Leading Corporate Real Estate Execs Meet in Orlando FilmOrlando ...

Sundance. At the festival, UCF graduate Ben Piety premiered “Sunlit
Shadows,” a short film which he directed. In addition, Danny Daneau
who shot “A Monster in the Attic” – a student grant partnership between
UCF and Kanab County, Utah – served on a panel for the film festival.
Community Leadership Conference Builds Ties
and Collaboration
When looking back at the economic progress our region has
experienced during the past two years and looking forward to a future
ripe with potential, it makes sense to bring business, community and
government leaders together to propose a roadmap for addressing
opportunities and challenges. That was the goal of last weekend’s
Community Leadership Conference, co-hosted by the Metro Orlando
EDC, Orlando/Orange County CVB, and Central Florida Partnership.
CLC hosts included (l to r): Mark McHugh,
chairman of the board, Orlando/Orange
County CVB; Fred Leonhardt, chairman of the
board, Metro Orlando EDC; Des Cummings,
chairman of the board, Central Florida
Partnership.
The theme of the conference was
Going Global Together. More than
250 participants gathered to learn
more about remaining competitive
in the global economy, and to
weigh in on shared priorities.
Among other topics: EDC-led
sessions included an overview of
our bioOrlando and force protection
initiatives; both of which are
designed to strengthen valuable
industry sectors. The CVB
showcased their “Say ‘yes’ to
Orlando” campaign, which is
designed to help us compete head
on with better-funded countries,
states and regions worldwide. The Central Florida Partnership discussed
their newly announced effort to tackle transportation infrastructure needs
within the 7-county area served by MyRegion.
Tech Journal South, a business publication
focused on the “new economy” in the Southeast,
this week features an online story titled “Orlando
blooming as a Southeast tech hub.” Drawing
substantially from the EDC pr team’s quarterly
business development update, which is provided
to this and other targeted media, the TJS article
announces $530 million in planned mixed use
projects, and notes our region’s advances in
medical and human factors research, alternative
energy development, and entrepreneurial start
ups. To view the article, click here.
And there are others taking note of tech
development in Central Florida. A North Carolinabased
blog, localtechwire.com, has named
Seminole County-based Florida’s High Tech
Corridor Council one of “ten organizations
creating buzz in the Southeast Tech community.”
To visit the blog, click here.
Building on this information and much more, conference attendees then
defined opportunities and gaps where success is not attainable
independently. Feedback from participants indicated four regional
priorities:
• transportation;
• economic diversification;
• collaboration approach to track progress;
• brand and promotional alignment, where possible.
The spirit was one of collaboration, information sharing and open
dialogue. The goal was to further improve already strong working
relationships, and to enhance the effectiveness of our joint initiatives. To
address questions raised by the local media in the wake of the CLC: At
no point was merger between any of the involved organizations
discussed, nor is that the intent, either near or long term. In fact, building
understanding of the independent roles and responsibilities of each host
organization – the EDC, CVB and Partnership – was the first order of
business of the three-day event. That time appears to have been well
spent, as participants indicated they left the conference with a much
clearer understanding of our individual missions, as well as how we
interact together.
For a complete re-cap of the Community Leadership Conference, go to
the “Conference Recap” pages of the CLC website:
www.communityleadershipconference.com.