Good Afternoon,

We are only 12 days away from the start of the 2013 Florida Economic Development Conference! The committee has put together an impressive agenda that will surely reinvigorate your passion for economic and workforce development. If you have not registered yet, I encourage you to do so immediately.

The 2013 Florida Economic Development Conference is conveniently located in the center of state at the Regency Hyatt International Orlando Airport in Orlando, Florida.There are limited rooms available so take action right away and book your room.

We are excited to bring you several off-site events to add to the excitement and experience of the conference. We begin the conference with a personal tour of the Amway Center in downtown Orlando. Our tour guides, Paul Bough, Senior Project Manager at URS Corporation, and Brooke Bonnett, Economic Development Deputy Director of the City of Orlando, will share insider information about the design process, the use and the economic benefits of the Amway Center.

The second off-site event of the conference is the Dine Around on Wednesday evening after the Marketing Awards Reception. We will all make our way to Splitsville in Downtown Disney for a night of fun. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to make stronger connections with your fellow FEDC members. It isn’t often we are all together so I hope you take advantage of this opportunity!

Next week we will launch the conference app which will have session descriptions, speaker bios, and all the information you need to get the most out of your conference.

Don’t forget, before you leave your office today take a few minutes to register for the Amway Center Tour if you haven’t already. And if you are one of the few not registered for the conference, yet, do that, too!

Amy Evancho
President and CEO
Florida Economic Development Council

Description:

Professional and managerial work responsible for the implementation of the County’s economic development strategy.

Essential Functions:

• Conducts new business marketing and prospecting to attract new business and industry to Seminole County. Review existing business and industry in Seminole County, and work with business leaders to retain and expand economic development opportunities within Seminole County.
• Maintains and sustains key development partner relationships at the state and local level. Provides briefings to County Commission on the impact of expanding business, and clear and current data on economic trends impacting the County. Handles press and media relations with appropriate news media.
• Organizes and administers the work of the Economic Development Program. Provides written and oral reports for the Board of County Commissioners, Economic Development Advisory Group and other boards and committees as needed.
• Establish relationships with key individuals within assigned industry sectors through trade association involvement, industry events and other relevant avenues.
• Works with County officials and management to ensure support and coordinate economic development activities.
• Administers the coordination of County economic development activities with other County divisions, other governmental agencies, private enterprise, civic groups and the general public.
• Manages the coordination of activities with other local agencies addressing workforce and training issues.
• Supervises, directs and evaluates division.
• Develops, recommends and implements operating policies, procedures and programs designed to produce efficient economic development programs for Seminole County.
• Performs related duties as assigned or as needed.
• In the event of an emergency, all employees are considered essential personnel and may be required to perform alternate duties.

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor’s Degree in business, marketing, economics or related course of study. Six (6) years professional experience with a proven track record of success in economic development. Knowledge of financing concepts and government programs.

Preferred qualifications are a Master’s Degree in a related course of study which may substitute for required experience. Preference will be given to applicants with Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) certification.

Additional Requirements:

Intermediate level competence with Microsoft Office applications.

Note:  Resumes will be reviewed on June 30, 2013

Learn more about this job HERE.

EDC joins area chambers, others partners in helping to strengthen 10 small businesses

Brevard County, Fla. (June 14, 2013) – Ten Space Coast companies are reporting positive results ranging from expanded customer bases to improved websites after participating in the Florida Economic Gardening Institute through a partnership led by the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast.

The EDC worked with the Florida High Tech Corridor Council, Cocoa Beach Regional Chamber of Commerce, Melbourne Regional Chamber of East Central Florida, Greater Palm Bay Chamber of Commerce and Titusville Area Chamber of Commerce to provide the companies access to the tools and expertise of the institute and its personnel.

The participating companies, all based in Brevard County, were: Address N’ Mail; ASG Printing; Carbolosic Corp.; Diamond Systems; Mainstream Engineering; Pit Stop Oil Change; Pridmore Corp.; Quix; Southern Photo; and Tactical Electronics Corp.

Jane Cardenas, president of Pridmore, an electronic component distributor in Melbourne, said the program brought her access to resources that a small business might normally not get.

“The team of experts was on task, professional and extremely helpful during the process to meet our core strategy and objectives,” she said.

The institute’s program, known as GrowFL, allowed Cardenas to expand her customer base, while also helping her to improve her social media awareness and presence and streamline her outreach to key groups in the electronics industry.

Helping promising small companies grow is essential for the Space Coast’s economic success, said Lynda Weatherman, president and CEO of the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast. “A healthy company is one that will create jobs while also lending stability and innovation to our economy,” she said. “We are thrilled that the companies involved in GrowFL have benefitted from the experience, and we look forward to their continued success.”

