Tech industry powerhouses from throughout Central Florida - including NASA, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, SAIC, Boeing, Harris Corporation, Naval Air Warfare Center, U.S. Army PEO-STRI, Disney, and Cox Marketing - have joined with the University of Central Florida, Manufacturers Association of Central Florida and Florida Virtual School to encourage study in science, technology, engineering and math.

This impressive coalition represents the charter members of the Central Florida STEM Education Council (CFSEC), which will be based at the UCF Business Incubation Program in the Central Florida Research Park.

Their end goal is to prepare and entice pre-college students to enter technical fields of study and, ultimately, to pursue high-tech jobs in Central Florida. Efforts will be directed at students in Orange, Seminole, Lake, Osceola, Brevard, Volusia, Polk and Flagler counties.

Despite the recession, the demand for qualified technical workers remains high in Central Florida. This initiative will help address that demand well into the future.

The recent Florida Jobs Summit, hosted by Senator Mike Haridopolos and House Speaker-elect Dean Cannon here in Orlando, brought leaders in business, government, education and labor together to focus on ideas to help boost investment, economic growth and job creation in the Sunshine State.

This interactive public forum provided an opportunity for concerned business leaders and citizens from throughout the State of Florida to provide input directly to state legislators as the head into they 2010 Legislative Session. Suggestions for accelerating job creation ranged from short term, such as suspending the increase in Florida's Unemployment Compensation Tax; to the long term, such as developing new, non-tax sources of revenue to invest in development of human capital and infrastructure; to the political, such as a call to defeat the proposed Constitutional Amendment 4 known as Hometown Democracy.

Stakeholder input was also vital to development of Enterprise Florida's (EFI) newly released five year plan "The Roadmap to Florida's Future" In establishing priorities for this plan, Enterprise Florida, our statewide economic development organization, gathered input from citizens and community stakeholders throughout the state over the last year - in both public forums and through an interactive Web site.

The EFI plan includes 24 sets of recommendations to help establish Florida as a leader in the global innovation economy, including strategies for industry cluster development, workforce development, business climate improvement, and expanded global marketing. To view the plan, visit http://www.eflorida.com/roadmap.

The 2010 Orlando Filmbook is here! This is the go-to guide for the film industry in Metro Orlando. Everything about filming in Orlando is included - incentives, sales tax, labor laws, locations, permitting, etc. In addition, the Filmbook provides information on all aspects of the film industry - directors, producers and production companies; backlots, stages and locations; crews and technicians; talent services; equipment; production support; and post production.

The Orlando Filmbook is published annually by the Metro Orlando Film & Entertainment Commission - a division of the Metro Orlando EDC. The Film Commission provides the following services:

• 24 hour access to the Orlando Filmbook online at www.filmorlando.com
• One-stop permitting for location filming
• Use of an extensive digital location library...accessible anytime, from anywhere
• Preliminary scouting, evaluation of locations, and familiarization tours
• Assistance with local hotels and accommodations
• Support throughout the entire production schedule

Order your 2010 Orlando Filmbook online today!

And be sure to connect with the Metro Orlando Film & Entertainment Commission via social networking on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube to stay updated on the latest film and digital media news.

Today kicks off the fifth annual OTRONICON - (O)rlando Elec(tron)ic (I)nteractive Entertainment (Con)vention - event at the Orlando Science Center.

A four day event, Otronicon is a celebration of interactive technology using video games to demonstrate the future of how we live, learn, work and play.

Otronicon spotlights Metro Orlando's growing digital media and simulation industries and helps introduce those industries to students throughout the region through several game design workshops taught by Full Sail University.

It's the first week of a new year, which means many of us have made our "live a healthier lifestyle" new year's resolution. Well, Orlando might be just the place to do it!

As the rest of the world is beginning to discover, Metro Orlando is leading the way in the trendy field of lifestyle and preventive medicine. Our region is already home to several renowned lifestyle fitness facilities - including the National Training Center, led by Central Florida native and two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, Dr. Dot Richardson; Celebration Health Assessment, a proponent of the CREATION Health lifestyle program; the Rippe Lifestyle Institute; and the Center for Lifestyle Medicine at the University of Central Florida, both of which are led by Dr. James Rippe, one of the leading authorities on preventive cardiology, health and fitness, and healthy weight loss in the United States.

Those are all good starting places for resolution makers.

Scientific leaders in our region are also focused on future advances in this realm. For example, a recent article by M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando oncologists, published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, points to lifestyle interventions that can prevent and treat various types of cancer. The article looks at five cancers - lung, colon and rectal, breast, prostate and skin - that have causes that are lifestyle based and controllable through alterations in human behavior.

In addition, the primary focus of research at the new Burnham Institute for Medical Research at Lake Nona is on combating diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease - health problems that are often avoidable or manageable through lifestyle adaptations. To help put these research lessons quickly into practice, Burnham has teamed with Orlando-headquartered Florida Hospital to establish a Clinical Research Institute where the two organizations will work together to conduct translational research, creating a bridge between the lab and the bedside.

