Claire Evans found financing help for her eco-friendly building materials firm in Clermont through a Small Business Development Center.

Small business owners and entrepreneurs find plenty to like about Florida. Small Business Survival Index 2009 ranks Florida as one of the nation's friendliest states for entrepreneurs, and the U.S. Small Business Administration puts Florida among the most highly efficient states in fostering the birth of new businesses.

Thirty-five Small Business Development Centers throughout the state and the Disney Entrepreneur Center in Orlando provide one-on-one counseling, training and assistance to entrepreneurs at every level. In addition, dozens of high-tech incubators, accelerators and university-based research parks provide flexible, low-cost space and offer a variety of business development services to startup and young companies (click for list of Business Incubators). Small businesses seeking to tap into funds available through U.S. Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs may receive assistance with proposal development through Enterprise Florida's Phase 0 program.

At the Florida Institute for Commercialization of Public Research in Boca Raton, a collaborative effort of university tech transfer offices statewide, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs looking for investment opportunities can find information about Florida's newest innovations, as well as business plans for startup companies seeking venture capital support. Founded in 2007 to promote research at Florida's public universities, the institute's scope has since been expanded to other non-profit research institutions, including SRI International, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, Kennedy Space Center, Scripps Florida, the University of Miami, the National Center of Excellence for Simulation and Training and others.