When he walks the halls of the University of Central Florida's Research Park business incubator, Stacy Corcoran is excited by the names of the various technology companies he sees on the walls next to each office and the opportunities his business may have to collaborate with them, he told Orlando Inno.
Corcoran has the chance to work with these companies and others after the firm he works for, training contractor Ravenswood Solutions Inc., opened a 1,600-square-foot Orlando office and lab at the incubator in April. The Fremont, California-based company will hire up to 12 people by summer 2023.
Ravenswood is the latest simulation and training company to establish a presence at UCF’s incubator in Central Florida Research Park, the center of Orlando’s $6 billion modeling, simulation and training industry. While these operations are mostly small, they’re generating high-wage jobs and adding to a simulation ecosystem often considered the best in the world.
For example, the firm’s jobs are expected to pay annual salaries between $65,000-$120,000. This is much higher than metro Orlando’s average annual wage of $48,530, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Ravenswood will hire for positions that require a range of experience, but the company plans to tap into the pool of recent UCF graduates for many of the entry-level roles, said Corcoran, principal engineer and the leader of Ravenswood’s Product Development Center in Orlando.
Other simulation and training companies to establish a presence in Orlando in the last six months include:
- 3D Media VR LLC: The Thibodaux, Louisiana-based immersive business training firm expanded here in the spring and expects to create 25 jobs at its new office.
- VRgluv LLC: Chris Taylor, CEO of the Atlanta-based haptics glove maker, moved here in April to establish an office at the UCF incubator and demonstrate the product to potential customers as the gloves went to market.
- Red 6 Inc.: The Santa Monica, California-based fighter pilot training startup in July announced it will open a technology hub here and relocate its headquarters to Miami. Red 6 plans to employ 100 people between the two cities. The company’s local office currently is based at the UCF incubator.
Most of the companies were drawn by the cluster of defense and simulation companies in the Research Park area, as well as the fact it’s home to the simulation operations of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
The growth throughout UCF’s business incubation program the past few months is “remarkable and unprecedented,” said UCF Innovation Districts and Incubation Program Director of Programs and Operations Carol Ann Dykes Logue.
The growth of these companies to Orlando opens up opportunities for existing local businesses as well. For example, Orlando-based Engineering & Computer Simulations Inc. in June bought a pair of gloves from VRgluv to use in its new haptics lab at its Research Park office.
It’s not new for companies to expand or relocate to Research Park, said George Cheros, CEO of the Orlando-based National Center for Simulation. However, the gradual return of face-to-face meetings and the perception that there are opportunities in a recovering office real estate market may be encouraging more firms to consider expanding to the region, Cheros said. “People are lining up their ducks in advance of being able to come out of Covid.”
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