Volusia County Business Incubator Launches WoW Fridays

Daytona Beach, Fla. (January 20, 2023) –The impact of the Volusia County Business Incubator on the region is undeniable. Over the past decade, the incubator, powered by the UCF Business Incubation Program, has worked with more than 200 companies creating more than 1,000 jobs in the county.

This year, the incubator is offering free training to all entrepreneurs in Volusia County, even those who are not clients of the incubator for no charge.

The new effort, called WoW Fridays, provides significant education on topics such as business planning, financing, marketing and much more. WoW Fridays, which stands for Work on Wisdom, kicked off in January with an intense series on business modeling.

“Already, nearly a dozen companies signed up for the January series and that was with very little marketing showing the demand for this type of service is significant,” says Connie Garzon, Associate Director and Site Manager, Volusia County Business Incubator. “Entrepreneurs in our county are lucky to have such a forward-looking government as we do in Volusia County who truly understand entrepreneurs sometimes just need a ‘hand up’ to succeed.”

With the funding for the incubator provided by Volusia County, all aspects of WoW Fridays will be free for business owners and those who are thinking about starting a business.

Some of the sessions will take place on multiple Fridays. Some will just be one day or one morning, depending on the topic.

For instance, on January 27, the incubator will host the Fifth Third Empowerment Mobile, which provides a unique way for business owners to meet with small business financing experts.

Then, for the first three weeks of February, the incubator will provide a multi-day seminar on business plans, where business owners will walk away with a complete business plan. This is an essential first step for businesses and can cost $5,000 to $10,000 to have one completed by outside consultants.

“The county is committed to economic development and the creation of high-paying jobs for our residents.  Our partnership with the incubator is a key element of that goal,” says Helga van Eckert, economic development director, Volusia County.  “This program is particularly exciting as it offers our businesses a solid base promote long-term success in the County.”

For individuals who are interested in participating in WoW Fridays, they are encouraged to visit https://volusiatechhub.com/wow-fridays. Pre-registration is required. In addition, the Volusia County Business Incubator welcomes local experts to host a session at some point in 2023. Potential speakers can apply at the link above.

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For more information: Volusia County Business Incubator: Connie Garzon, associate director and site manager, 386-872-3100 or connie.garzon@ucf.edu or Alan Byrd, Alan Byrd & Associates, 407-415-8470, alan@byrdconnections.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 eight 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.