"Why export?" That was the question posed during the Economic & Jobs Summit on April 15, which was the 6th in a series hosted by Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs. "Because it's good for your bottom line," was the answer given time and again by presenters, panelists and participants.

Consider these facts:

• 95 percent of the world's consumers live outside of the United States. Companies only selling domestically are reaching just a small share of potential customers.
• About one of every five factory jobs - or 20 percent of all jobs in America's manufacturing sector - depends on exports.
• Florida Origin Exports reached $55.2 billion in 2010 - a 17.8 percent increase from 2009 levels.
• Nearly 1.3 million jobs in Florida depend on international business and more than 55,000 Florida companies export. This is the second largest number of exporters in the U.S. after California.
• Small and medium size companies accounted for 62 percent of Florida exports in 2008. This is the highest figure among the 50 states and is much higher than the U.S. average of 31percent.
• And, perhaps most importantly for your company, companies that export report higher growth, pay higher wages, and are more profitable than non-exporters.

As part of our global outreach, the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission (EDC) provides direct consultation services to local businesses interested in establishing or expanding overseas trade. The EDC's International Business Development team promotes and supports local industry in several ways.

Outbound Trade Missions
Trade missions into foreign markets serve as matchmaking events, with appointments scheduled for local companies with potential international partners. Whether coordinated directly by the EDC, through the U.S. Department of Commerce, or through one of Enterprise Florida's international offices, these missions, which provide opportunities for in-depth presentations, are especially beneficial for companies whose products/services are not easily explained.

Inbound Trade Missions
In conjunction with partners such as Enterprise Florida, the EDC also coordinates several inbound trade missions into our market each year. These events help match local companies with potential international partners and promote greater trade between Orlando and the visiting region. Many of the participating delegates are particularly interested in understanding our region's strength in technology products and services.

Export Counseling
The EDC team visits hundreds of Metro Orlando companies each year to discuss a variety of business issues, including international trade. Our export counseling program can provide answers to shipping, legal and other technical questions. The EDC also frequently matches local companies with experts in the area through a referral service designed to meet specific company needs. Hundreds of local companies receive export counseling each year from the EDC.

Export Road Shows
The EDC hosts a series of Export Road Shows across the Metro Orlando region. These informative sessions, which are designed to help companies that are new to exporting, provide access to attorneys, CPAs, government organizations, freight forwarders, bankers and other international service companies who can answer a variety of questions related to international trade.

Throughout the Metro Orlando community, in addition to the EDC, you can find numerous support organizations and resources focused on helping you navigate the waters of international trade. Our region is home to three Consulate General Offices, five Honorary Consulates, over 20 bi-national chambers of commerce, and more than 50 bi-national cultural and trade organizations. For a list of those organizations and other EDC partners, click here.

For more information about how the Metro Orlando EDC can help your business, contact: Carmenza Gonzalez or Irma Stenman.

We've all heard the adage, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." According to a new breed of social entrepreneurs, even that's not enough. They won't be content until the fishing industry is revolutionized ... for the greater good.

The newest edition of the EDC's award-winning Texture magazine focuses on this growing trend of social entrepreneurship, which is a drive to affect social change through innovative business approaches. At the heart of this movement in our region is Rollins College's renowned Crummer Graduate School of Business, which is home to the Center for Advanced Entrepreneurship. Texture tells the story of local revolutionaries who are leading efforts to bring sustainable change to communities in Colombia, Haiti, India, Africa and beyond.

A related story features the work of Orlando-headquartered Wycliffe Bible Translators, which has more than 7,000 missionaries at work on over 1,500 Bible translations around the globe. Wycliffe's goal is to translate Scripture into the native languages of cultures worldwide, many of whom don't yet have a written language of their own. The story details technology advances that are expediting the process. What once took a lifetime can now be accomplished in less than 10 years.

Central Florida's manufacturing industry, which (despite reports to the contrary) continues to grow, is also highlighted in this issue, along with a description of that industry's efforts to drive STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) education at all levels. Another feature shines the spotlight on a few of the global powerhouses that have a presence in Central Florida: Siemens Energy, Darden Restaurants, Tupperware Brands and Mitsubishi Power Systems America.

Published twice a year by the EDC, Texture is designed to tell the stories of industry innovations and innovators that are driving our local economy. The newest issue is also on its way via mail to all EDC investors and Communique subscribers.