Through economic gardening, companies focus on areas of their business they may not be able to find time for during daily operations. The program team worked in a virtual setting with leaders from these companies on core business strategy review, market research, competitive intelligence gathering, internet strategy, social media strategy, website analysis and search engine optimization.

“Our experience with GrowFL and the group that gave us guidance has been very valuable,” said Sharon Green, president of Melbourne-based Address N’ Mail. “We made important changes as a result of the GrowFL program, with many more improvements and implementations to come.”

Green’s company improved its search engine optimization, added a video and made other improvements to its website.

At Quix in Palm Bay, a series of reports from the GrowFL program touching on social media and industry and company intelligence were key components in the company’s growth and improvement in those areas, said Travis Peres, who founded the consumer packaged goods company with his wife Theresa.

“The business reports and other information provided to us under this program have saved us countless hours of research and have helped accelerate Quix through our journey from early-stage business to our current ready-to-launch posture,” Peres said.

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About the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast
The Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast is dedicated to attracting new business and investment and expanding existing industry throughout the Space Coast, influencing change on government laws and regulations affecting economic development, promoting the Space Coast to encourage new investment, supporting efforts of Space Coast military installations, and relaying new programs and procedures to assist manufacturing and high tech companies.  The EDC is a private, not-for-profit coalition whose stakeholders are business leaders committed to the economic growth and stability of Florida’s Space Coast. Visitwww.SpaceCoastEDC.org.

About the Florida Economic Gardening Institute
The Florida Economic Gardening Institute at the University of Central Florida was established in 2009. Initially funded by the Florida Legislature, the Institute has provided services via the State of Florida’s Economic Gardening Technical Assistance Pilot Program, known as GrowFL. With various partnerships throughout the state, the Institute collaborates with statewide partners to support the growth of second-stage businesses through localized entrepreneurial ecosystems. Additional information is available atwww.GrowFL.com.

Good Afternoon,

Amway Center Tour

Enjoy a one-of-a-kind experience at the FEDC Conference and earn additional accreditation by joining us on a private tour of the Amway Center in Downtown Orlando. Paul Bough, Senior Project Manager at URS Corporation, and Brooke Bonnett, Economic Development Deputy Director of the City of Orlando, will guide you through the ins and outs of design, use and economic benefits of the Amway Center.

What is the Amway Center? It is one of three public-private partnership projects focusing on sports, culture and entertainment which were approved in 2007 by the City of Orlando and Orange County governments at a total cost of $1.1 billion and known collectively as the Community Venues.

Through project efforts, more than 1,400 Central Floridians found employment, including 430 residents of the surrounding Parramore neighborhood.  Firms owned by women and minorities performed more than $94 million worth of work on the project, giving Amway Center one of the largest minority and women owned business participation rates of any project in Florida’s history.

For more details on the Amway Center Tour please visit the conference website, fedcconferencecom. 

Silent Auction at the 2013 FEDC Conference

Do you look forward to the silent auction every year? We do! Each year you all help us build a wonderful silent auction that raises funds for FEDC’s professional development and advocacy efforts. We need a few minutes of your time to send an email to local businesses in your area to ask for item donations. We have an email on our website that you can copy, paste and send directly to your contacts.

What items do people look for at a silent auction?Popular items purchased are vacations, spa days, memorabilia, game tickets, etc. We do ask that the items have a minimum value of $25.00.

For more details on the 2013 FEDC Silent Auction please visit the conference website, fedcconference.com.

Update Your Membership Records

Have a wonderful weekend,
Amy Evancho
President and CEO
Florida Economic Development Council

Grant, new web portal launched at 2013 Florida Logistics & Trade Conference

MIAMI – The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) today applauded the announcement by Workforce Florida Inc. President/CEO Chris Hart IV of a $2 million Quick Response Training Challenge Grant, available to employers in Florida’s logistics and trade industry to support job creation and growth.

This Quick Response Training Challenge Grant is a special statewide grant aimed at meeting training needs of existing Florida companies in the state’s logistics and trade sector. A key goal of this challenge grant is to help these companies enhance competitiveness by improving the skills of existing and new employees hired over the next year. The grant will be funded through Workforce Florida’s Quick Response Training program.

Secretary Prasad said, “I applaud President Hart and Workforce Florida’s commitment to strengthen Florida’s position as a leader in trade and logistics. FDOT’s new web portal and the challenge grant are important tools that will help create employment opportunities and boost our economy.”  Continue Reading: Workforce Florida Logistics and Trade Grant

The U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) press release covering national employment and unemployment estimates for May 2013 and the BLS Commissioner’s statement released this morning are available for download: May 2013 National Employment and Unemployment Stats

• The national unemployment rate was 7.6 percent in May 2013, up 0.1 percentage point from the April rate of 7.5 percent and down 0.6 percentage point from 8.2 percent a year ago.

