investments of more than $130 million, generating an additional $457 million in quantifiable downstream impacts, resulting in a return of $587 million and a total project value of nearly $635 million.

The entire list of the TechJournal South Top 25 is featured in the current edition of the magazine, which can be downloaded from the publication’s Web site at http://www.techjournalsouth.com/.

About FHTCC

The Florida High Tech Corridor Council (FHTCC) is an economic development initiative of the University of Central Florida (UCF), the University of South Florida (USF) and the University of Florida (UF). The mission of FHTCC is to attract, retain and grow high tech industry and the workforce to support it within the 23-county Corridor.

A partnership involving more than 20 local and regional economic development organizations (EDOs) and 14 community colleges, the Council is co-chaired by the presidents of UCF, USF and UF. The Council includes the presidents of two of the community colleges, the president of Florida Institute of Technology and representatives of high tech industry.

The unique partnership has resulted in a strategic approach to high tech economic development that involves matching funds research, workforce development and a marketing program leveraging governmental, EDO and corporate budgets on a regional rather than local basis.

For more information, visit http://www.floridahightech.com/.

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