Central Florida leaders are building on an established reputation for collaboration in 2008. Two of the region’s most powerful business groups — the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission and the Central Florida Partnership, which launched in late 2007 as an umbrella organization that includes the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce — are collaborating with the Orlando/Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau on economic development. The groups held their first conference in January, crafting plans to join forces on trade missions, research and possibly even the CVB’s branding campaign, “Say Yes to Orlando.”

MEDICAL CITY (Orlando) Cheryl Baker » As new director of the Cancer Research Institute for the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando, Cheryl Baker will lead the 2-year-old center’s relocation to Lake Nona’s growing medical city. [Photo: Jeffrey Camp]

The area’s economic developers aren’t in any hurry to shed the region’s image as a top leisure and convention destination. Meanwhile, however, they continue to target 21st century, knowledge-based industries — biotech, defense, digital media, modeling, simulation and training, optics and financial services — which together contribute $13.4 billion to the economy and employ some 65,000 workers.

See population, income and job statistics from this region. Explore

Like local governments throughout the state, Central Florida municipalities face budgetary pressures as a result of Amendment 1. And along with the real estate slowdown, the region faces other issues: An increase in violent crime, high insurance rates and perennial gridlock on the roads. The mayors of Orlando and Orange County are also heading up a commission on homelessness, a growing problem.

The region’s momentum should serve it well, however. There are more economic development projects working now than last year, says John Fremstad, who oversees bioOrlando and Technology Industry Development for the Economic Development Commission.

A new “medical city” under construction on the east side of Orlando will include a University of Central Florida medical school, a Veterans Administration hospital, a Nemours children’s hospital, a Burnham Institute for Medical Research facility, the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando’s Cancer Research Institute and a just-announced 100,000-sq.-ft. innovative “wet lab” and biotech incubator that Lake Nona developer Tavistock Group is building on spec to attract biotechnology startups.

“When you drive around here, it’s still growing,” Fremstad says. “Although there’s a slowdown in the economy, we’re not dying.”

LEADERS

» As 2008 chairman of the new Central Florida Partnership, Des Cummings Jr. will steer efforts to bring together seven counties — Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole and Volusia — to address the region’s most pressing issues, including economic diversification, transportation and job creation. Cummings is president of the Florida Hospital Foundation and executive vice president of business development for Florida Hospital and the Florida Division of Adventist Health System. He leads a team that includes chairman-elect Pat Engfer, general manager of the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport, and Jacob Stuart, who has given up his longtime position as head of the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce to become CEO of Central Florida Partnership.

» Appointed last year as dean of the new University of Central Florida College of Medicine, Dr. Deborah German is closing in on her goal to raise enough community money to provide full scholarships for the first class of 40 students, who will begin classes in 2009. The college received its preliminary accreditation earlier this year.

» Named the first female president of Walt Disney World in 2006, Meg Crofton has moved full-bore into civic life. She’s joined a number of community boards and has promised Disney’s participation in a new downtown arts center. Crofton also announced Disney will build a new indoor sports facility.

ORLANDO

This year marks the start of a $1.1-billion downtown project to build a performing arts center, a replacement for the Amway Arena, where the Orlando Magic play, and a renovated Citrus Bowl. The city is making an effort to employ local minority contractors where possible for the design and construction, unbundling larger contracts to get smaller companies involved. The initiative essentially amounts to a public works project.

GROWING PREFERENCE (Winter Park) Harold Mills » Harold Mills, CEO of ZeroChaos, which provides professional-level contract labor to Fortune 500 companies, will oversee the firm’s expansion this year into larger headquarters at the CNL II building downtown. [Photo: Gregg Matthews]

“We can withstand a slump in the housing industry better than we could in the past,” says Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. “I’m very optimistic. What we have is a community that’s come together, and everybody’s pulling in the same direction. This place is going to be the envy of the world in the next decade.”

