ORLANDO, Fla., -- Dr. Tom O’Neal, founder and executive director of the University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program, and one of the nation’s leading experts on university-based business incubation, job creation and local economic development, will travel to Jordan in the fall to teach a class on entrepreneurism at Princess Sumaya University for Technology in Jordan.
Dr. O’Neal, president of the Florida Business Incubation Assn. (FBIA), executive director of the Florida Economic Gardening Institute and associate vice president for research and commercialization at UCF, recently visited Princess Sumaya University to tour the technology center’s incubation facilities and talk with students and faculty about ways to commercialize technology innovations and create a culture of entrepreneurship.
“Like many countries, Jordan is trying to jump-start their economy and provide opportunities for bright young innovators,” Dr. O’Neal said. “They are looking at ways to commercialize their technology,” he said.
University officials are looking at ways to promote entrepreneurship in a country that traditionally lags behind places like the U.S. in terms of a robust entrepreneurial culture, he explained.
Dr. O’Neal said officials at Princess Sumaya University are interested in forming a partnership with the University of Central Florida.
“They have an incubator,” Dr. O’Neal said. “The infrastructure in Jordan is quite different from what we have here in the U.S., and they would like to develop a soft landing program with us so that some of their companies can come here to start developing markets in North America,” he said.
Dr. O’Neal is already pioneering a soft landing program at the UCF Business Incubator in Kissimmee, providing easier access to international companies who want to enter U.S. markets.
Dr. O’Neal plans to return to Princess Sumaya University in September to teach the class in entrepreneurism. He said he hopes to formalize a soft landing program with Princess Sumaya University here in Central Florida before the end of the year.
About the UCF Business Incubation Program
Since its founding in 1999, the UCF Business Incubation Program has helped more than 200 emerging companies (including more than 134 current clients) create over $363 million in annual total economic output and more than 3,120 new jobs (taking direct and indirect and induced impact into account) with an average salary of $59,000. With ten facilities across the Greater Orlando community, the Business Incubation Program is a collaboration in economic development among the University of Central Florida, Orange County, the City of Orlando, Seminole County, the City of Apopka, the City of Winter Springs, the City of Sanford, Lake County, the City of Leesburg, Osceola County, the City of Kissimmee, City of St. Cloud, Volusia County and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council. For more information about the Program and its clients and graduates, please visit www.incubator.ucf.edu and UCFBIP on Facebook, on www.facebook.com/ucf4bip.
About the Florida Business Incubation Association (FBIA)
Since its founding in 1998, the Florida Business Incubation Association has held bi-annual statewide meetings and been a unified voice for all the Florida incubators. FBIA plays an integral role in developing and/or identifying programs that help provide greater service to incubator clients. FBIA teams up annually with the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) to award conference scholarship opportunities to Florida incubation professionals. Please visit FBIA on www.fbiaonline.org or on Facebook on www.facebook.com/FLBIA
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