Lake County businesses encouraged to apply for GrowFL mentoring scholarship

TAVARES – GrowFL, an economic development program created by the Florida legislature, is offering one Lake County business a scholarship to its Economic Gardening Institute, which is considered a critical component of Florida’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.  

Through funding provided by Lake County Economic Development and Tourism, the organization will accept one second-stage growth company based in Lake County to take part in its program, which offers research, peer-to-peer CEO mentoring and virtual access to a team of highly-skilled research specialists. The team devotes about 40 hours to each company it selects for its programs, delivering action-oriented information. 

“Lake County has many promising businesses that could benefit from the extra support and expertise offered by GrowFL,” said Robert Chandler, Lake County’s Economic Development and Tourism Director. “We encourage our growing local companies to take advantage of this unique opportunity to gain additional business input from a statewide organization."  

To be eligible, a company must meet the following requirements:

• Be a for-profit, privately-held company that is headquartered in Florida.
• Generate annual revenue or working capital of between $1 million and $50 million.
• Employ between 10 and 99 full-time employees.
• Provide products or services beyond the local area to regional, national or global markets.
• Ability to enter into an agreement with the University of Central Florida.

Interested companies should apply online at www.growfl.com/apply. 

By supporting companies with strategic research and CEO mentoring, GrowFL seeks to help companies overcome obstacles to growth and lead them towards prosperity. Based on the philosophy of Economic Gardening — to grow existing businesses in a community, region or state — GrowFL is the program of the Florida Economic Gardening Institute at the University of Central.

The mission of Lake County’s Economic Development and Tourism Department is to provide excellence in service as a liaison between companies and government with the goals of creating a business-friendly environment and quality jobs in Lake County. For more information, visit www.businessinlakefl.com or call 352-742-3918.