As part of the Obama Administration’s new “Made in Rural America” export and investment initiative, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the creation of a new investment fund that will help propel the growth of small businesses across rural America. The new Rural Business Investment Company (RBIC) will now allow USDA to facilitate private...

– Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce The Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce announced that it has joined the Business for Federal Research Funding coalition, a group of over 40 chambers of commerce nationwide to advocate for strong research funding growth in the federal budget. This partnership will help support innovation and economic growth efforts, both...

– EatStreet EatStreet, an online and mobile food ordering service with more than 5,000 restaurants nationwide, has begun partnering with local restaurants in the Gainesville area. The service aims to make online ordering simple and affordable for restaurants and customers. In Gainesville, Gumby’s Pizza, Billy-Bobz Bar-B-Q, Working Cow Ice Cream, and more than 20 restaurants...

The Gainesville Technology Council held its first open meeting and investor pitch event on April 25 at Depot Station, near the site of the future Cade Museum for Creativity and Innovation. The Council, originally announced at the Hobnob Career Fair on February 13, is a collaboration between the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce and technology...

Haven Hospice, the 35-year-old North Florida nonprofit hospice organization that has served more than 68,000 patients since opening, has hired Catherine Mitchell as vice president and chief financial officer. She will assume a strategic management role and will be responsible for planning, implementing, managing and controlling all financial-related activities. “Catherine is a seasoned financial executive...

The Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce released its “2013 State of the Regional Manufacturing Sector” report on April 22. The report is the result of a partnership between the Chamber and the Advanced Manufacturing Association of North Central Florida – which is now the Advanced Manufacturing Council under the Chamber – that began in June...

Plum Creek held the first Envision Alachua Task Force Meeting for Phase III on April 17, providing an update on initiatives and a preliminary timeline for plan completion and submittal to the county. Envision’s economic progress initiative will develop further with site visits to successful technology hubs like the North Carolina Research Triangle (41,000 jobs...

Alachua County and the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce came together on April 16 for the first of a series of meetings to try to replicate the success that the Chamber has had in its partnership with the City of Gainesville on economic development. The 34-part Initiative plan includes creating a combined Alachua County economic...

The Gainesville Housing Authority, Cox Communications, the NAACP and several other community partners held a three-stage ceremony on April 16 to cut the ribbon on three brand-new On-Site Technology Labs – complete with new computers and access to high-speed Internet – in three of the Gainesville’s low-income areas. Gainesville City Commissioner Yvonne Hinson-Rawles said during...

The Gainesville Technology Enterprise Center is well on its way to transforming into a new hub for innovation and commerce in East Gainesville. At a public meeting on April 16 in the current facility, located off of southeast Hawthorne Road, the Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency provided a look at a 60 percent complete master plan...