The process to make way for the development of Orlando's Creative Village is underway. Over the next two months, work will begin on demolishing the Amway Arena, resulting in its implosion in March.

This is the first step in clearing the land for the 68-acre Creative Village - a mix of living and work spaces designed to build on the success of Orlando's digital media industry. It is envisioned to be a place for high tech companies to locate and employees and residents live, work, learn and play. The village will have a strong focus on education as it is anchored by the University of Central Florida's Center for Emerging Media and its Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (FIEA), House of Moves motion capture studio and the Nap Ford Charter School.

At its build-out, studies estimate the Creative Village will create 5,000 permanent jobs.

To learn more about Creative Village, click here.

Wyndham Vacation Ownership - a member of the Wyndham Worldwide family of companies - is expanding their presence in South Orange County with a $24.7 million capital investment in the 300,000 square foot former Harcourt-Brace building.

The company plans to hire 231 new jobs over the next three years in positions including executive management, marketing, sales and administration.

The EDC has worked closely with Wyndham Vacation Ownership over the last several months, assisting them with information on our business climate and workforce; analysis of key location factors - real estate costs, labor market conditions and operating costs; and incentives facilitation.

Orange County, the State of Florida, Enterprise Florida and Workforce Florida have been important partners in this successful corporate expansion project.

Responding to opportunities in the burgeoning solar energy market, Lake Mary-based BlueChip Energy, LLC (BCE) has created over 180 jobs since 2009. The company is on track to reach over 500 new jobs within two to three years and increase the size of their existing Seminole County facility. The expansion is attributed to growth of the company's manufacturing subsidiary, Advanced Solar Photonics (ASP), as well as its development of utility scale solar farm projects in Central Florida.

In 2011, ASP increased its PV solar panel manufacturing capacity to 100MW, making it one of the largest producers in North America. Here in Central Florida, ASP is providing solar modules for the Rinehart Solar Farm in Lake Mary. Its rooftop solar plant of 1.2 MW makes the Rinehart project the largest rooftop solar plant in the State of Florida. BCE is also developing the 40 MW Sorrento Solar Farm in Lake County.

The EDC has worked closely with this company for a number of years. Most recently, EDC project manager Tracy Turk assisted the ASP manufacturing division with various incentive applications, including sales tax exemptions on utilities and manufacturing equipment, financing alternatives and a Quick Response Training (QRT) grant in the amount of $645,398.

BlueChip Energy is a fully integrated solar PV power generator, occupying all segments of the solar power value chain - from the manufacturing of solar panels and components, to the sale of turnkey solar power plants, to the sale of solar electricity to utility, commercial and residential customers. It's manufacturing division, ASP, is globally-recognized for manufacturing, research and development of crystalline silicon solar photovoltaic (PV) panels for utility, commercial and residential applications.

Maitland-headquartered AcAe Software, LLC has announced plans to expand their Central Florida operations, a move expected to create 93 new positions within the next three years. The company provides high-tech design, consulting, and support services for companies using electronic design automation software.

The EDC first worked with AcAe on relocation of their corporate headquarters from England to Maitland in 1994. Since then, the company has enjoyed steady growth and has diversified its product and service offerings. Most recently, the EDC's business development team assisted AcAe with a Qualified Target Industry (QTI) grant request, which has been approved by Orange County, the City of Maitland and the State of Florida.

AcAe's proprietary "Universal, Neutral Format Translator" helps computer programs talk to each other and work together more easily. One catalyst for the company's recently announced expansion has been the nationwide move to streamline electronic health care records; AcAe's Software Translator, named DART™, simplifies and streamlines the migration of electronic design data across multiple platforms. The company's services also include electronic design automation consulting and training, and its clients include multinational companies worldwide.

Team Cymru, a specialized Internet security research firm that helps organizations identify and eradicate criminal activity online and in their networks, announced this week that they will relocate their corporate headquarters from Illinois to Metro Orlando.

EDC business development representatives Brian Walters and Tracy Turk were in Chicago late last week, along with EDC board member Bill Vogel, superintendent of Seminole County Public Schools. They met with the company's 25 headquarter employees and their families, most of whom will relocate to Central Florida. Company operations are expected to be up and running here by August 1st, with the move completed by the end of the year. Negotiations are underway for a location in Seminole County.

Relocating with Team Cymru will be a talented team of individuals who have experience in systems development, IP network engineering, security architecture, systems and network administration, network and hard drive forensics, malware analysis, penetration testing, and a variety of other areas.

Together, this Team delivers some of best security insight and services in the industry, including many no-cost services offered for the benefit of the Internet community. In addition to its headquarter employees, the company also has researchers based in the UK; Poland; New Zealand; Australia; Arizona; Washington D.C.; New York; Missouri; and California. The company has announced plans to hire an additional six employees immediately, and expect to make additional hires within the next two years.

In fact, it is the ability to recruit the skilled UNIX system engineering and development talent that attracted Team Cymru to this market. "We've assured our clients of two things," says company CEO Rob Thomas. "In the short term, we can and will accomplish this move with no disruption to their or our business. In the longer term, the move will permit our company to grow. We are confident that the Orlando market gives us access to a plethora of candidates with the skills we need, as well as the ability to recruit and retain the best and brightest talent."

