As a downpour slowed, the sun shone just in time for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Florida Innovation Hub at UF. Some took the weather as a sign of Gainesville's bright economic future.
About 300 people attended the Innovation Hub dedication ceremony Wednesday afternoon under a white tent beside the building, including U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, UF President Bernie Machen and other UF, city and federal officials.
"It is rare to experience an occasion that feels so historic," Machen said to a crowd. "This is a historic landmark for the community, state and human future."
Officials spoke for about an hour. After, people toured the Innovation Hub and saw some of the start-up businesses housed in the building.
Innovation Hub is the brainchild of UF and the city government, Mayor Craig Lowe said.
Located at 747 SW Second Ave., it is a 48,000-square-foot business incubator designed to house start-up companies grown out of technology developed at UF and around the state.
The site also includes offices of venture capitalists, law firms, design firms and other entities that offer services to start-up companies.
The building currently houses 16 businesses and is almost half-full, said Jane Muir, director of the Innovation Hub and another speaker at the event. Businesses began moving into the building in October.
The atrium of Innovation Hub holds a two-story wall design sitting above the main desk. The blueish-green illustration, resembling the depths of the ocean, is meant to symbolize new discoveries, according to those working in the atrium.
Lowe, who spoke at the event, said the Innovation Hub represents a spirit of partnership between the public and private sectors. He said it will help creative ideas and businesses flourish in Gainesville.
"This will be the anchor for an employment renaissance," Lowe said.
Nelson, who also spoke, said he looks forward to the building being a workspace for "imagineers." He said the ideas and products created there will benefit the entire nation as it competes in a global economy.
"Great ideas produce great products. Great products create economic diversity. Economic diversity produces jobs," Nelson said. "That's what this incubator is about to do."
Some offices are filled with college students trying to get their businesses off the ground while others are home to business veterans.
John Everett, CEO of Apollidon, an online business dedicated to worldwide marketing and student recruitment for distance education master's degrees, has been working as a business strategist for 25 years.
Across the way from the Apollidon office at the Innovation Hub is Feathr, a company started by current UF students that creates applications for smartphones.
Neal Ormsbee, a 21-year-old computer science junior, helped start the company. He said it is inspiring to work at a place like the Innovation Hub.
"The other day we were running our business from a ping-pong table in our house; now we are here," he said. "It's the real deal."
Winston Cunningham, 17, gets his hair sprayed silver by Chris Shepherd, 17, to complete his robot ensemble for a performance at the dedication ceremony for the Florida Innovation Hub at UF. Both teens are a part of the P.K. Yonge vocal ensemble.
