State College of Florida has a new program to help boost veteran-owned startups in the region.
"There is a lot of support behind building this program," said Matt Harper, director of the incubator/accelerator at State College of Florida, Manatee – Sarasota. He named both Manatee and Sarasota County chambers have backed the program. "So, we have the opportunity to come into a city without a true venture tech incubator program."
The program, officially called the Veterans Business Incubator, kicks off Oct. 6 and is open to veterans, active military or their spouses. It will run a little over two months and end in December. Applicants do not have to be students at SCF. Harper is planning to put a cap at a dozen companies, but would be more than happy with six in a "quality over quantity mentality."
The help of a $3.6 million grant from the Florida Department of Economic Development helped make the program possible.
"There is no real, true, early, early stage incubator," Harper said. "There is a need for it, a want for it and a lot of support for it."
The program will be housed in the school's former library, which has undergone a renovation. It will now be called the Center for Advanced Technology and Innovation. The center will have roughly 12 to 15 offices. Harper is hopeful the program will begin in-person as opposed to the remote setting many businesses are currently operating.
"With early-stage business incubators, I consider a lot of their success based on personal interactions that come about with startups, founders and mentors," he said. "I think you lose some of that online; you obviously want to be safe but I'm hoping we can do it in person."
