BRIDG: Growing Florida's Advanced Manufacturing Sector

Located in a 500-acre technology district in Osceola County is BRIDG, a state-of-the-art microelectronics manufacturing facility with the capability to build “smart sensors” that are smaller, faster, more affordable, and more capable than what exists today. These are the types of microelectronic chips one would typically find in a smart phone or laptop computer. These smart sensors put real-time information into the hands of individuals and companies and empower them to make better decisions and enjoy a higher quality of life.

BRIDG provides solutions that bridge the gap between technology and capability. The BRIDG facility provides the infrastructure that enables the development of tools and process technology to manufacture microelectronic sensor chips that connect people and their devices to the Internet of Things and that will enable electronic devices of all kinds to communicate with each other.

BRIDG was established as a not-for-profit, public-private partnership with support from state and local governments and leading manufacturing industry companies. For the 2019-20 fiscal year, state funding for BRIDG was withheld. BRIDG has the potential to generate thousands of high-skill, high-wage jobs, with billions of dollars in total earnings and hundreds of millions of dollars in state and local tax revenues. BRIDG has the potential to establish Central Florida as a major hub, if not THE major hub, for information technology research, innovation, and manufacturing in the world. 

Florida TaxWatch presents this report in hope that the Governor and Legislature will continue its investment in BRIDG for fiscal year 2020-21 and beyond.