While the EDC continues to support the growth of historically strong industries, such as aerospace & defense and digital media, we are constantly looking for new opportunities to diversify our future economy. We believe that one such opportunity lies within our existing specialty pharmacy subsector of life sciences. This $320 billion industry has recently emerged as the most dynamic sector of the pharmaceutical industry and Central Florida has quietly become the nation's leader and distribution hub. Orlando is already home to a handful of the top 15 specialty pharmacies in the nation, including Aetna, CuraScript, Prime Therapeutics and Walgreens. With over 3,000 employees and more specialty pharmacists than anywhere else in the world, the job growth potential for this industry is tremendous.

There has been a high volume of recent project activity in this industry. Like any fast growing industry, there are going to be growing pains, including talent availability and recruitment. The EDC, together with academic institutions and other community partners, is first and foremost committed to helping our already established pharmacies succeed. We are hosting focus groups to discuss talent recruitment and development strategy and provide educational support that will lead to the development of a robust workforce. We are engaged in ongoing dialogue with local specialty pharmacy consultant, Therigy, who is producing a white paper focused on Metro Orlando's specialty pharmacy industry.

As part of our approach to grow the industry, economic development partners from Progress Energy and the University of Central Florida joined members of the EDC's business development team, representing Metro Orlando at the Armada Specialty Pharmacy Summit. The Summit drew over 2,000 specialty pharmacy stakeholders and attendees from across the nation. The group received a lot of attention, as the first economic development organization to ever attend this summit. Representatives from local pharmacies were thrilled to see Orlando represented and thanked our team for participating. The team's time paid off in new project leads, future projects and a better understanding of what it will take to grow this industry.

The EDC's business development team also spent time courting corporate real estate executives and energy executives.

• CoreNet Global, the leading professional association for corporate real estate and workplace executives, held its annual Global Summit in San Diego with nearly 2,000 top corporate real estate decision-makers. The EDC was there along with Enterprise Florida to meet with site selection consultants and corporate real estate professionals, including hosting a special "FLAmingle" event at the San Diego Zoo encouraging attendees at the Global Summit to attend CoreNet Global's conference to be held in Orlando this October.


• The World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing, the world's largest industrial biotechnology event with more than 1,000 business leaders, investors and policy makers in biofuels, bio-based products, and renewable chemicals met. For the first time, the EDC attended the conference resulting in strengthened industry contacts and a deeper understanding of energy issues that will help in targeting this important sector.

Boyz II Men, the multi-platinum GRAMMY award-winning group, recently selected Full Sail University's campus as the host location to film the music video for their latest single "One More Dance." They were assisted by a crew of students who worked on the set and behind the scenes through Flight Plan, Full Sail University's initiative that provide students the opportunity to work on professional production projects allowing them to receive professional production credits before they even graduate.

Full Sail's "Behind the Scenes" video:

The EDC touted the region's aviation and simulation industry strengths to the over 350 companies in attendance at Halldale Media Group's World Aviation Training Symposium (WATS) April 17 - 19 at the Rosen Shingle Creek. Over 1,000 aviation training and simulation professionals, including top decision makers from more than 40 countries and 350 companies, attended the 15th annual conference. The EDC's Amy Dinsmore, Gloria LeQuang and Shelly Weidenhamer met with corporate executives to explore potential opportunities for their companies within Metro Orlando. Their time paid off in several new project leads and future prospects.

Most of the attendees were already familiar with the strong industry cluster that exists here; the result is substantial interest in the Orlando region. It is that very reputation that previously attracted JetBlue University, Adacel and Indra Systems, among others, to our market. And it is this "legacy" that we work to build and enhance to generate additional opportunity for the region.

The Florida Film Festival has been live streaming events all week from Orlando. Today the Metro Orlando Film Commission - a division of the EDC - is sponsoring a forum at 11 a.m. titled "How to Turn Small Movies Into Big Box Office Success" at the Enzian Theater.

The live stream is below or you can click here.

Make sure to come back Saturday, April 21 at 1:30 p.m. to watch "Florida Sidebar Shorts: Best of Brouhaha" where Orlando Film Commissioner Sheena Fowler will be moderating the Q&A live from the Regal Winter Park Village.

