East Central Florida’s much-anticipated sunrail commuter rail line
is already spurring new development along its 32-mile route.
Comp Air Aviation, a manufacturer of high-performance kit aircraft, has moved to Space Coast Regional Airport in Titusville, where it has room to expand operations and hire as many as 200 workers within five years.
Photo: Norma Lopez Molina
The Orlando Veterans Affairs Medical Center is slated to be completed during December 2014; the first patients will be accepted 90 days later.
In downtown Orlando, Florida Hospital is building a 400,000-sq.-ft. hospital - the Florida Hospital for Women.
Photo: Rendering
Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts
Crescent Central Station, a six-story apartment/retail complex adjacent to a SunRail station.
The Citrus Bowl in Orlando is undergoing a $200-million makeover in hopes of luring additional marquee events.
Photo: Rendering
Northrop Grumman could soon add another 3,000 employees as new facilities take shape on its Melbourne campus: the 1,000-employee Manned Aircraft Design Center of Excellence.
A $1.1-billion plan to expand Orlando International Airport includes $470 million for an automated people-mover and tram-rail station to connect to a proposed Orlando-to-Miami passenger train.
Photo: Rendering
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Business Florida 2015 - The Regions
East Central Florida
Cocoa, Daytona Beach, Kissimmee, Lake Mary, Melbourne, Orlando, Palm Bay, Titusville
Tourism and aviation/aerospace — the two stalwart industries on which East Central Florida’s economy has long relied — continue to perform well. In 2013, Orlando set another tourism record with 59 million visitors, while the giants of aerospace — Northrop Grumman, Lockheed and Boeing — tapped into the infrastructure and talent birthed by NASA to once again grow their presence along Florida’s “spacecoast.” And fueling additional economic success across the region: increased activity in technology, manufacturing, logistics and other high-impact industry sectors.
Port Canaveral — North America’s second busiest cruise port — celebrated its 60th year with an unprecedented 3.7 million multi-day passengers, a seven-story combination shopping, exhibit and observation structure dubbed “Exploration Tower” and a comprehensive dredging operation to prepare for larger ships. The much-anticipated SunRail commuter train connecting Orlando to Volusia County opened in May 2014, and Orlando International Airport, the nation’s 13th busiest, received FAA approval on its plans for a new intermodal transportation center to link airline passengers with ground transportation, including All Aboard Florida’s proposed Orlando-to-Miami train.
WHO LIVES HERE
Young and old
Two-thirds of Orlando’s population is under the age of 44 and nearly one-third has earned a college degree. Conversely, more than half (52%) of Sumter County residents are age 65 and older, and many reside at The Villages, one of America’s largest retirement communities and, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the nation’s fastest-growing metro area in 2013.
Multiple cultures
Latin influences are strong here, especially in Osceola County, where Hispanics make up 49% of the total population, compared to 24% statewide.
Tech-ready workforce
Brevard County, ground zero for Florida’s aerospace industry, boasts 48 engineers per 1,000 workers — more than any of the 25 most populated metro areas in the U.S. — and attracts 13 patents for every 10,000 workers, more than double the national average.
