Startup Quest®

There are two people competing for every open job today. Startup Quest® advances an additional model for workforce development by growing self-employment through entrepreneurship, shifting the mindset from “find a job” to “create my job.” Startup Quest® strengthens communities by creating new pathways for citizens’ employment — giving highly educated participants the tools and training they need to create new businesses and stimulate job creation. This entrepreneurship training supports the needs of new and expanding businesses, as well as the growth of startup communities in Florida by creating more jobs. During this innovative 10-session training program, degree-holding professionals who are unemployed or underemployed work with mentors to form a simulated startup, learning skills for self-employment or employment with a new or existing company. Successful CEOs and entrepreneurs serve as mentors who lead participant teams to create commercialization plans focusing on inventions from Florida universities and NASA. At the end of the program, the participant teams compete in an investor pitch contest to further their opportunity to learn about and connect to potential funding and support. Startup Quest® began as a pilot program in 2011, involving 83 participants was formed by collaborations with partners including CareerSource North Central Florida, the University of Florida Office of Technology Licensing, the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce, and 12 investors. The pilot program resulted in: 20 participants becoming self-employed,14 startup companies formed, 26 new jobs were created from startups, and 35 businesses hired Startup Quest™ graduates. The overwhelming success of the pilot program led the federal government to grant $12 million over five years for the expansion of Startup Quest™ across eight workforce regions in Florida, opening the door to more new business formations and jobs, putting more than 1000 people back to work as of 2015.