LEADER

» Founder and president of the architectural and planning firm C.T. Hsu + Associates, C.T. Hsu is expected to work closely this year with regional economic development efforts between the Economic Development Commission, the Central Florida Partnership and the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

HOUSING TREND / CENTRAL FLORIDA: Home Sales
County	Jan. 07	Jan. 08	Percent Change
Orange	906	437	-52%
Seminole	353	185	-48
Lake	245	154	-37
Osceola	259	108	-58
MSA	1,763	884	-50%
Source: Orlando Regional Realtor Association

SCHOOL ENROLLMENT / CENTRAL FLORIDA
	2006-07	2007-08	% Change
Lake	38,901	39,877	+2.5%
Osceola	51,061	51,985	+1.8
Seminole	65,943	64,988	-1.4
Orange	172,711	171,629	-0.06
State	2,638,331	2,630,639	-.03
Source: Florida Department of Education

ORANGE COUNTY

As the region focuses on diversifying its economy, the county is focused on creating jobs. One promising sector: The green-business movement that aims to help the region become eco-friendly. Another: Proposed construction of the Wekiva Parkway, a $1.8-billion project that would be the last piece in the $13.8-billion beltway around Central Florida. The parkway would join a planned commuter rail project in alleviating traffic from I-4, which is about to be widened through downtown. “I see this as an opportunity for job creation, as well as moving people and visitors around,” Mayor Richard Crotty says.

LEADER

» Dr. Daniel Kelly, director of cardiovascular research at Washington University’s School of Medicine in St. Louis, starts his new job in July as scientific director of the Burnham Institute, where he’ll be responsible for recruiting faculty.

LAKE MARY

The city continues to attract businesses, especially at Colonial Town Center in Heathrow and the Primera Boulevard area. City officials expect new hotels to stake claims there to serve the growing technology community. There’s some talk of redeveloping the land that wraps around the vacant former Siemens property along Rinehart Road north of Lake Mary Boulevard, which would be a boon for the city, says city planner Gary Schindler.

LEADERS

» Craig Miller, president, CEO and chairman of Ruth’s Chris Steak House, has steered the chain through extreme ups and downs since taking the helm in 2004. The company moved its headquarters from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, just a month after its initial public offering. In February, Miller oversaw the company’s $92-million purchase of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, a collection of seafood restaurants and steakhouses based in Columbus, Ohio.

» Randy Berridge, president of the Florida High Tech Corridor Council, which covers 23 counties, was recently recognized by TechJournal South magazine as one of the 25 most influential people to watch in Southeast technology. The council’s matching grants research program has connected 1,500 graduate and doctoral students and research assistants with 800-plus research projects at the University of Central Florida, University of Florida and University of South Florida.

SANFORD

Despite a housing slowdown, the retail and commercial sectors are doing quite well, says Bob Tunis, the city’s economic development director. New Kohl’s, Super Target and Circuit City stores along Rinehart Road have helped extend Seminole Towne Center’s footprint from State Road 46 to County Road 46A. A new FedEx distribution center and Washburn Imports, the first substantial downtown retail store, have brought services and products that previously required traveling to Orlando.

LEADERS

» As president of TBI U.S., Larry Gouldthorpe oversees half of the public/private partnership that runs Sanford Orlando International Airport, where growth has soared from fewer than 50,000 passengers in 1996 to a projected 2 million this year. Early on, the airport specialized in charter flights to and from the United Kingdom, but in recent years domestic service has grown to make up about 50% of its business, thanks to Las Vegas-based Allegiant Airlines, which has eight planes in Sanford carrying passengers to 30 U.S. destinations. The airport also wooed Icelandair from Orlando International Airport in 2007 and offers flights to Glasgow, Scotland. Next up: Adding service to Portugal, Belgium and possibly Spain by midyear. “We’re starting to mature nicely,” Gouldthorpe says.

» Enrique Todd, a 20-year veteran of Albuquerque, N.M.-based Roses Southwest Papers, which reported more than $80 million in sales in 2007, moved to Central Florida two years ago when the company purchased the former Unicell paper mill in Sanford, now the home of sister operation Roses Southeast Papers. The suppliers of tissue, towels, napkins and other products count Darden Restaurants, McDonald’s and Burger King among their customers. The local operation employs 44 and is looking to expand by 20 this year.