To view Texture online, click here.

Talk about economic development ... In the first ten years of its existence, the UCF Business Incubation Program, which has been recognized among the best in the nation, nurtured the growth of over 100 new high tech companies in Central Florida. Together, these companies were responsible for creating 1,653 jobs that resulted in more than $70 million in earnings and nearly $200 million in total economic output annually.

The influence of our hometown university's business incubation network on the strength of its client companies is also evident through the spate of honors garnered by current and past clients in recent weeks. Consider the following:

• Small Business Development Center at University of Central Florida client Fernando C. Pereira, president of Pegasus Transportation, was named the North Florida District's 2011 Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

• Hometown Health TV, LLC - a client of UCF's Business Incubation Program in Leesburg / Lake County - received a national award for community programming from Communitas Awards organization.

• And, four companies shepherded by the University of Central Florida Business Incubator Program - one current client and three graduate companies - were recently named among the 50 Florida Companies to Watch by GrowFL, UCF, The Edward Lowe Foundation and ACG Florida. They are OptiGrate Corp., which manufactures high-tech components for military systems, optical telecommunications, entertainment systems and sensing devices; Alinean, Inc., which develops online tools to promote business-to-business sales; DISTI Corporation, which provides industry leading 2D and 3D graphical user interface software and services worldwide; and Engineering & Computer Simulation, Inc., a leading provider of educational games and simulation, interactive performance assessment tools, mobile learning environments and enterprise-wide information management systems.

With the official opening of the Walt Disney Pavilion at Florida Hospital for Children, two industry giants have collaborated to usher in a new ushers in a new era of children's health care in Orlando, Florida. The Walt Disney Pavilion at Florida Hospital for Children is a seven-story facility that includes 200 pediatric beds, a dedicated pediatric Emergency Department, an advanced 81-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and pediatric surgical suites, all within an environment that brings Disney's special magic into the hospital.

Walt Disney Imagineers designed the space to complement the hospital's healing environment where young patients are supported by caring medical professionals, along with family and friends. When patients walk in the front door, they are greeted by several popular Disney characters in a one-of-a-kind interactive lobby created by Disney's Imagineers. Inspired by the soothing environment of nature, the lobby features Disney characters such as Timon and Pumbaa from "The Lion King," Flounder and Sebastian from "The Little Mermaid," Rutt and Tuke from "Brother Bear" and Baloo from "The Jungle Book." There are even custom scents on each floor to match each of the themes.

Throughout the design process, Florida Hospital also enlisted the help of its Family Advisory Council, which is an advisory group of past patients, parents and staff that offers feedback on the hospital. The Council contributed ideas on the layout of patient rooms, helped design the unique "family zone" waiting areas and even tested out various chairs and pull-out sofas that were incorporated throughout the hospital.

Click here for a virtual tour of the Walt Disney Pavilion, to learn about the Florida Hospital-Disney Partnership, and to read about the Grand Opening.

"As the American economy struggles to recover, its greatest advantage lies with its diverse population," writes Joel Kotkin in his introduction to Forbes magazine's 2011 list of Best Cities for Minority Entrepreneurs. "The U.S.' major European competitors - Germany, Scandinavia, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Italy - have admittedly failed at integrating racial outsiders. In contrast, America's destiny is tied to minorities, who already constitute a third of the nation's population and who will account for roughly half of the population by 2050. Younger and more heavily represented in the labor force, minorities are poised to become the primary source of entrepreneurial growth."

In recognition of the cultural and ethnic diversity which is helping to drive our region's economy, the Orlando-Kissimmee metropolitan statistical area (MSA) shows up in the #9 spot on that annual list, which was released this week. The only other Florida MSA on the list is Miami, which came in at #5. In determining the ranking, Forbes measured entrepreneurship (per capita self employment), along with housing affordability (median value divided by household income), population growth (2000 - 09), and income growth (1999 - 2009) among African Americans, Asians and Hispanics in markets with populations of 1 million plus.

The diversity of our region's population is often touted by the EDC as an asset to companies who seek a broad, multi-lingual workforce to effectively compete in today's global economy. In addition, recognizing that more minority-owned businesses are being created in this country than ever before, the Metro Orlando EDC maintains a targeted initiative, dubbed the "minority business channel", designed to identify and recruit minority- and women-led businesses with the potential for relocation or expansion.

For more about the Forbes' ranking, click here and here.