From inside the walls of the massive tents erected for the seventh annual Celebration of Biotechnology last Thursday, one would never have known Florida’s unemployment rate was hovering around 12 percent.  The annual event attracted more than 500 people who browsed over 70 vendor tables highlighting local biotechnology and affiliated companies.

Last week’s event was more successful than in prior years, probably due in large part to new features including a presentation tent, park bus tours, local food vendors and the elimination of an entrance fee.

Sponsored by Thermo Fisher Scientific and PITTCON, the celebration aims to join local biotech company and university employees, investors, local officials and the public.  In addition to the many park employees, Alachua’s own Mayor Gib Coerper, Commissioner Ben Boukari and City Manager Traci Cain all attended the event as well.

Vendors at the event were varied including an area credit union, hotel, Universal Studios Orlando, law firms, the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce, scientific equipment companies and numerous biotech companies.

For the young at heart, the real highlight of the celebration came as tickets were drawn for winners of several prizes, the most coveted of which was a Nintendo Wii.

For Alachua, Progress Corporate Park is a big deal and biotech is a big business and one that is proving its resistance to a down economy.  With dozens of companies employing more than 1,100 people at the park, the biotech community’s impact on the area has been substantial according to Patti Breedlove, Associate Director for the Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator Program.

Breedlove, who has been tallying and tracking the park’s statistics, said Alachua provides a unique setting that attracts some entrepreneurs in the biotech arena.

In addition to the incubator program and facility, run in part by Breedlove on behalf of the University of Florida, the Alachua setting also features a new, state-of-the-art Santa Fe College (SFC) training center specializing in related science studies.

Meanwhile, just down the road at Santa Fe High School, students are learning the basics to get them started in the field at the Institute for Biotechnology housed in a new science building.  These factors, coupled with a host of biotech companies already at the corporate park, are making Alachua an ideal location for other similar companies seeking a new home with room for expansion.

Breedlove said she hopes to continue fostering and broadening the relationship between the local biotech industry and City of Alachua.

“The future success of the park is tied to the future of the City of Alachua and vice-versa,” Breedlove said.

Breedlove sees corporate park’s and city’s success tied to each other, the industry is proving its resistance to a down economy.