The high-tech BRIDG project
opens in Kissimmee with the hope that it will draw well-paying jobs to the area.
Osceola County’s prayers for more high-paying jobs hit a milestone Thursday when the hightech research project near Kissimmee, known as BRIDG, officially opened its doors.
Pastor Nathan Blackwell, of the Cornerstone Family Church in St. Cloud, made the prayers literal as he gave an invocation at the grand opening ceremony. He stood with his back to the gleaming, gray 109,000-square-foot laboratory. Watching in the audience were local officials and top executives from defense contractors and European tech firms.
“We pray that you will bless all that’s going to happen here,” he said. “Let this be a change maker, not only for Osceola families but for all of Central Florida.”
The hope for the project is that it will eventually attract thousands of high-paying tech jobs to an area known more for budget motels near Disney World.
Brandon Arrington, chairman of the Osceola County Commission, recalled that the county first thought to build a baseball stadium on the property. That eventually fell through, and the focus turned to infrastructure and technology.
“We had been playing the same game that other communities do throughout the United States. When a company wants to leave the Northeast, we would run to them with a wild abandonment, and throw everything at them,” he said. “But we realized that’s not a successful pattern.”
The facility will focus on developing new advanced semiconductor designs for micro-electronics, nano-electronics, sensors, fiber optics and photonics. Its design center will seek new electronics ideas and help make them a reality. The construction project alone, at more than $70 million, was funded by Osceola County.
The project was guided by the University of Central Florida and other universities, the High Tech Corridor and other private parties. UCF has been helping BRIDG pursue federal contracts that would build sensors and other photonics technology at the facility.
A Belgium-based firm, imec, already has moved personnel to the BRIDG facility. They plan to hire 15 people by the end of the year. Imec is a global leader in micro-electronics — or nanotechnology, as components get smaller and smaller.
Bert Gyselinckx, a VP with imec, said the local economic support is what drew them to Florida, and the ability to hire talent here. He said imec will be reaching out directly to local schools to interest students in tech careers.
Other work has started to materialize also. Partners signed on, such as Harris Corp., Argonne National Laboratories, and Kissimmee-based Photon-X. A year ago, BRIDG and UCF landed a role in a $75 million federal contract to develop smart-fiber technology at the facility. UCF, in a partnership led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will research textiles that can measure light, temperature, sound and other conditions. For example, clothing made from smart fiber could monitor vital signs, or uniforms could detect laser targeting systems.
There’s still a long way to go, said Michael Aller, executive director at Energy Florida.
“We need to build the supply chain,” he said. “This is necessary, but not sufficient yet.”
He said BRIDG will be a big advantage when the region is courting tech companies to move here.
“Members of Energy Florida will be making use of this,” he said, without naming any particular companies. Harris is a member, as are Siemens, Lockheed Martin and other big energy users.
According to BRIDG, its loftier goals include fostering a spirit of collaboration in the area, and a “community of innovation.”
The name stands for Bridging the Innovation Development Gap. BRIDG was initially called the International Consortium of Advanced Manufacturing Research, or ICAMR. The 500-acre countyowned area around the new center, once known as Judge Farms, is now called NeoCity (formerly Osceola Tech Farm).
The county has high hopes of attracting upscale homes and related businesses to that area.
The county is considering sale of a lot next to the research center to be developed by Atlanta-based Century Healthcare for a fourstory, 100,000-square-foot office, where BRIDG and imec would have administrative offices.