• Total nonagricultural employment was 135,637,000 in May 2013, an increase of 175,000 jobs (+0.1 percent) over the month and an increase of 2,115,000 jobs (+1.6 percent) over the year.

Florida’s May 2013 labor statistics will be released on June 21, 2013.

Good Afternoon,

Governor Rick Scott Confirms Attendance at the 2013 Florida Economic Development Conference!

Governor Scott has been an active participant in our conference each year and the 2013 conference is no exception. We are thrilled the Governor will open the Eunice Sullivan and Toni Jennings Awards Dinner, which recognizes the outstanding achievements of an economic and workforce developer. The Governor is slated to speak at 6pm on Thursday, June 27th, 2013.

It isn’t too late to register for the 2013 FEDC Conference at the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport. We have limited space available and hope you will join us at the premier economic development conference of the year!

BOOK YOUR HOTEL TODAY!! THE $134 ROOM RATE ENDS NEXT TUESDAY, JUNE 4TH. THE BLOCK IS NEARLY SOLD OUT AND REDUCED RATES WILL EXPIRE NEXT WEEK.

For more details on the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport  or to book your room visit the hotel page on fedcconferencecom.

Five Amazing Plenaries at the 2013 Florida Economic Development Conference

The main purpose of the FEDC Conference is to bring you the absolute best professional development opportunities. This year the conference committee has put together an outstanding agenda with five amazing plenaries:

• Opening Plenary – Amy Liu, Senior Fellow and Co-Director of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program
• Lunch Plenary and Volunteer of the Year Awards Lunch – Rick Harper, Ph.D,  Director of UWF’s Office of Economic Development and Engagement & Senior Policy Advisor on Economic Affairs, Senate President’s Office
• Plenary Session – T. Phillip Dunlap, Director of Economic Development, City of Auburn
• Plenary Session – Kim Lear, Generational Consultant & BridgeWorks Speaker
• Closing Plenary – A Conversation with Florida’s Leadership – Chris Hart, President & CEO of Workforce Florida; Frank DiBello, President & CEO of Space Florida; Jesse Pannuccio, Director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (Invited); Gray Swoope, Secretary of Commerce, President & CEO of Enterprise Florida.

For more details on the 2013 FEDC Conference agenda and  to register please visit the conference website, fedcconference.com

Update Your Membership Records

Have a wonderful weekend,
Amy Evancho
President and CEO
Florida Economic Development Council

Good Afternoon,

Register for the 2013 FEDC Conference

It isn’t too late to register for the 2013 FEDC Conference at the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport. We have limited space available and hope you will join us at the premier economic development conference of the year!

Wonder who attends the conference? The conference is attended by economic, workforce and community developers from Florida’s 67 counties,  400 cities, 24 workforce regions, 12 universities and 28 community colleges. Over 200 professionals will enjoy the 16 breakout sessions and 5 plenaries that will grow their toolkit and support the continued growth of Florida’s economy and business climate.

For more details on the 2013 FEDC Conference Agenda and  to register please visit the conference website, fedcconference.com

TALLAHASSEE – Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 7.2 percent in April 2013, the lowest since September 2008 when it was 7.0 percent. The April rate was down 0.3 percentage point from the March rate of 7.5 percent and was 1.7 percentage points lower than the year-ago rate of 8.9 percent. There were 680,000 jobless Floridians out of a labor force of 9,411,000. The U.S. April unemployment rate was 7.5 percent. Florida’s unemployment rate was 0.3 percentage point lower than the U.S. rate and was below the national rate for the second consecutive month.

Florida’s seasonally adjusted total nonagricultural employment was 7,515,400 in April 2013, an increase of 17,000 jobs (+0.2 percent) over the month. The number of jobs in the state was up 119,100 from April a year ago, an increase of 1.6 percent. Nationally, the number of jobs was up at the same rate of 1.6 percent over the year. Continue Reading Press Release from Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity.

Rankings for the 10 most populous states and all states in the nation are available for download here.

• Unemployment Rates:  Compared to the ten most populous states, Florida had the third lowest unemployment rate (7.2 percent) in April 2013.  Illinois had the highest unemployment rate (9.3 percent) and Texas had the lowest (6.4 percent).

• Job Counts:  Compared to the ten most populous states, Florida (+119,100 jobs) ranked number three in over-the-year job gains.  All of the ten largest states added jobs over the year, led by Texas (+326,100 jobs).  Ohio gained the fewest jobs over the year (+4,400).

• Among all states, Florida had the third largest over-the-month increase in employment (+17,000 jobs); the third largest over-the-year employment increase (+119,100 jobs); and the third largest over-the-year decline in the unemployment rate (-1.7 percentage points).