2023 Women Who Mean Business: Carol Ann Logue

It is difficult to start any new business resource.

She said that establishing the reputation and brand of Central Florida Tech Grove, along with clarity as to what it is, required not only a lot meetings and messaging, but also successful activities in order to begin to create this understanding, since it's a "different type of innovation center for this community."

This proved to be an excellent strategy for the Director of the Tech Grove and University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program. Logue has been responsible for expanding or relocating more than a dozen businesses in Central Florida over the last 12 months. This expansion and relocation added hundreds of jobs. The UCF Business Incubator has added 40 new companies over the last year, graduated more than 20 firms, and opened a downtown Orlando location.

Logue has been selected as one of Orlando Business Journal's Women Who Mean Business 2023. You can read more about the honorees of this year in OBJ's weekly edition for March 31 to April 6, 2023 and online.

What were the major obstacles or challenges you faced? It was difficult to understand how Tech Grove can help our customers achieve their goals. To help them develop faster, it will require constant communication and the ability to generate creative and innovative solutions.

What has been your role in shaping the direction of the organization over the last three years? I was responsible for the launch of Tech Grove at the university and worked with our customers in the defense industry to develop programs and services. We restructured staff responsibilities, processes, and procedures for the incubation programme.

Travel is something you would like to spend more time on.

What is your best life hack? Osteostrong memberships and Hand & Stone memberships

Director of Central Florida Tech Grove & UCF Business Incubation Program