How Tech Expanded From Silicon Valley to Bubblegum Alley<br />Since the center’s inception in 2010, Cal Poly students<br />and graduates have started 75 companies and generated more than $150 million in venture capital funding, said Tod Nelson, the center’s executive director.<br />The SLO HotHouse has proved so energizing that when a building across the street<br />that was once home to a bread bakery was up for lease, the university jumped at the chance to transform it into the Cal Poly Lofts, 32 apartments rented exclusively to the center’s students.<br />Erected on the former campus softball field, the tech park will be expanded to include four more facilities<br />over 10 years, said Jim Dunning, the director of economic development and technology transfer at Cal Poly.<br />To date, more than 7,800 tech employees work in San Luis Obispo County, an increase of more than<br />20 percent in the last five years, according to the California Center for Jobs and the Economy.<br />SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — San Luis Obispo has a reputation for being a sleepy town in central California known for its laid-back charm.<br />One firm, the 125-employee iFixit, wanted to stay close to Cal Poly to attract fresh talent,<br />so it moved into a vacated car dealership and renovated the 17,000 square feet of space.