The 21st annual Florida Film Festival - a 10 day film festival sponsored by Full Sail University and presented by the Enzian Theater in Maitland - began Friday, April 13 and runs through April 22. Over 160 current independent and foreign cinema films will be shown in addition to non-stop events with over 100 visiting filmmakers and special and celebrity guests.

This year's festival is a record-breaking year with more entries and world premieres than ever before. In addition, there are more films with Florida connections than at any point in the past, including the opening night film, "Renee".

Based on a true story, "Renee" is a story about friends from Orlando who try to help a young woman named Renee break the cycle of drug addiction, depression and self-injury that eventually lead to the creation of a non-profit that supports those battling depression and self-injury called "To Write Love on Her Arms".

The production worked closely with the region's talented up-and-coming workforce in the film industry by utilizing students from Full Sail University, University of Central Florida, Valencia College, and the DAVE School.

The Metro Orlando Film Commission - a division of the EDC - worked closely with the film's producers last spring providing location scouting and permitting when they filmed the movie in and around downtown and in Eatonville.

For more information about the Florida Film Festival, visit floridafilmfestival.com. For more information about the movie "Renee", visit reneethemovie.com.

KEY FLORIDA FILM FESTIVAL EVENTS:

The Metro Orlando Film Commission is sponsoring a forum on Thursday, April 19 at 11:00 a.m. titled "How to Turn Small Movies Into Big Box Office Success" at the Enzian Theater.

Orlando Film Commissioner Sheena Fowler is moderating the Q&A for the "Florida Sidebar Shorts: Best of Brouhaha" on Saturday, April 21 at 1:30 p.m. at Regal Winter Park Village.

Both events will be live streamed and linked on FilmOrlando.com. Keep an eye out for "Live Streaming the Florida Film Festival" link.

AcariaHealth - a healthcare solutions provider of specialty pharmacy services - is expanding their presence in the City of Orlando, with a $600,000 capital investment and 20,000 additional square feet. The company plans to hire up to 80 new jobs over the next three years. The City of Orlando, State of Florida, Enterprise Florida and the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission (EDC) have all been partners in this successful corporate expansion project.

Other recent wins include:

Global Gifts and Novelties, LLC - an international corporation specializing in corporate identity, branding and promotion - is expanding the headquarters of their manufacturing and distribution facility in the City of Orlando and making a $1.25 million capital investment. They plan to hire up to 35 new workers over the next two years and retain an existing 42 positions. The City of Orlando, the State of Florida, and Enterprise Florida have been important partners in this project.

Priceline.com, Inc. is opening its second U.S. call center (and seventh worldwide) in South Orlando in SouthPark Center. The company plans to hire 100 workers by December. Orange County, the State of Florida, and Enterprise Florida have been important partners in this project.

Orlando hosted one of the largest tradeshows in the country this week, the National Plastics Expo (NPE) 2012. Owned and produced by SPI - the Plastics Industry Trade Association - more than 55,000 attendees (25% from outside the U.S.) and nearly 2,000 exhibitors took up 920,000 square feet of exhibit space. The number of registrations were up 30% higher than the last show in 2009 which was held in Chicago.

The plastics expo is planned to bring in more than $100 million in economic impact and offered the opportunity to showcase the potential of our region to this important group of professionals. The EDC's Business Development Team and other Regional Economic Development (RED) Team members were in attendance to meet with companies one-on-one and promote Orlando as an ideal business destination.

In 2009, Visit Orlando led a delegation of leaders, including then-Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty and the EDC, to convince them to move the show to Orlando. NPE will be back in Orlando for its next show in 2015.

EDC staff were busy promoting our region across the country this week, including right here at home. Their goal: to highlight Central Florida's advantages for business and filming.

Orlando Film Commissioner Sheena Fowler (far left) was in Austin, Texas, for South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Film and Interactive Festival where Film Florida - the statewide industry association - hosted their annual "Florida Fish Fry" to interact with producers and directors attending the festival and tout filming in the state. While there, Sheena created a relationship with director and Florida filmmaker Amy Siemetz (center) of "Sun Don't Shine", the breakout movie at the festival that received wide recognition, including from the New York Times. The movie was filmed in Florida and she is looking at other potential movies to film in the state. (Florida State Film Commissioner Shari Kerrigan at right.)

The EDC's Gloria LeQuang was in San Francisco, California, for the Game Developers Conference, the largest gathering of video game industry professionals. While there, she met with several several site selection consultants and company representatives to talk about our region's strength in the digital media industry and the talented workforce found in Central Florida, including from our higher education partners at the UCF's Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy, Full Sail University, Seminole State College, Valencia College, the DAVE School and more.

