When the Orlando Economic Partnership’s Sheena Fowler first met Red 6 Inc. CEO Dan Robinson in 2019, she immediately set out to bring the defense tech startup from California to Orlando.
Efforts by Fowler and others in Central Florida this year resulted in Red 6 announcing the establishment of a tech hub in Orlando. In the process of luring Red 6 to Florida, Fowler was drawn from the Orlando Economic Partnership to Red 6’s staff. Fowler was hired as chief of staff for the company’s Orlando operations, Red 6 announced in August.
Fowler brings nearly 12 years of experience at the region’s economic development group, including two years as vice president of innovation, to Red 6, which now is based in Miami. Her experiences will be vital for Red 6, which developed augmented reality-based training technology for jet pilots, as the company seeks talent, expands its presence beyond a small office at the University of Central Florida Research Park Incubator and connects with partners and customers in the region.
Here, Fowler shares with Orlando Inno why she joined Red 6, how she’ll help the firm grow in Orlando and more:
What stood out to you about Red 6? Red 6’s capabilities are ahead of the game. Our airborne system, ATARS, is the first to fly Augmented Reality in an outdoor dynamic environment and the first to dogfight against an Artificial Intelligent Bandit in real time. It's extraordinary to see what we're doing, and there's also a lot of heart in this startup. You meet all of the different players in this organization, and they're not just focused on a go-to-market strategy. That's obviously front and center, but there's a lot of passion. How do we change the world? How do we leverage this technology to make sure we're saving lives? Beyond just the fighter pilot capability, how do we make sure we're leveraging this for the greater good?
What role will you play in Red 6’s growth in Orlando? This was similar in economic development as it is with Red 6: There is still a lot that is not common knowledge in terms of what exists in the Orlando region. In addition to the nuts and bolts of getting the offices stood up, I'm going to be running point and helping make sure we leverage every relationship and uncover every stone of opportunity that's going to help this company thrive in the Orlando region. It's incredible what I've been able to build over the last 12 years with the Orlando Economic Partnership. It has opened a lot of doors to where a lot of things are behind the curtain, that most people don't get to see. A lot of that is going to come into play for Red 6.
Red 6 announced it initially will hire 100 employees between Orlando and Miami. How many of those hires are expected in Central Florida? We're going to take it day by day as we're continuing to focus on the product. Especially with the Covid rates, we're just going to have to figure that out as we go. That initial conversation around 100 employees, that's still the number we've got.
Has Red 6 made moves to secure a new office? We’re certainly open to different opportunities, but nothing has been set in stone yet.
What types of talent and skillsets will Red 6 leverage in Orlando? We're going to be taking advantage of those who are in the virtual-reality/augmented-reality space, between building out the different models. You look at the graphic side of things, and that's an element of it. I think the type of deep knowledge this community has in terms of sensor development, and tying that back to these training capabilities, is something we'll continue to build out and take advantage of.
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