Orlando, Fla. (March 3, 2022) Last month, one of the first graduates of the Kissimmee incubator opened its fourth location, showcasing the foundation the company received while a client company.
Avionica USA opened its newest training center at the Plant City Airport. The center will employ five instructors and other personnel and will be able to teach 100 students throughout the year.
“Avionica’s growth is truly impressive and has only just begun in meeting a critical aerospace market demand,” says Esther Vargas, site manager, UCF Business Incubator in Kissimmee. “This is a perfect example of how the University of Central Florida is making an impact in both education and economic development.”
In addition to graduating from the UCF Business Incubation Program, the company also has a partnership with UCF Division of Continuing Education.
The company was founded in the 1990s to help train avionics technicians to install, inspect, test, adjust or repair avionics equipment such as radar, radio, navigation, and missile control systems in aircraft or space vehicles. Avionica USA graduated from the UCF Business Incubation Program in 2016 and is headquartered at the Kissimmee Gateway Airport.
The average wage for their graduates is more than $31 per hour.
“Our partnership with UCF has been instrumental in our success from building the foundation of the company at the incubator to providing educational opportunities in our communities,” says Israel Mercado, Avionica USA. “We would not be where we are today without the University of Central Florida.”
In addition to the new facility in Plant City, Avionica USA also operates training centers at Orlando Executive Airport, Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan and at its Kissimmee headquarters.
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UCF Business Incubation Program: Esther Vargas, 407-343-4300, esther.vargas@ucf.edu; Alan Byrd, Alan Byrd & Associates, 407-415-8470, Alan@ByrdConnections.com
About Avionica USA: Avionica Orlando offers continuing professional training and licenses required by federal entities to exercise and practice the profession of avionics. They seek to bring together a representation of such a group of professionals in USA and Latin America. The aviation industry approaches this association seeking the avionics personnel trained by them to work in companies certified by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and FCC licensed avionics technicians.
Training includes reviews and tests for two of the most important licenses of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and one-year membership of the Avionics Technicians Association, Inc. We have two Chief Examiners for the FCC. This on-the-job training (OJT) will cover topics such as: Electronic navigation and communication instruments, technical education, aviation safety, quality control, human factor, and anything related to newest aviation technology known as NexGen. For more information, visit https://avionicausa.com/
About the UCF Business Incubation Program:
The University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program is a community resource that provides early-stage companies with the tools, training and infrastructure to become financially stable, high growth/impact enterprises. Since 1999, this award-winning program has provided vital business development resources resulting in over 300 local startup companies reaching their potential faster and graduating into the community where they continue to grow and positively impact the local economy.
With seven facilities throughout the region, the UCF Business Incubation Program is an economic development partnership between the University of Central Florida, the Corridor, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia Counties, and the cities of Kissimmee, Orlando and Winter Springs. For the 2017/2018 fiscal years, the activities of these participating firms have helped to sustain more than 6,725 local jobs and have had a cumulative impact of over $725 million on regional GDP and over $1.3 billion on regional sales. During the same period, the program has returned more than $12.00 in state and local taxes for every $1.00 invested in the program. In addition, for every $1.00 of public investment the firms also produced $118 of additional regional GDP and $226 of regional sales. For more information, visit www.incubator.ucf.edu
