A Vienna, Virginia-based training technology company with more than 500 employees has its eyes on a headquarters move to Orlando in less than two years.
C2 Technologies Inc. on April 1 opened its Center for Immersive Learning Tech and MODSIM at the University of Central Florida Research Park Incubator through the UCF Business Incubation Program’s Soft Landing Program. C2 Technologies plans to create up to 50 jobs at the center in two years.
The company also may relocate its headquarters from Virginia to Central Florida after the center is open for a year, CEO Dolly Oberoi told Orlando Inno. “It’s something we’re looking at.”
Setting sights on Orlando
Orlando often is considered the world capital for modeling, simulation and training, a $6 billion local industry also known as MS&T. Oberoi said C2 Technologies wants to be in the area so it’s close to the concentration of talent, simulation companies, government customers and academic research at UCF and nearby Research Park. “It’s the heart and soul of that industry.”
If the 32-year-old company moves its headquarters to Orlando, it likely would mean more high-wage jobs for the region. C2 Technologies employs more than 500 people across 44 locations, and it’s already gearing up to create dozens of local jobs.
The company projects it will hire more than two dozen employees in its first year in Orlando, UCF and C2 Technologies announced April 26. The firm expects it will double its local headcount in the center’s second year of operations.
The Center for Immersive Learning Tech and MODSIM will emphasize research and development of immersive technologies for education, research and training. Those immersive technologies, ranging from virtual reality to the metaverse, apply to government, the defense sector and private industry. The firm already is working on U.S. Navy projects in Orlando, Oberoi said.
That work calls for high-tech jobs. Positions the company will seek to fill immediately include 3D modelers, game designers, research assistants and various types of programmers. C2 Technologies expects annual salaries for these jobs to be as high as $150,000. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports similar positions pay average annual wages between $67,030-$88,720 in metro Orlando, though pay may be higher based on an employee’s experience and area of specialization.
'Floodgates opened' for soft landing program
C2 Technologies is a significant addition to the Central Florida economy and the MS&T sector since the company is “one of the leading firms that defense, government and businesses turn to for these types of programs,” UCF Innovation Districts Programs & Operations Director Carol Ann Dykes Logue said in a prepared statement. “It’s a testament to what we have been building in Central Florida that companies are looking for ways to integrate in our community.”
UCF’s business incubators focus on local, early-stage companies with high-growth potential. However, the incubators are willing to take in larger, more established firms that seek to establish a foothold in Central Florida through the incubators’ Soft Landing Program.
Between fall 2020-fall 2021, “the floodgates opened” and the program saw an influx of interested companies, Dykes Logue previously said. Those new clients came from California, Louisiana, England and other areas outside Central Florida to establish local operations, bringing jobs and innovative technologies to the region.
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