Our Beginnings

The Sid Martin Biotechnology Development Institute (BDI) was established on July 2, 1990 by Florida legislative act H.B. No. 3929, Chapter 90-378, and was named for Representative Sid Martin in recognition of his dedicated and distinguished career and his steadfast love for his university and his state. In 1994, the Board of Trustees of the University of Florida purchased 6 acres and built the Sid Martin Biotechnology Development Institute, a bio-business incubator.

The University of Florida’s 40,000 SF Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator- as it is now called- was built with a combination of USDA, University of Florida and State of Florida funding. The $11.5 million project (including attached small animal facility) was designed, built, equipped, and opened in 1995 as one of the first bio-business incubators in the United States.

The Incubator is located in the Progress Corporate Park outside Alachua, FL. A research park was envisioned by Dr. Robert Marston- president of the University of Florida in the early 1980s. The first building was built in 1987 and the Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator followed in 1995. The Park currently continues to add buildings as the biotech sector grows in this area. The Progress Corporate Park's website would have more information.