Past Winners

Hometown Health TV

Leesburg, Fla.

Marc Robertz-Schwartz, founder

Incubator: University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program

Employees: 1 full-time employee and 14 local contractors

www.yourhometownhealth.com

Hometown Health TV produces “Good Things for Those Who Wait.” Recognizing that patients sometimes spend significant amounts of time in medical waiting rooms, media and marketing professional Marc Robertz-Schwartz set out in 2009 to create an educational product to help make the waiting room experience more enjoyable. With the support of several central Florida physicians, the company launched “Hometown Health,” a monthly hour-long video program that provides health and wellness information through a network of medical office waiting rooms, county health departments, local cable networks and the Internet. The show also provides a way for area health-care professionals to share their expertise on health issues with both existing and new patients watching the videos. As market demand for its media and marketing services expanded, Hometown Health TV, a client of the University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program in Leesburg, Fla., created a sister company, Apple Seed Marketing, in 2011 to expand its production expertise to clients outside the health-care field.

Incubator’s role: It hasn’t been easy to launch, build and grow a new business and a spin-off company during the worst economy in over a century, but Robertz-Schwartz says the company’s affiliation with the Leesburg incubation program has contributed greatly to its early success. “UCFBIP/Leesburg has been an invaluable resource for guidance, information and networking,” he says. “Just being in an environment with like-minded individuals provides an unquantifiable opportunity to tap into others’ experiences, knowledge and unbiased opinions – something rarely available for most in-home start-ups.” In addition to receiving business guidance by participating in the incubation program, the company has even signed two new clients based on introductions made by UCFBIP/Leesburg Site Manager James Spencer.

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