Could Metro Orlando one day become the healthiest region in the nation? Dr. Rippe thinks so. "You have to start somewhere... Why not Orlando?" he says. "Orlando has tremendous advantages going for it. There's the year-round warm climate; it has a powerful and large university; it has a new medical city being planned; and it also has a very visionary healthcare community... There are so many things that point to Orlando as being the ideal place for this."

New year, new you, new industry for Metro Orlando. That's a resolution worth keeping!

To read more in the latest issue of the EDC's Texture magazine: click here and here.

Women in Film and Television Florida's recent "Jingle Mingle" event gave the EDC's Metro Orlando Film & Entertainment Commission a chance to do some filming of its own. We asked attendees a question to help in our ongoing promotion of this region as a location for their industry -- Why do you find Metro Orlando a great place for film and entertainment production? -- and captured their responses for posting on our YouTube channel.

Jules Keeley, a local freelance production coordinator/ manager, responded enthusiastically: "Our crews can compare with any in the world...plus we have the resources, infrastructure and the Florida lifestyle."

More praise rolled in from MedStar, the production company behind TV's Forensic Files, which has twice filmed episodes in Metro Orlando in recent months. "The crew is nice and the best we work with, no attitudes, and they know their jobs ... the locations are all great to work with, friendly and Orlando has the look of anywhere we need to duplicate ... We love it here. We will be back in 2010."

Industry satisfaction is important and translates into increased business for the region. In fact, film permits are being processed in increasing numbers by the EDC's Film & Entertainment Commission. Here are a few recent examples:

• TV Commercials - Jackson Hewitt, Olive Garden, US Census
• Television Series - Forensic Files, Dr. G: Medical Examiner, MTV's 16 & Pregnant
• Feature/Independent Films - Touching Lives, Overlap

Up next? The EDC's Film and Entertainment Commission heads to Sundance Film Festival in January to promote Orlando as a location for independent films, and to Washington, D.C. for the Reel Screen Summit to promote Orlando as a site for non-fiction television production.

On the Legislative front, the EDC's Legislative Committee will support our Film Commission's efforts to advocate for incentives designed to keep Florida competitive as a film industry hub. The main push this year is to turn the state's film incentive into a rebate, which is the industry standard in the U.S.

A recent study - published in Science - named the State of Florida as the 3rd happiest state in the U.S.

The study, led by researchers at the University of Warwick (UK) and Hamilton College (NY), found that a person's self-reported happiness matches up with objective measures of state-level happiness. The results are based on both personal reports of happiness and objective quality of life measures.

While there are many deciding factors that go into the site selection process for where businesses decide to expand and/or relocate, quality of life definitely plays a big role. If workers are happy in a region, it tends to enhance employee recruitment and retention. And the #1 factor businesses look for in the site selection process is the quality of workforce. Therefore, this new ranking bodes well for the State of Florida.

Here are just a few of the reasons why residents of Metro Orlando are happy:

Year-round sunshine. Outdoor recreation. Proximity to beaches, lakes, springs, parks, trails, and fields. World-class entertainment options. Distinctive neighborhoods. World-class shopping. (Closets free of winter coats, scarves and gloves!) The region's amenities, natural and "man-made", make Metro Orlando a great place to work and to live.

The nurturing of Florida-based businesses, especially those in the second-stage of development (who historically have the greatest potential for percentage growth in revenue and employment), is the goal behind Florida's Economic Gardening Stimulus Plan, which was announced earlier this year. This plan, titled GrowFL, is now taking root ... and Metro Orlando is leading the way.

Funded by the Florida Legislature for a one-year trial period, the GrowFL program will be based at the University of Central Florida's new Florida Economic Gardening Institute (FEGI). Designed to serve as a statewide resource center for established Florida companies with 10 to 50 employees, the program will help qualified companies within this size range expand and create additional jobs. Already up and running, the GrowFL Center provides free businesses consulting and access to proven tools purchased for this purpose.

For companies within Metro Orlando who want to apply for technical assistance, the Metro Orlando EDC serves as the single point of contact. The EDC team is already working to identify companies that qualify and to lead them through the assessment process. Our effort serves as the pilot for what we expect will be a statewide network of regional organizations serving as local facilitators for the GrowFL program.

Recognizing that direct assistance programs such as this are a key to economic recovery, the EDC is working closely with our counterparts statewide to encourage Legislative support for the continuation of this program beyond its first year pilot status. We are also encouraging expansion of the definition of a qualified company to include companies with 50 to 100 employees, which would be consistent with the successful economic gardening program in Littleton, Colorado.

Two local companies are already on the verge of being selected for full assistance through GrowFL, and we expect between 30 to 50 additional local companies to receive some level of assistance this year. Ultimately, with the right nurturing, one of these "stage 2" companies could become this region's next Lockheed Martin or Darden Restaurants or HD Supply, which, we all know, bloomed from much more humble roots in our community.

To apply, visit www.GrowFL.com.

From the creation of simulated trauma patients used to train military medics, to virtual 3D people used to diagnose and treat patients, the place to be for some of the latest gaming and digital media technology for health and medical applications is Orlando, Florida.