SEMINOLE COUNTY

Economic activity has slowed, “but there’s still churn in the marketplace,” says Bill McDermott, the county’s economic development director. Two projects to watch: The expansion of United Kingdom-based military simulation company SEOS, which is moving manufacturing operations to Seminole; and a move by the Institute of Internal Auditors, currently in Altamonte Springs, to a bigger world headquarters in Heathrow; the $14-million project is expected to increase jobs and bring more international visitors to the area.

LEADER

» John Ashworth, executive director for Leadership Seminole and former program director at Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce, took over the president/CEO spot of the Seminole County Regional Chamber last year after Diane Parker retired.

KISSIMMEE / OSCEOLA COUNTY

Plans for a deal with Nemours fell through in January when the children’s hospital chose a site at Lake Nona in Orange County instead. Osceola is still aggressively pursuing businesses attracted by its location and lower costs for land or warehouse space. It’s looking to add an industrial park near Narcoossee and Boggy Creek roads, as well as near Kissimmee Gateway Airport and at Interstate 4 by Celebration and ChampionsGate. The county has also put out feelers for a new convention center near I-4 and U.S. 192 that it will help pay for with tourist tax money if a resort builds at least 500 luxury hotel rooms.

LEADERS

» Since becoming county manager in February 2007, Michael Freilinger, former administrator of Polk County, Iowa, has brought new ideas to the county’s operations. For instance, he combined Osceola’s economic development and tourism operations, streamlining them to work together in cross-marketing.

» Brothers Ray and Dale Parsons operate Parsons Group, which is partnering with Schoolfield Properties to develop City Centre Kissimmee, a $24-million, eight-story property set to open in July in downtown Kissimmee. The project will include 31 condominiums, three restaurants, office and retail space and a 275-car parking garage co-financed by the Community Redevelopment Agency. The city is installing wide sidewalks and planning a $28-million park project two blocks away along the shores of Lake Tohopekaliga. “We’ve been developing in Kissimmee since the 1960s,” Ray
Parsons says. “We’ve always felt the potential is in the downtown lakefront.” Other 2008 projects for the Parsons Group: Broadway Marketplace, a $2-million retail center downtown; and the 12-acre Hoagland Industrial Center set to open in June near Kissimmee Municipal Airport.

» Fifth-generation Central Floridian Russ Prather is transforming a longtime family property downtown from a bicycle shop into a pizza and wine restaurant, preserving the building’s Spanish-style architecture and brick porch. His brother-in-law, Chris Sutphen, will manage the business. “We’re from Kissimmee, and we really believe in the community,” says Prather, a pediatrician at the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies. “It’s critical for a city to have a strong downtown.”

LAKE COUNTY

After hiring an Austin, Texas-based consultant to study the local economy, Lake is moving forward with a plan to diversify its tax base. One goal: Attract more companies in the healthcare/wellness, business services and “green” industries, along with former targets of manufacturing, distribution/warehousing, agritech and ecotourism. “We’re really in a transition phase from what was a bedroom community to the Orlando area,” says Dottie Keedy, the county’s director of economic growth and redevelopment.

LEADERS

» As immediate past president of the Chamber Alliance of Lake County, a new non-profit advocacy group for eight chambers of commerce and their 35,000 members, Robert Johnson has taken the lead in working with the county on its new comprehensive plan for growth. Johnson also serves on the board of myregion.org, a non-profit group that collaborates on growth issues for all of Central Florida. He works as vice president of Commerce Park Investments in Mount Dora.

» Bruce Duncan, president of Family Dynamics, formerly the Gregg Family Land Co., has been working with the state Department of Community Affairs and the town of Minneola to get approval for one of the county’s largest proposed developments. The Hills of Minneola would be as large as Orange County’s MetroWest and would include its own Florida’s Turnpike interchange.