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Previous Economic Summits

2019 Orange County Regional Economic Summit

Mayor Jerry L. Demings joined partners from across Central Florida and the Orlando Economic Partnership to host the 2019 Orange County Regional Economic Summit on March 29 at the Orange County Convention Center.

This year, more than 700 attendees and community leaders joined the Summit to hear about the region’s flourishing economy. Spectrum News 13 anchor Ybeth Bruzual presided as the event’s Master of Ceremonies.

Mayor Demings said Central Florida continues to lead the state in job growth, creating more than 52,000 jobs in 2018, a 4.2 increase from the prior year. Additionally, Mayor Demings provided an overview of Orange County’s unparalleled quality of life, robust workforce pipeline and world-class talent pool highlighting regional powerhouses Lockheed Martin, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems and the $6 billion modeling, simulation and training industry representing 30,000 jobs with an average salary of over $78,000 annually.

Mayor Demings also presented a video titled, Voices of the Region, which highlighted representatives from various local small business and entrepreneurial programs. Following his presentation, Mayor Demings joined a panel discussion on the Orlando Economic Partnership’s 2030 report with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Seminole County Chair Brenda Carey, Osceola County Chair Cheryl Grieb and Lake County Chair Leslie Campione. The panel was moderated by CEO and President of the Orlando Economic Partnership Tim Giuliani. The report includes input from industry leaders on where the Orlando region is headed in 2030.

Panelists discussed Central Florida’s strong industry sectors, growing and expanding industries and the importance of regional mobility through transportation. Their priorities are nurturing and growing a regional ecosystem and developing Central Florida as a hub for innovative entrepreneurship providing high paying jobs and economic advancement for all residents.

Sean Snaith, Ph.D., director of the University of Central Florida Institute for Economic Competitiveness, provided his annual forecast. In additional to insight on federal regulation, he provided an overview for Florida’s strong economic standing and Central Florida’s continued prosperity.

Videos

2018 Orange County Economic Summit

The 2018 Economic Summit provided a barometer on Orange County’s growing business sectors and regional economic successes. The highly anticipated annual local and state economic forecast, issued by nationally renowned economist Sean Snaith, Ph.D., director of the University of Central Florida’s (UCF) Institute for Economic Competitiveness, was the central highlight of the event. Snaith said the state of Orange County’s economy is strong and robust. The region’s flourishing economy and business infrastructure, in addition to the region’s diverse and talented workforce, continues to aid Orange County’s upward trajectory of economic growth and progress.

The Summit also featured a panel focused on funding and growing Central Florida’s tech sector, featuring partners from the Orlando Economic Partnership, AceApplications, Clean the World, Edukate and Fattmerchant. The panel was moderated by Tim Giuliani, president and CEO of the Orlando Economic Partnership.

Panelists included Courtney Powell, president and owner of AceApplications; Shawn Seipler, CEO of Clean the World; Chris Whitlow, CEO of Edukate, Inc. and Suneera Madhani, co-founder and CEO of Fattmerchant.

Panelists provided an overview of the County’s growing technology ecosystem and highlighted the region's burgeoning innovations in tech entrepreneurship.

Following the 2018 Economic Summit, Orange County hosted the third Florida TechMatch, an invitation-only event that gives local technology companies the chance to build relationships with national industry leaders. More than 80 companies participated ranging from start-ups to large enterprise organizations like Microsoft, Apple and Universal Studios.

Presentations


News Story


2017 Orange County Economic Summit


Orange County welcomed a capacity crowd of more than 600 citizens to the 2017 Economic Summit at the Orange County Convention Center on Jan. 18, 2017. The highly anticipated local and state economic forecast, issued by nationally renowned economist Sean Snaith, Ph.D., director of the University of Central Florida’s (UCF) Institute for Economic Competitiveness, is the central highlight of the event.

Vernet Lasrado, Ph.D., assistant director for research at the University of Central Florida, provided insight and a presentation on the region’s extraordinary talent supply, which has attracted several high-profile business expansions to Orange County in 2016.

The Summit also featured a Workforce Development panel held focused on continued job growth and economic successes in Central Florida for the upcoming year. The panel was moderated by Pam Nabors, president and CEO of CareerSource Central Florida.

Panelists included Barbara Jenkins, Ed.D, superintendent of Orange County Public Schools, Thad Seymour, Ph.D, vice provost for UCF Downtown, Sanford “Sandy” Shugart, Ph.D., president of Valencia College and Crystal Sircy, executive vice president of the Orlando Economic Development Commission.

2016 Orange County Economic Summit


The 2016 Economic Summit featured Orange County's annual economic forecast by Sean Snaith, Ph.D., Director of the University of Central Florida's Institute for Economic Competitiveness as well as a competitive analysis of various aspects of our local economy by Rick Weddle, President of the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission.

The 2016 Orange County Economic Summit was held Thursday, January 21, 2016, at the Orange County Convention Center’s new Tangerine Ballroom in the West Concourse at 8:30 a.m.

2015 Orange County Economic Summit


The 2015 Summit featured Orange County’s annual economic forecast by Sean Snaith, Ph.D., director of the University of Central Florida's Institute for Economic Competitiveness. The Chair of Global Practice at Greenberg Traurig Jim Bacchus and Manny Mencia, Senior Vice President at Enterprise Florida, also provided an international trade overview. Additionally, an update on the new regional brand for Orlando was delivered.

2014 Orange County Economic Summit


Orange County hosted the 2014 Orange County Economic Summit on January 21 to discuss the expanding economy, business related programs and the region’s new branding initiative. More than 500 people attended the free event, which was held at the Orange County Convention Center. Citizen engagement is critically important to Orange County and the Mayor.