Santa Fe College has announced the opening of the Innovative Product Development Center (IPDC) at GTEC. The IPDC was formed as a collaboration between Santa Fe College and the Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) program.
The IPDC will work with community-based entrepreneurs with commercially-viable discoveries to be paired with seasoned entrepreneurs and existing companies and investors to ensure their growth and success. The IPDC, with the assistance of experts in intellectual property, business, and product development, will evaluate potential opportunities and facilitate the process by which these discoveries enter the commercial marketplace. The IPDC will provide services to Alachua and surrounding counties in North Florida. The EDA investment will enable the IPDC to establish a regional commercialization center to focus on developing industry clusters in the life sciences, software/web development, and niche manufacturing. Anticipated regional impacts include the launch of 8-15 startups per year, the creation of 75-100 new jobs, and securing private investment for IPDC startups at a minimum of $1 million annually.
The new IPDC office is housed in the Gainesville Technology and Entrepreneurship Center (GTEC), a business incubator which is owned by the City of Gainesville and managed by Santa Fe College.
