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From The Gainesville Sun:
New report says GTEC is lagging
By Anthony Clark | Business editor
With the University of Florida building the fifth business incubator in Alachua County, consultants have recommended that the Gainesville Technology Enterprise Center carve out its own niche to stay relevant.
They were critical of the existing GTEC program as low performing in most categories important to startup companies, based on interviews with people involved in or familiar with the program.
GTEC also should transform from simply a place for tenants to rent into a true incubator that provides a broader range of consulting services and encourages interaction among member companies, said the report from a three-person team from the Georgia Tech incubator in Atlanta.
The Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency commissioned the assessment as a first step to improving incubator services and facilities after oversight was transferred from general government to the CRA for the 2011 fiscal year. The assessment cost more than $20,000.
The city owns the GTEC building at 2153 Hawthorne Road and contracts with the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce to manage incubator services.
GTEC opened 10 years ago as a place to nurture technology companies with $1.4 million in funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, and $180,000 each from the city and county governments.
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20110815/articles/110819650