Though Team Cymru specializes in sophisticated computer security applications, they say that the most frequent question they answer is this: "What is Cymru?". Pronounced "kum-ree", it is the Welsh word for the country of Wales. The company name, along with its distinctive dragon logo, is a nod to two of the Team Cymru founders, who have strong ties to Wales.

Economic development occurs in a variety of ways. While the attraction of new companies to the region generally grabs headlines, the expansion of existing local companies, especially expansions that result in additional jobs, is equally important to economy building. Two recent EDC project announcements reflect economic development success on both of those fronts.

New corporate headquarters coming to town. The American Academy of Optometry (AAO), an international association of optometrists and vision scientists headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area, has announced plans to relocate their association headquarters to Metro Orlando in 2012. The relocation is expected to create 10 new jobs within the next three years. The EDC has worked on the AAO headquarters relocation since 2009. When their move is complete, AAO will become the newest in a growing number of associations that have chosen to call Central Florida home, including; American Automobile Association (AAA), Institute of Internal Auditors, Association of Corporate Contributions Professionals, and Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), among others.

Winter Park company acquires South Carolina competitor. Wheeled Coach Industries, Inc., the world's largest manufacturer of ambulances and emergency-rescue vehicles, headquartered in Winter Park, has purchased a competing company from South Carolina. The acquisition will result in the merger of operations at the company's Orange County facility, a move expected to eventually result in 105 new manufacturing jobs and over $2 million new capital investment here in Central Florida. EDC representatives worked closely with the growing local company, coordinating incentive support from Orange County and the state of Florida.

At last week's meeting of the Orange County Board of Commissioners, county leaders approved an incentive package designed to help a growing high-tech company remain and expand in the Central Florida Research Park. The county incentive, which is expected to be matched 80:20 by the State of Florida, will allow DSCI, a defense simulation and optics/photonics company, to consolidate out-of-state offices and grow their presence in our region. Within the next three years, the company plans to add 40 new employees to their current workforce of 31; jobs that pay an average wage of more than $80,000, which is double the county's prevailing wage.

This isn't the only EDC client to announce expansion plans in recent weeks. Tecport Optics, an Orlando-based optics company that designs, manufactures, sells and services state-of-the-art thin film vacuum deposition systems, recently expanded into a larger facility and announced plans to double its workforce over the next three years. The EDC has worked with Tecport for several years, providing general assistance and introductions to incentive and grant opportunities, such as the UCF-based GrowFL economic gardening program. As a result, Tecport received an Economic Gardening Business Loan - to be used for working capital purchases, employee training, or salaries for newly created jobs - which will enable the company to bring more of its manufacturing operations to Central Florida.

And in Seminole County, Industrial Lighting Products - a manufacturer of high efficiency lighting and energy-efficient fixtures - recently expanded into a new 40,000-square-foot location in Sanford. The company expects to create 59 new manufacturing jobs over the next two years. The EDC assisted ILP with a refund for sales tax paid on utilities and introduced them to the GrowFL program, as well as other local resources. This growing company is one of 1,723 manufacturers, who together employ 37,000 here in Central Florida.

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.

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.

This week, Orlando-headquartered AirTran Airways hosted the grand opening of their new System Operations Control (SOC) Center at Orlando International Airport. This 16,000-square-foot, $6.9 million, state-of-the-art command center serves as the 24-hour nerve center for the entire airline, which manages over 700 flights per day.

Florida Governor Charlie Crist, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty were on hand to help Bob Fornaro, Chairman, President and CEO of AirTran Airways, officially open the new building. In his remarks, Fornaro announced plans to also open a pilot base in Orlando, which is expected to create 100 new jobs in Orlando this fall.

"The opening of our new SOC and announcement of an Orlando pilot base are both significant signs of our plans to continue to grow here in our hometown," said Fornaro. "We are fortunate to be part of the fabric of Central Florida and look forward to continuing to increase our presence here both today and well into the future."

The company employs more than 1,000 crew members in Central Florida at several facilities, including its corporate headquarters, the SOC and a maintenance facility, in addition to its passenger operations at the airport.

After considering putting the SOC Center in Atlanta, where AirTran has its hub, the decision was made to expand the facility here, adjacent to AirTran's headquarters.
Together with the City of Orlando, Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, Enterprise Florida and the State of Florida, the EDC worked closely with AirTran to ensure the SOC Center remained in Central Florida.

Fast-growing, Orlando-headquartered Intelligent Global Pooling Systems (iGPS) has announced plans to expand its operations into a larger 23,000 sf facility in downtown Orlando. With this expansion, the company also intends to hire 75 new employees over the next three years, adding to their current workforce of 79.

iGPS is a global logistics company that has revolutionized the pallet rental industry by installing radio frequency identification tracking devices in their plastic pallets so that goods can be traced throughout the entire transportation process. These innovations have led to the company's rapid growth over the last few years. After considering relocation to Dallas, where iGPS also has an office, the decision was made to expand here in Orlando.

Together with the City of Orlando's economic development department and Enterprise Florida, the EDC worked with iGPS to ensure the company remained in the region and worked with them through the Qualified Target Industry (QTI) incentive process.