This event is named after William C. Schwartz, whose ideas pioneered change in technology in Central Florida. In his spirit, the EDC annually celebrates innovation and entrepreneurship by highlighting businesses that are on the cutting edge and making a difference in technology in Orange, Seminole and Lake counties, the City of Orlando and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council.
The companies being honored:
E.R. Precision Optical – City of Orlando
Based in one of Orlando’s Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUB Zones), E.R. Precision Optical recently dramatically expanded its downtown Orlando facilities, investing over $2 million to create an in-house system that allows them to grow germanium and silicon crystals – critical materials used for night vision for targeting and surveillance applications by all branches of the U.S. military and Department of Homeland Security.
E.R. Precision Optical is now the only U.S. based manufacturing company who supply these critical materials to companies supporting our Armed Forces, keeping important manufacturing jobs right here in the U.S.
Lockheed Martin – Orange County
For over 50 years, Lockheed Martin has designed, developed and created combat systems here in Central Florida at their Missiles and Fire Control and Global Training and Logistics divisions. While this leading company is responsible for thousands of innovations in the course of their history, two of their most recent developments, are the catalyst of this year’s award – the Prepar3D system and the Human Universal Load Carrier – both are unique innovations that directly impact our nation’s warfighters.
n-Space, Inc. – Orange County
Based in Orange County for almost 17 years, n-Space, Inc. is an independent, high-quality game development company that creates original games for some of the world’s biggest publishers, including -- Activision, Disney Interactive, and Nintendo. They make games for almost every genre for kids -- big and small -- and for game platforms including Nintendo DS, Wii, Playstation 3, Xbox360 and PSP. n-Space’s proprietary game engine has allowed them to develop a world-class reputation for handheld game development, which they’ve recently leveraged to secure multiple contracts that saved the company and 65 Central Florida jobs.
Nemours Children’s Hospital – City of Orlando
When it opens in 2012, the new Nemours Children’s Hospital at Lake Nona Medical City will be a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to best-in-class children’s healthcare, prevention and research. Nemours has taken an innovative approach to ensuring that their Orlando hospital is built with its patients and their families in mind through the creation of the “Family Advisory Council” – made up of local parents, family members of patients, and community partners with experience in pediatric healthcare – to draw from their experience in developing hospital design and amenities and in assisting in the interviewing and selection of hospital executives and physicians. Through this strategy, which is believed to be a first-ever approach, Nemours is confident that they have taken every step to ensure that the people they hire reflect and share the values most important to the organization and the people it serves.
sanofi pasteur VaxDesign campus – Florida High Tech Corridor Council
Orlando-based sanofi pasteur VaxDesign developed a “clinical trial in a test tube” between 2004 and 2009 that is able to predict human responses to pharmaceuticals and vaccines much better than existing approaches.
This artificial immune system developed by VaxDesign – called MIMIC – was part of a Rapid Vaccine Assessment Program with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency that eventually led to VaxDesign being acquired by Sanofi Pasteur in 2010.
Seminole County Public Schools – Seminole County
With emphasis on the three T’s – critical Thinking, Teamwork and Technology – Seminole County Public Schools has developed programs designed to prepare graduates for careers in industries targeted by the Metro Orlando EDC – such as modeling & simulation, optics & photonics, digital media, life science and clean technology. This focus has led to partnerships with regional giants such as Symantec, Lockheed Martin and Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, who rely on the talent being nurtured by those programs to fuel their own workforce.
It has also led to partnerships with the EDC, three local chambers and the STEM Florida Council to drive excellence in the STEM disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.
TAVARES, America’s Seaplane City – Lake County
In 2007, the Tavares City Council approved the design and construction of an $8 million marina project along the waterfront in downtown Tavares as part of its comprehensive master plan to designate the city as “America’s Seaplane City”. This investment has subsequently led to the opening of 26 new businesses in downtown Tavares… and perhaps most notably led to the relocation of Progressive Aerodyne, the manufacturer of Sea Rey light-sport seaplane aircraft to the city’s Lake Idamere.
Building on the success of this innovative approach, the city’s economic development team, working closely with the EDC, has made recruiting seaplane and related industries an area of focus for efforts.
Universal Orlando® Resort
Not only did the highly-anticipated opening of Universal Orlando’s The Wizarding World of Harry Potter drive strong attendance gains and worldwide news about the Central Florida attraction, it led to the creation of 783 new jobs in our community and is credited with helping to lead our region’s number one industry out of the recession.
WattNext, Inc. – Lake County
WattNext, Inc. is helping revolutionize solar power with the development of a revolutionary solar array shade structure called “Watt Tree”. The WattTree provides clean power in increments to match the needs of electric cars by connecting solar power, electric vehicles and the smart grid.
WattNext is the first for-profit spin-out company from the Lake County-based, non-profit environmental technology business incubator, RubeLab. The long term goal of this “green” company is to help Florida reduce its $100 million a day reliance on suppliers of energy from outside the state and to help find practical alternative energy solutions.
XOS Digital, Inc. – Seminole County
Named after the x’s and o’s in a playbook, Lake Mary-based XOS Digital provides digital coaching strategies for professional sports teams from the NFL, NBA to collegiate sports – including a 7 year contract with the Southeastern Conference as well as agreements with the Big East, Pac 10 and MAC Conferences. In addition, XOS Digital has become a nationwide sports digital media company that serves 480 sports partners, representing more than 900 teams, conferences and leagues. Started in 1999, the company’s program enables coaches to manage videos, data and teaching equipment to analyze what went right and what went wrong to prepare for future games.
