Gainesville/Alachua County Tech Community
& The Economic Impact of the GTEC Program

“Grow Your Own” is one of the economic development strategies being pursued by the Council for Economic Outreach (CEO), the City of Gainesville’s Economic Development department, Alachua County and other area groups. This “Grow-Your-Own” strategy seeks to create new companies in Gainesville/Alachua County with the objective of increasing and diversifying the area’s industrial base. The Gainesville Technology Enterprise Center (GTEC) program was created and continues to contribute to this economic development strategy.

GTEC’s mission is to grow technology-based companies in Gainesville and Alachua County to create high-wage jobs and strengthen the local economy. As part of its mission, GTEC strives to build strong partnerships within the community including the University of Florida (UF) and throughout Florida. Since its inception in May 2001, the program has done an exceptional job of helping grow technology-based companies in Gainesville and Alachua County. In the process, companies participating in the GTEC program have had significant, direct and indirect economic impacts on Gainesville and Alachua County.

In a recent economic impact study, Dr. Rhonda Phillips, associate professor in the University of Florida Department of Urban and Regional Planning, evaluated the total economy-wide effect of the tech startup companies participating in the GTEC program and their importance to the local economies of Gainesville and Alachua County.  The study evaluated both the direct, indirect and induced impacts that the GTEC startups have had on the local economy, and it was the following was concluded that GTEC and its startup companies had had the following significant impacts on Gainesville and Alachua County since GTEC's inception:

• GTEC’s startup companies have had more than a $12 million in direct impacts on the area.
• GTEC’s startup companies have had more than a $12 million in indirect and induced impacts on the area.
• GTEC’s startup companies have had total impacts of nearly $24.5 million on the area.
• For every dollar increase in revenue, funding or venture capital investment received by a GTEC startup, there is another dollar created for area businesses.
• For every job created by a GTEC startup, there is almost one new job created in the area.

GTEC’s dollar impact is almost a one-for-one proposition. For every dollar a GTEC startup creates, there is a new dollar added to the local economy. For every 10 new, high-wage jobs created by GTEC startups, there are 9 new area jobs being created. With a total economic impact of more than $24 million since the program’s inception, GTEC and its startup companies have had a significant impact on the local economy. Not only are these GTEC startups adding funds and high-wage jobs to the local economy, they are also accomplishing the all-important task of helping to diversify the area’s businesses by creating a cluster of “clean” tech companies and producing more, better-paying jobs. In the process, they are helping to create new tax revenues and broaden the tax base and sources of tax revenues. Overall, GTEC has provided a significant return on the investment that the City of Gainesville and Alachua County have made in creating and sustaining the GTEC program.