"Florida currently ranks 47th in the U.S. in its development of business incubation programs, and that is a major shortcoming," said Tom O'Neal, founder and executive director of the UCF Business Incubation Program. "We are the fourth most populous state, and of the more than 1,000 business incubators in the U.S., only 21 of them are located here in Florida."

The UCF program was founded in 1999 and has helped more than 100 companies create more than 900 jobs and generate more than half a billion dollars in revenue.