EDC staff were busy promoting our region from coast to coast last week. Their goal: to highlight Central Florida's advantages for business, especially in the film and technology industries.

Suzy Spang, vice president of film & entertainment technology, was in Park City, Utah for the internationally-renowned Sundance Film Festival, which focuses on independent films. She met with directors and producers from across the globe, promoting Orlando as the ideal location for filming.

Jennifer Pennypacker, director of film & entertainment technology, was in Miami for the National Association of Television Program Executives conference. She represented our region as a location for television production.

Gloria LeQuang, director of business development, was in San Francisco for SPIE Photonics West, an annual gathering of lasers, optics and photonics company executives. This specialized industry has a strong base in Central Florida.

This EDC has become recognized as an industry leader in the use of social media efforts to maximize impact before, during and after conference participation and sales missions. This week's activities reflected that. In order to stand out in the crowd, the EDC scheduled tweets designed to attract the attention of festival-goers. Here are a few samples:

• @filmorlando represents 4,012 square miles and 25 jurisdictions for film permitting in the nation. #Sundance
• Well known as the world's premier tourist destination, Orlando is a leading destination for film, TV and commercial production. #NATPE


• Did you know? The optics and photonics industry in Metro Orlando has been around since the 1960s. #SPIE #PW11

Follow the EDC on Twitter.

Annually the EDC advances an agenda designed to support legislative efforts that bolster economic development. In addition to high speed rail, this year's list of priorities, which was approved by the EDC Board of Directors last week, includes the following: creation of a research and development tax credit; expansion of current ad valorem tax exemption qualifications; enhancement of existing legislation for entertainment incentives and economic gardening; and creation of equitable funding allocation models for the Florida College System.

Click here for the complete 2011 Legislative Agenda.

Parallel Entertainment has returned to Central Florida for the production of Tooth Fairy 2 starring Larry the Cable Guy. This sequel to the popular Tooth Fairy is expected to shoot from Feb. 7- March 11 throughout the area, with production based at Universal Studios Florida.

Tooth Fairy 2 is the third project shot by Parallel Entertainment in Central Florida alongside Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector and Bait Shop. The film will stimulate the local economy with the anticipated creation of over 150 jobs as well as other expenditures. Tooth Fairy 2 is the first film to take advantage of the newly revamped film incentive in Central Florida.

While Orlando consistently ranks as one of the top places in the nation for business, now Orlando also ranks as the least expensive city in the nation for entrepreneurs to launch a business, according to a new report by The Boyd Co. of Princeton, N.J.

Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute has announced a three-year partnership with drug maker Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals to explore new drugs for Alzheimer's disease and psychiatric disorders, such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and depression. Teams at both Sanford-Burnham's La Jolla and Orlando campuses will be involved in the research. Molecular compounds will be screened using the robotic screening facility established by the National Institutes of Health at the research institute's Lake Nona site.

This good news comes on the heels of last month's announcement of a partnership between Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute at Lake Nona, Florida Hospital and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Asia's largest pharmaceutical company. That two-year Florida-based collaboration will focus on discovery and evaluation of new therapeutic approaches to obesity.

The University of Central Florida (UCF) ranks among the nation's top research institutions according to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. UCF joins Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Johns Hopkins, and Stanford in this impressive ranking.

During the last year, UCF researchers were awarded a record $133.3 million in external research funding. Much of the research that takes place at UCF is commercialized and brought to the marketplace thanks to the nationally renowned UCF Business Incubation Program which has helped develop 100 companies with an economic impact of $200 million.

Eek! It's snowing in the south! Even as far south as Atlanta...but not quite in Florida.

Producers and directors of television commercials who are literally snowed in right now are realizing they can no longer film in their original location.

The result? The Metro Orlando Film & Entertainment Commission's phones are ringing off the hook. Since the brutal winter weather started a few weeks ago, we've talked with dozens of industry professionals now considering or planning to film commercials in the sunshine state.

While our weather might be chilly this week (brr...it's 63 degrees out right now)...there is a 0% chance of snow (or any other precipitation), sunshine each day and green grass. This makes Metro Orlando the ideal market for television commercials. And while this time of year is always considered our busy season for commercials, this year could look even better thanks to the blustery weather across the south.

To contact our film office, call 407.422.7159 or for more on filming in Metro Orlando, visit www.FilmOrlando.com.

GrowFL, a program of the Florida Economic Gardening Institute at the University of Central Florida, helped Florida companies create more than 400 jobs throughout the state in 2010, the program's first year of operation. Based on proven business support strategies referred to as "economic gardening," this State of Florida-funded initiative targets companies in the second stage of growth that are most likely to create jobs.

The Metro Orlando EDC works closely with partners statewide to promote availability of the free suite of support services available to qualified second-stage companies through GrowFL. The Florida Economic Gardening Institute, which is based a UCF, was created by the Florida Legislature in 2009 to help stimulate Florida's economy.

This month, GrowFL and ACG Florida, in association with the Edward Lowe Foundation and funding support from the Governor's Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development, announced Florida's inaugural class of "Companies to Watch". This award recognizes privately held Florida businesses that employ up to 99 employees, have between $750,000 to $50 million in annual revenue or capital, and are notable for "positively impacting Florida's future." Together these small but growing companies generated $423 million in annual revenue and 510 net new jobs in 2010.

Of the 50 companies named "Companies to Watch" across the state of Florida, 16 of the winners are from Metro Orlando, including: Alinean, Inc.; Bari Furniture; Carter-Health; Engineering & Computer Simulations (ECS); Impact Lighting, Inc.; Industrial Lighting Products, Inc.; Innovative Data Solutions, Inc.; JVI Appraisal Division, LLC; Millennium Luxury Coaches; OptiGrate Corp; PlusOne Solutions, Inc.; Power Grid Engineering, LLC; THAT! Company; The DiSTI Corporation; The Kimball Companies; and VaxDesign Corporation.

Award winners will be honored at a celebration on February 17 at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando. Click here for more information.