Gainesville, Fla. – Info Tech Inc. has partnered with the University of Florida (UF) business college to kick off its first time collaboration with the GatorNest program. GatorNest is an experiential learning program run by the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at UF’s Warrington College of Business Administration. The program teaches entrepreneurship and innovation skills by working through real problems of real companies, while teaching team dynamics, team management and goal setting in an unscripted environment.

GatorNest groups are usually made up of four-to-six students. At Info Tech, four graduate-level students from UF’s business college participated in the Info Tech/GatorNest project. The duration of the project was eight weeks during the 2009 fall semester. The students worked closely with senior managers Joe Rowland and Meg The Losen to:

• conduct research for the needs and characteristics of a new target market
• assess current capabilities of state department of administration with regard to on-line bidding and evaluate the attractiveness of particular state department administration;
• analyze the feasibility of market entry in terms of environmental factors
• develop marketing strategies for the Bid Express® service, an on-line bidding service provided by Bidx.com, an Info Tech company.

Students conducted research on their own time, and met weekly with Rowland and The Losen to ensure they were on the right track and to get answers to any questions they may have had.

The group was able to identify strengths and challenges to the Bid Express service, and assess its competition in the market. A state by-state evaluation of attractiveness, including economic factors, was taken into account to determine which state would be a better marketing opportunity for the Bid Express sales team to pursue.

At the end of the GatorNest module, the group presented their research findings to the executive team and Ted Astleford, Assistant Director for Experiential Learning at UF’s College of Business Administration. Deliverables also included a detailed written report and a slideshow presentation by the team.

“They [the students] came with fresh eyes and have been able to find information and go down different avenues based on their experience,” Rowland said. “Their findings were very helpful considering they were with very limited resources. They were very capable and eager to learn and figure out the business and market, providing valuable insight.”

This opportunity provided more practical, real-world experience and taught the students how to work under a deadline on a team project. Students earned two credit points for their participation, but most importantly earned a once-in-a-lifetime, real-world work experience.

Info Tech’s next group of GatorNest students started on October 27th. The students will be working closely with a product development team.

Established in 1977 and based in Gainesville, Fla., Info Tech, Inc. provides software development and systems integration services for infrastructure construction management, and also provides highly technical consulting and network communications services. Info Tech’s software products, services and professionals serve public agencies, consulting engineers, contractors and bidders. Info Tech has a highly skilled workforce of more than 180 professionals, and maintains regional and project offices throughout the U.S. For more information, visit www.infotechfl.com. Info Tech can be reached at +1 (352) 381-4400.