18 Florida companies to receive Governor’s Business Diversification Awards
Annual program honors outstanding contributions Florida’s economy
ORLANDO, FL (August 31, 2010) – Eighteen Florida companies representing 12 counties will receive 2010 Governor’s Business Diversification Awards for exceptional contributions they made last year toward statewide economic diversification.
The award recognizes successful job creation and distinctive community involvement and investment efforts, many of which fall into industries Florida targets for economic diversification and high wage job growth: aviation/aerospace, cleantech, financial/professional services, homeland security/defense, information technology, life sciences and manufacturing. Eighty-five companies competed this year.
The awards will be presented September 22 in Tallahassee during Florida’s annual Industry Appreciation Week (the third week of September).
The competitors vied for awards in six categories:
· Business Expansion – companies that expanded operations in 2009, investing capital and creating jobs for Floridians.
· Entrepreneurship – start-up companies (less than 5 years old) that have set a standard for entrepreneurship and creativity.
· Export Excellence –companies with a significant increase in documented export sales in 2009.
· Innovation – companies, organizations or institutions that through product or process best exemplified innovative leadership in 2009.
· Newcomer – For new-to-Florida companies that began operating in 2009.
· Green-to-Gold – Florida companies, universities or other organizations that through product or process best exemplified “green” leadership as it pertains to the state’s goal to become a leader in this emerging field.
For award consideration, a business can self-nominate or a local economic development organization can submit a company. Each competes with other companies, organizations, universities and colleges in similar sized markets in categories including Mid Market (county population up to 150,000); Major Market (county population 150,001 to 800,000) and Mega Market (county population 800,001 and higher).
Below are this year’s winners listed by business category and market size:
Business Expansion
Mid Market: Liberator Medical Supply, Inc. (Martin County)
Major Market: Liberty Medical Supply, Inc. (St. Lucie County)
Mega Market: The Boeing Company (Duval County)
Entrepreneurship
Mid Market: Level 3 Inspection, LLC (Martin County)
Major Market: TH@T Company (Lake County)
Mega Market: IT Authorities, Inc. (Hillsborough County)
Export Excellence
Mid Market: Gulfstream Aluminum & Shutter Corporation (Martin County)
Major Market: Symetrics Industries, LLC (Brevard County)
Mega Market: Nationwide Equipment (Duval County)
Innovation
Mid Market: UCT Coatings (Martin County)
Major Market: Lighting Science Group Corporation (Brevard County)
Mega Market: Mavericks in Education, LLC (Palm Beach County)
Newcomer
Mid Market: La Quinta Inn & Suites Hotel (Highlands County)
Major Market: Coast Products (Bay County)
Mega Market: BD Biosciences Advanced Bioprocessing (Miami-Dade County)
Green-to-Gold
Mid Market: Technology Conservation Group Inc. (Citrus County)
Major Market: BlueChip Energy (Seminole County)
Mega Market: Southern Waste Systems/Sun Recycling (Palm Beach County)
Here’s a breakdown of the winners by county.
County
Winners
County
Winners
County
Winners
Bay
1
Highlands
1
Miami Dade
1
Brevard
2
Hillsborough
1
Palm Beach
2
Citrus
1
Lake
1
Seminole
1
Duval
2
Martin
4
St. Lucie
1
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Enterprise Florida, Inc. is a partnership between Florida’s business and government leaders and is the principal economic development organization for the state of Florida. Headquartered in Orlando, Enterprise Florida’s mission is to diversify Florida’s economy and create better-paying jobs for its citizens by supporting, attracting and helping to create businesses in innovative, high-growth industries. In pursuit of its mission, Enterprise Florida works closely with a statewide network of economic development partners and is funded both by the State of Florida and by private-sector businesses.
