Sid Martin director is Innovator of the Year

Alachua County Today file photo

Breedlove showing off an imaging machine in a shared laboratory at the Sid Martin Incubator. She was named Innovator of the Year by the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce.

ALACHUA – Her name is Patti Breedlove, and from the moment she began running the Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator in Alachua, she exuded excellence and professionalism. This is just some of what Alachua Mayor Gib Coerper said following the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet last Thursday, Jan. 30.

The chamber formally recognized Breedlove for her work running the incubator last week, naming her the Innovator of the Year.  

“Alachua is very proud of her and the job she has done from day one in running the incubator,” Coerper said.

The mayor said he and the City of Alachua have retained a close relationship with the Gainesville Area Chamber for years now.

“She was chosen for this award, for running the number one incubator in the world,” Coerper said.

The Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator was chosen as the world’s best in 2013 by Sweden-based research group UBI.

Breedlove arrived at Progress Park in 1998, working her way up to from a junior role, she said. She said she is proud to be the director now, and notes this as one of her highest honors to date.

“It was truly a thrill,” said Breedlove about the award.

The incubator boasts several successful businesses, including AxoGen and Nanotherapeutics. The award shows that the contributions made toward the success of these and other companies in the incubator have been recognized, Breedlove said.

Perhaps the most successful company to come out of the incubator is RTI Surgical, formerly RTI Biologics, Breedlove said.

“RTI is UF’s most successful spinout, with UF making over $60 million after RTI went public,” she said.

The company is now the largest in Progress Park, and continues to grow still. There are only about 500 of their employees who currently work in the park, but they have many others now in other locations, she said.

“To me, it will be a tremendous mark of success if some of our graduate companies grow to have the type of economic impact on our community that RTI has had,” Breedlove said.

Deborah Bowie, vice president of chamber development for the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce, praised Breedlove’s work.

“The award that Patti received is in recognition of her career work, as well as her outstanding efforts with the incubator,” Bowie said.

With the incubator being ranked as the best in the world, Bowie said the board met to discuss possible candidates for this honor, and Breedlove was “a resounding yes.”

“Patti’s work has singlehandedly led to international recognition,” Bowie said. “She embodies the spirit of innovation.”

While Breedlove downplays her individual role in accomplishing all of this, she said she does understand her importance to the success she and the incubator strive for.

“My most important role has probably been establishing a culture of professionalism and mutual respect,” she said.

It is a fine line in providing a helping hand in the development of these young companies, and allowing them to also experience their own progress and failure required to find absolute success, Breedlove said.

“I’m very proud of our team,” she said. “They work hard, listen to each other and never forget that we’re here to help our companies make a real difference in this world.”

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