BlackboardEnergy Center May Provide Jolt to Economy
The goal is simple, but lofty - build an East coast version of Silicon Valley in the Harmony community in Osceola County.
That may take some time, but the first step will occur in January when Florida State University moves its Energy & Sustainability Center from Tallahassee into a temporary facility in Harmony's Florida Energy Research Park. FSU is moving the center to Harmony so it can test its research in new homes there and serve as an incubator for new energy and sustainability companies.
Harmony has about 500 homes built, with plans for up to 7,200.
Harmony Development Co. expects to start construction sometime next year on the center's permanent 10,000-square-foot building.
The FSU center, which will bring five full-time employees and 15 doctoral students, has lined up its first project - a hybrid power plant that would use solar energy and a biomass system to generate five megawatts of electricity. The plant is contingent on a purchase power agreement from the Orlando Utilities Commission, which could go before the utility's board by December.
FSU center Director Anjaneyulu Krothapalli envisions the center as an incubator for alternative energy companies that could provide 1,000 jobs by the end of 2015.
He expects its first tenant to set up shop in six months, as well as to have three companies in the center employing 30 to 40 workers by the end of 2010, with an average salary of $60,000-$70,000 and economic activity approaching $30 million.
Energy and sustainability research is the future, he said. "This is going to be bigger than IT."
Jim Lentz, the chairman of Harmony Development Co., said the presence of a major university with a doctoral program that focuses on renewable energy is bound to attract business.
Harmony, which initially allocated 80 of its 11,000 acres for the Florida Energy Research Park, can dedicate up to 1,000 acres to the FSU center.
News of the FSU center relocating to Harmony has created a buzz in the Osceola County Economic Development Department, whose director, Maria Toumazos, is talking with several firms about locating near the center. Toumazos wouldn't identify the companies, saying only they are small start-ups.
Besides creating the opportunities for companies to relocate and serving as an incubator for energy and sustainability firms, the FSU center has the potential to help the county attract more grants and partnerships.
