Osceola County, city of Kissimmee and University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program officials participated in the ground breaking of the UCF Business Incubator–Kissimmee on June 24 at the City Centre in downtown Kissimmee.

The University of Central Florida partnered with Osceola County, the city of Kissimmee and Kissimmee’s Community Redevelopment Agency on the facility that will offer support services to help start-up companies accelerate their growth and generate jobs. The City Centre is at 111 E. Monument Ave.

“This incubator highlights everything that is making downtown Kissimmee a must-visit destination,” County Commission Vice Chairman Brandon Arrington, whose district includes the incubator, said. “Just around the corner there will be a SunRail stop to help connect us with the rest of the region. Simply put, this incubator delivers on all the planning that has been going on locally and regionally for a number of years to link jobs and transportation in our urban core.”

Arrington also thanked the Parsons family for its commitment to downtown Kissimmee in developing the City Centre, which was built on the site of a movie theater that was heavily damaged in the 2004 hurricanes and subsequently razed.

“This idea is bigger than downtown Kissimmee,” Arrington said, referring to the countywide impact new businesses developed through the incubator would have.

For his part, Kissimmee Mayor Jim Swan said the incubator is a “win-win situation for the city as it partners with UCF and Osceola County.

“The city is committed to reviving the downtown and attracting more enterprises, such as the UCF Incubator,” Swan said.

The city and county are each making matching contributions totaling $405,000 spread over three years. Additionally, onetime payments are being made by the city for $57,000 and $183,000 from the redevelopment agency for the facility’s build out.

The University of Central Florida will manage the incubator.

Gordon Hogan, director of operations for the UCF Business Incubation Program, said the new 8,000-square-foot facility to be built on the fourth floor of the City Centre would open in September with office and administration space for promising enterprises selected to join the UCF Business Incubation Program.

UCF’s Business Incubation Program Founder/Executive Director Tom O’Neal said research has shown that 87 percent of incubator graduates are still in business five years after graduating from an incubation program.

“The fun part of my job is helping small companies be successful,’ O’Neal said. “I haven’t seen a better starting place (than the City Center in downtown Kissimmee); I can’t see how it could fail.”

More on UCF Incubator

Since its founding in 1999, the University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program has helped more than 140 emerging companies (including nearly 100 current clients) create more than $800 million in annual revenue and more than 1,600 new jobs with an average salary of $59,000.

With eight facilities across the Greater Orlando community, the program is a collaboration in economic development between the University of Central Florida, the cities of Orlando, Winter Springs, Sanford, Leesburg, Kissimmee and St. Cloud, the counties of Orange, Seminole, Lake and Osceola and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council. For more information, visit www.incubator.ucf.edu.