Here in Orlando, the EDC's business development team attended Pittcon, the world's largest conference for laboratory science, where we partnered with the University of Central Florida and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council for Technology Park, a showcase of technology in the region, including Florida Hospital's DaVinci Robot.

The EDC's annual James B. Greene Award Dinner was held at the Amway Center last week where over 550 business leaders from throughout Central Florida gathered to honor Pat Engfer, general manager of the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport, for her unprecedented involvement and leadership in the community.

Just having finished hosting the NBA All-Star Game last week, the Amway Center was the perfect location for this year's event. EDC Board Chairman and Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martins set the tone for the evening saying, "In this facility is where competition heats up on a regular basis. Now, more than ever, economic development is a competition not unlike basketball, and we want to win in the game for jobs."

He then went on to discuss the many ways in which our community partners together to make Central Florida a better place to live, work and play and asked for all attendees to become more involved and engaged in supporting the EDC.

The focus of the evening then turned to this year's recipient of the James B. Greene Award, Pat Engfer, general manager of the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport.

"She's one of the best known and most trusted leaders in our region and has touched all of our lives," said Martins.

Since moving to Central Florida in 1992 to open the Hyatt Regency, Pat has been involved with and led the major business community organizations in Central Florida - the Metro Orlando EDC, Visit Orlando, the Central Florida Partnership, the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association.

"She's one of the only people that has served on all these community boards, let alone led them all," said Martins. "This is why she's become the top 'go to' person in the community when there are issues and problems to be resolved."

Since 1990, the James B. Greene Award has been given by the EDC to recognize an individual for significant contributions to Central Florida's growth and quality of life.

Congratulations to our honoree, Pat Engfer, and sincere thanks to all who attended. Special thanks to the EDC Governors Council members who sponsored this memorable event: CNL, Darden Restaurants, Florida Hospital, Full Sail University, Harvard Development Company, Lockheed Martin, Massey Services, Inc., Orlando Health, Orlando Magic, Orlando Regional Realtor Association, Siemens, SunTrust, Tavistock Group, Tupperware Brands, University of Central Florida, Walt Disney World Resort and ZeroChaos. Thanks also to our video partner WKMG-TV 6.

Governor Rick Scott announced Publix Super Markets plans to create a one-million-square-foot distribution center in Orlando with a $188.5 million capital investment. Plans also call for staffing 156 new jobs during the center's first three years of operation.

"It is always good news for Florida when a company expands and increases its investment here," said Governor Rick Scott. "Publix has a well-known history as one of Florida's leading corporate citizens and contributors to our economic growth."

Publix is working to make the new refrigerated distribution center operational by fourth quarter 2014, according to Richard Schuler, Publix's vice president of distribution.

"In order to maintain our service levels to our stores and our service commitment to our customers, we needed to plan for future growth with an addition of a refrigerated distribution center," Schuler said. "Orlando was the best choice given inbound and outbound deliveries and the proximity to major roadways."

Partners in this corporate expansion project were the State of Florida; Enterprise Florida Inc., the state's principal economic development organization; the City of Orlando; and the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission.

"The Publix Distribution Center will create quality jobs for residents and infuse a significant amount of capital in our city," said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. "The company's decision to expand in our community is a true testament to the strong economy and business friendly environment that exists in the City of Orlando."

"A project of this magnitude is quite rare, especially in times like these," said Rick L. Weddle, president and CEO of the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission (EDC). "We are pleased that Publix Super Markets chose Central Florida for this new distribution center."

Publix has received approval from the state and City of Orlando for an incentive package totaling about $3.8 million. It includes:

• A Brownfield Redevelopment Bonus tax refund, which is performance-based, requiring the company to fulfill staffing and other contractual objectives before receiving tax rebates.

• An Economic Development Transportation Fund (Road Fund) grant, which is awarded to a local government on behalf of a business for public transportation improvements.

• Quick Response Training - an employer-driven training program that provides current Florida businesses with training needed for an expansion. A state educational facility (e.g., community college, technical center, school district or university) is available to assist with application and program development or delivery.

• Incumbent Working Training - provides training to currently employed workers in Florida companies to maintain a competitive workforce and retain the business in-state.