Thanks to the author and chief sponsor of Florida's revamped film and entertainment incentive, Representative Stephen Precourt, Florida's film, television and commercial production industry has been sizzling. And the news of the 'game changing' incentive is being well documented. Just take a look at the cover story in the current issue of Texture magazine. And now, P3 magazine, a monthly internationally-distributed trade publication, has named Florida a top 10 U.S. film location, citing the state's newly revamped incentive program, diverse locations and deep infrastructure.

As the news continues to spread, film professionals are taking advantage. "Transformers 3" was recently in Central Florida to film at Kennedy Space Center and other locations throughout the state, including Orlando International Airport's Signature Jetport.

Stay tuned for the next wave of exciting productions that will be heading to Florida. To stay up with the latest, become a fan of Film Orlando on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

To attract, retain and grow jobs for Metro Orlando. That is the mission of the Metro Orlando EDC; and it is what our community is most concerned about in today's economy. So we are pleased to share news of companies throughout our region who have announced plans to expand and add jobs. Your EDC has worked with each of these companies, and though the economic impact won't be realized immediately - companies provide anticipated job creation and other impact numbers over three to five years - their plans bring welcome signs of optimism.

In Seminole County, software company EZYield.com plans to add 75 new jobs at their Winter Springs facility over the next three years. Working with the EDC and Seminole State College, the company, which provides online distribution software to the hospitality industry in 92 countries, has qualified for a QRT training grant to assist with their expansion plans. And, Longwood-based Calvert Manufacturing has announced plans to expand their existing facility and create 18 new jobs over the next three years. Calvert, which is a leading heavy equipment manufacturer that has served the U.S. plywood industry since 1946, specializes in new and rebuilt "green-end" equipment.

In Lake County, Visions@Work has announced plans to add 97 new jobs within three years. This Clermont-based company links e-business with information systems for healthcare organizations. Their new product launch of "Prefer" allows doctors, hospitals and medical labs to more efficiently manage the medical referral process. They have recently opened a second office in Downtown Orlando and entered into a partnership with NIIT Technologies to headquarter their worldwide Health Information Technology operations in Central Florida.

In Orange County, Utah-headquartered Innovative Medical Device Solutions (IMDS) has announced plans to establish their "co-innovation headquarters" in the Central Florida Research Park. The company, which was originally referred to the Metro Orlando EDC through a member of our bioOrlando Council, chose this region based on its growing life sciences cluster, world class airport and quality of life. IMDS, which specializes in medical device development and manufacturing, indicates that they will bring 35 jobs, mostly in engineering and production, to Central Florida within three years.

With the help of fast-track permitting from the City of Orlando, nutraceutical sales company Xymogen, based in Central Florida since 1991, will expand their business and build a 72,000-square-foot manufacturing facility on Kingspointe Parkway near John Young and the Turnpike. This fast growing company, which has experienced over 22 percent growth annually, has also announced plans to add 58 new jobs within three years. The company is developer of the patented XYMOGEN® line of professional formulas, which are distributed exclusively to licensed healthcare providers.

University President Bernie Machen was joined by Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Florida CFO Alex Sink, Speaker of the House Designate Dean Cannon and other state and local notables on Tuesday as the University of Florida broke ground on its Research and Academic Center planned for Lake Nona.

The center will extend UF's research enterprise to the Orlando area and promote collaboration among researchers at UF and Sanford-Burnham Institute for Medical Research. When completed in summer 2012, the $44 million, 100,000-square- foot facility, will house the following:

• A clinical research unit from UF's Institute on Aging;
• Expansion of the College of Pharmacy's Ph.D. program in the emerging field of pharmacometrics, an area of research which seeks to quantify how drugs and diseases interact to aid in efficient and effective drug development and regulatory decisions;
• The Orlando campus of the College of Pharmacy's entry-level professional degree program, which will house 200 students seeking the doctor of pharmacy degree

The center will also give the state's flagship university a strong presence in the growing medical complex at Lake Nona, which includes the UCF College of Medicine and Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, the Nemours Children's Hospital, the Orlando Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the M.D. Anderson Center Research Institute. UF's Lake Nona facility will be the first joint research and teaching center located outside of the University's Gainesville service area.

Downtown Orlando-headquartered Alinean, a leading developer of software tools designed to measure business valuations and ROIs, has been approved for Qualified Targeted Industry (QTI) funding from the City of Orlando and the State of Florida. This incentive, which is available to companies that create high-wage jobs in targeted industries, will allow the company to add ten additional jobs within the next couple of years.

Alinean's growth has been steady. The company, which specializes in interactive, online tools designed to increase sales through increased customer engagement, was originally founded in the UCF Technology Incubator. They expanded into offices in the Central Florida Research Park in 2002 and further growth brought their headquarters to downtown Orlando in 2005. With the QTI approval, Alinean, which has worked with the EDC throughout their growth, is again poised to expand in 2010.

Today Alinean's customers include HP, IBM, Microsoft, Dell, AT&T, Siemens, Cisco, Oracle, and many others. We are proud that they call Metro Orlando home.

Today is "Official World Smile Day", and there's a lot to smile about here in Central Florida. Early this morning the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) set out to break the record for the World's Largest Smiley Face - and they succeeded! Over 500 people helped smash the previous record when they gathered on the rooftop of the new Amway Center parking garage to don colorful rain ponchos and their brightest smiles. The promotion is part of the CVB's global marketing campaign, "Orlando Makes Me Smile," and is the culmination of their World Smile Search program that began in April of this year.

The smiles got even broader later in the morning, as an estimated 3,000 people turned out for the grand opening of the new Amway Center in downtown Orlando, complete with fireworks. As well as serving as home to our Orlando Magic, new venue is notable for its environmental friendliness and its technological advances. At 875,000 square feet, the new arena is almost triple the size of the old Amway Arena. It features 1,100 digital monitors and the largest high-definition scoreboard in an NBA venue, as well as multiple premium amenities that will be available to all patrons in the building.

Welcoming remarks were provided by Orlando Magic CEO and Vice Chairman Bob Vander Weide, Orlando Magic President (and EDC Vice Chair) Alex Martins, Orange County Mayor Richard T. Crotty and Candace Matthews of Amway. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer also delivered his "State of Downtown" address, focusing on the vision for all three community venues. Click here to see the intro to his State of Downtown address. With this advanced facility now open, Orlando is poised to compete for premier sport, concert and other entertainment events that will attract new spending into our community, as well as serve as a enhancement to business attraction and retention. Mayor Dyer reminded us of the economic development value of such venues, quoting Dr. John Reed, CEO of Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, who cited the community venues as one reason Burnham chose Orlando.

That's the kind of economic engine that makes us smile!