Orlando is one of the top 12 clusters in the country for digital media, as well as one of only two cities in the world with a large-scale 'medical city' complex underway. The digital media and medical sectors are converging, bringing new innovations to life. Numerous people and organizations are leading the way.

* 360Ed has teamed up with the Florida Department of Health and the University of Florida College of Medicine to develop Burn Center, an interactive, 3D, game-based technology used to train medical professionals at trauma centers, hospitals and universities across the country. The purpose of the program is to improve the triage and care of critically injured victims of burn, bomb and blast disasters.

* To become better doctors, the new University of Central Florida College of Medicine is engaging its first class of medical school students in playing games. A web-based avatar program developed by UCF Assistant Professor David Segal is helping students learn how to properly evaluate and diagnose a variety of patient ailments. The digital patients can respond to questions, sneeze, cough, age and even call students in the middle of the night with an illness.

* Engineering & Computer Simulations Inc. (ECS) developed a virtual world called Nexus to help first responders train and collaborate during natural disasters. The company also has a contract with the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) to train military medical professionals.

* Emergency Medicine Learning & Resource Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and advancing emergency medicine, disaster management, pre-hospital emergency care and public health by providing annual continuing medical education and research activities. Its 45-foot Mobile Simulation Lab (motor coach) trains emergency providers around the state. The Lab utilizes simulation technologies to train real lifesavers on everything from ER care, to pandemic flu, nerve agents, blast
injuries and more.

* Virtual Reality Medical Center (VRMC) merges special effects with simulation technology at its Center for Injury Creation Science. Attracted to Metro Orlando because of the strength of the region's simulation and training industry combined with the University of Central Florida College of Medicine, the company develops prosthetic tissue and wounds for medical training purposes, among several other focus areas. These prosthetics can be adhered to mannequins or human actors and create a
realistic training environment for combat medics or first responders.

There is a reason that Orlando has been named among the nation's best locations for minority-owned businesses. This young, dynamic community embraces novel ideas, diverse perspectives and new faces. Look closer! You'll see why forward-thinking companies, visionary entrepreneurs and talented workers from all walks of life come to Orlando to find opportunity and success.

From a nurturing entrepreneurial environment, to a diverse and economically thriving marketplace, to a can't-be-beat quality of life, Orlando has the assets and features that are drawing people of all ethnic backgrounds from all over the globe.

* Recently ranked as the third fastest growing metro area for the African-American and Asian-American populations.
* Ranks third in the nation for African-American net migration; minorities make up one-third of Central Florida's population.
* By 2020, nearly half of the region's residents will be African-American, Hispanic and Asian-American.
* Numerous Orlando-based companies, including Walt Disney World Resorts, Darden Restaurants and Lockheed Martin, are national leaders in providing diversity programs and initiatives.
* Orlando is considered a "Melting Pot", which is defined by the Census as a region with more than one minority group overrepresented and a white population smaller than 67.4% of the population.

Metro Orlando is a region on the move for African-American entrepreneurs and business leaders with more than 11,000 black-owned businesses currently operating here. Many of our most successful businesses are led by African Americans, including:

* Ronald Blocker - superintendent, Orange County Public Schools
* Brian Butler - president and CEO of JCB Construction
* Mark Glover - president and CEO of M & S Enterprises LLC
* Tony Jenkins - market president, Central Florida of Blue Cross Blue Shield Florida
* Robert Johnson -- founder of Black Entertainment Television, acquired Metro Bank in Orlando and renamed it Urban Trust, the first branch of a network that will serve African-American communities nationwide.
* Avido Khahaifa - senior vice president and general manager, Orlando Sentinel Communications
* Derek Lewis - senior vice president and general manager, Pepsi Bottling Corporation
* William Miller, Jr. - president and shareholder - Moore Stephens Lovelace, P.A.
* Clarence Otis -- CEO of Orlando-based Darden Restaurants, the largest casual dining company in the world, a Fortune 500 company and recently named as "one of the best companies for diversity" by Black Enterprise Magazine.
* Ronald Rogers - African-American Chamber of Commerce
* Mark Russell -- managing editor of the Orlando Sentinel.

Click here to read more.

The Metro Orlando EDC believes it's important to even further diversify our region. That's why we started the Minority Channel initiative - it's aimed at recruiting minority-owned and led businesses to Metro Orlando. And, that is exactly what we'll be doing this weekend during the Florida Classic Game. This provides the opportunity for the EDC team to spend time with several c-suite executives interested in expansion opportunities. Similar EDC activities target other minority owned and led businesses on an ongoing basis.

The Metro Orlando EDC was recently recognized for our Minority Channel Initiative in the 2009 Beacon Awards which honor Central Florida organizations and leaders who make workforce diversity a priority.

In addition to the Metro Orlando EDC, several organizations assist in enhancing the local environment for minority-owned businesses:

* African American Chamber of Commerce of Central Florida
* Black Business Investment Fund
* Florida Minority Supplier Development Council
* Metropolitan Orlando Urban League
* Minority/Women Business Enterprise Alliance