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For the fourth consecutive year, George Cheros, CEO and president of the National Center for Simulation, has been recognized as one of Florida’s most influential leaders by Florida Trend magazine. The publication’s annual Florida 500 list features the state’s top leaders and executives across major industries.
“I’m honored to be included in the Florida 500 list among such outstanding leaders from all over the state,” said Cheros. “I think this recognition is a direct correlation to the growing modeling, simulation and training industry – about $6.5B each year – and the impact that it continues to make on our state in emerging technologies and workforce development.”
Cheros was named the CEO in 2019, after serving as the COO for National Center for Simulation for seven years. He was instrumental in working with UCF to establish the UCF Partnership Buildings 4 and 5 for military use, an important step in helping to ensure military stability here in the region.
“NCS is a high impact-oriented organization,” said Cheros. “We work with our partners and colleagues to ensure that our ecosystem has the best possible conditions to have maximum success.”
Additionally, an increasingly important focus for NCS has been supporting workforce development. To complement the high school and technical school M&S certifications offered through NCS programs, NCS is also a major partner with UCF and Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division in the newly established Central Florida STARBASE, a national DoD STEM program primarily for fifth graders. The program brings students to them, offering 25 hours of hands-on, in the lab STEM education.
“Each STARBASE campus has a focus area which is supplemented by the community and ours, of course, is modeling and simulation,” he said. “With the number of M&S professionals we have in the region, we are encouraged about the incredible impact we can make when we team with them. Our hope is that we can ignite an excitement in these students about M&S, that many will follow that career path and return to Central Florida to become part of our future workforce.”
The Florida 500 list of most influential leaders spans across more than 60 business categories, including education, agriculture, hospitality, and law. Final determinations were made by the publication’s editorial department.
Florida Trend Publisher David Denor said, “Now in its fifth year, the Florida 500 has become the quintessential business resource for identifying, recognizing and highlighting Florida business leaders who have significantly impacted the trajectory of our state. Distinctively created, organized and designed, the Florida 500 introduces this select group of individuals — sharing not only their business objectives — but their personal interests and motivations outside the office.”
