“One of the things that I love about Jacksonville is that there does seem to be a lot of great assets there. Not only Mayo, but you've got the other hospitals. You've got IP-generating academic institutions. Again, the challenge is to try to get those folks on the same page, with a view of what healthcare looks like 20 years in the future. And then can we work together on some of those solutions for the good of Jacksonville.”
No one would contest that the Jaguars put Jacksonville on the map in 1993, but long-time residents will also recall the electricity that pulsed through the city in 1986 when The Mayo Clinic opened its Jacksonville campus, still one of just two US-based locations outside their Minnesota headquarters. With its new Life Sciences Incubator, this globally-ranked brand is investing even more heavily in our city. And incubator director, Vic Nole, believes that not only will the incubator help Mayo’s 6,500 local employees launch game-changing new businesses, but it can also act as our city’s “front door” for life science innovators near and far.
A home run his first time at bat
Vic had a taste of entrepreneurial success in his first position out of college, working as a researcher on a health tech concept that was sold to Johnson & Johnson. While the experience didn’t yield him a financial windfall, Vic was convinced his future lay not in research but the business side of the life sciences and returned to school for his MBA. Fast forward to today, and Vic can proudly look back on a career that has spanned executive roles in the operations, development, and leadership of a variety of cutting-edge health technology businesses. His most recent tenure as director of the business development and entrepreneurship program for the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) is perhaps most indicative of what Jacksonville can expect from his expert oversight: BIG things.
A 100,000 square-foot blank canvas
Before the consortium of non-profits that comprise the BNMC sought to launch an innovation district in downtown Buffalo, the city’s urban core was riddled with empty buildings and was home to underserved neighborhoods. With a social mission as much as a business intent, the medical hub sought to transform the district to benefit not just its internal innovators - monetizing intellectual property developed in-house - but local residents, too. They first hired Vic to run that internal development office, but with the opening of their incubator, Vic took on the responsibility of filling an abandoned 100,000 square foot manufacturing space with people who had bold ideas. He and his team provided the strategic roadmap to commercialize concepts, and in just a few short years, created an engine of economic opportunity that is still booming today.
Not just a door, a portal to opportunity
Vic shares that over “hundreds” of cups of coffee in this past year, few of our local innovation leaders he’s met with could uniformly point to a recognized “front door” or established starting point for people looking to start the next big venture. In the life science space, this is precisely the opportunity Vic intends to seize, with Mayo supplying a steady stream of employee innovators who need business and engineering collaborators from our local institutions to bring an idea to market. Vic predicts attracting small biotech and other life sciences firms to round out what he predicts will be a thriving ecosystem with a world-class “front door,” - not just to Mayo’s 6,500 local employees but all 70,000 employees and innumerable patients across their enterprise. It’s not a stretch to expect that Mayo will once again put Jax on the map.
Vic welcomes your interest and questions about the Life Sciences Incubator. Check out their website or email him directly at nole.victor@mayo.edu.
The Innovate Jax podcast will introduce you to the Jacksonville change-makers who are propelling our city into a new realm of sophistication. Our goal is to connect you to the people who are leaving their mark on our city today, in hopes that they inspire you to leave your mark tomorrow. Subscribe today and you’ll have fresh new episodes delivered to you each month. And feel free to recommend a guest by dropping us a note at innovatejax@forcura.com.
