Over recent years, Central Florida has been getting a lot of attention and it has nothing to do with Disney World or the other theme parks. The current buzz has been about Orlando's upcoming tech scene, which is now starting to gain the attention of certain startups in Silicon Valley as more investments have been put into Orlando's tech community. The Metro Orlando Economic Development Commissions has said that travel and tourism are still the main industries in Central Florida. However, technology is right behind them and growing. Below are some reasons why Orlando is becoming the next technological city to keep your eye on.
Big Fish are moving to Orlando
Florida and Orlando both provide great incentives in qualifying to relocate and expand companies. In recent years, Orlando has created great tax incentives, which makes for a beneficial environment for new startups striving to establish themselves in the tech community. The City of Orlando offers tax refund incentives. The city also provides credits and grants to certain industries that include clean and biotechnology, optics, and photonics.
Therefore, it shouldn't come as a surprise numerous companies are deciding to move their operations to Orlando. Startups like Junyo, a California-based education technology company, is one of the most recent companies to move to Orlando.
P.H. Mullen, the VP of marketing at Junyo, said, establishing a presence in Orlando is everything their company has wanted, at a reasonable price. Furthermore, the CEO of Zynga, a video game company said, his company was pleasantly surprised that they were able to find more than senior-level talent in Orlando.
Apple has also begun building a hardware engineering location near the University of Central Florida and is currently looking to hire people, especially after discovering that the region has numerous patents on graphics processors. During this time of new startups coming to the city, a new Orlando seed fund of 100,000 was approved for StarterCorps, a non-profit organization located in downtown Orlando.
Theme Parks Create Innovation
The fact that Universal Studios and Disney World are based in Orlando shows that there will always be innovative demands when it comes to entertainment, web, advertising, and simulation. In Orlando, Technology is something that is continually growing and creating something special throughout the Orlando tech community.
The growing technology in Orlando is allowing people who are coding, and building technologies to create unique experiences within the tech industry. Orlando's tech community has established that technology is creative, consumer-facing, and this technology is what you see throughout the theme parks and video games. Orlando has become a significant tech hub thanks to the theme parks, and some of Orlando's tech leaders have been working on creating a documentary showing the rapid growth within its tech community.
Creative Infrastructure
People are continually discussing the topic of cities incentivizing startups and entrepreneurs to move and grow within their tech communities. Orlando is a city that has a plan of its own, and it's called The Creative Village. This plan includes transforming a 68-acre former location of the Amway Arena in Downtown Orlando into a multi-purpose, urban neighborhood that will be transit-oriented.
The Creative Village's goal is to be the home of leading higher education providers, high-tech, digital media, and creative companies. Furthermore, The Creative Village will support a diverse mix of students and employees. This is a massive project for the City of Orlando, and the project is expected to create approximately 6,500 positions while it is being constructed and 5,000 permanent positions once the project is complete.
The Creative Village, combined with the Sunrail, Amway Center, the Dr.Philips Performing Arts Center, and Orlando City Soccer Stadium has created an explosion in Orlando's tech community in regards to private development and grassroots activity. If you're looking for more info about the tech community in Orlando, Ecodelogic can help.
