The availability of a skilled workforce consistently ranks as one of the most critical, sought-after factors that companies take into account when deciding which locations to expand in or relocate to. That's great news for our state as Florida was just ranked number one in the nation for its workforce by CNBC's fourth annual America's Top States for Business rankings.

This is the second time Florida has been ranked #1 for its workforce and the third consecutive year it has been ranked in the top three spots for its workforce. The CNBC study rated all 50 states based on the education level of their workforce, number of available workers, union membership and the success of the state's worker training programs.

The diversity of this region's workforce impacts its ability to nurture innovative thinking and offer companies a competitive advantage in the global marketplace. No matter what level of skill is needed, Metro Orlando's labor pool is well prepared. With a young, median age of 38 and a population diversity that leads the rest of the nation by 35 years, this region is home to the kind of well rounded and highly-skilled employees that companies seek to help their business thrive.

And with access to state-sponsored workforce training grant programs that allow them to keep their talent sharp and on the cutting-edge in their respective fields, the combination for Florida's workforce can't be beat.

SEOP Online, a search engine optimization company headquartered in Ontario, Canada, has announced plans to establish Florida operations in Casselberry and create 200 new technology-based jobs within the next two years. The Metro Orlando EDC worked with Seminole State College and SEOP to prepare their successful Quick Response Training (QRT) grant application, which is a state program designed to provide new and existing Florida businesses with the necessary training for expansion.

SEOP specializes in website design and search engine optimization services. They have leased 5,000 square feet on Live Oak Blvd. in Casselberry.

Saab Training USA - an Orange County-based company that specializes in the development and manufacturing of advanced simulation training systems for the U.S. Military, Foreign Military, and Homeland Security - has expanded their operation in Orange County's Central Florida Research Park. The company, which currently employs 36, has also announced plans to add 33 new jobs within the next three years. Their capital investment in the 28,000-square-foot facility expansion is estimated at approximately $230,000.

In addition to companies such as Saab Training, the Central Florida Research Park is home to simulation and training commands and procurement agencies for the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard. This distinction has helped our region become the largest modeling and simulation cluster in the nation.

The EDC assisted Saab throughout their local expansion, facilitating the company's QTI incentive application process. The EDC also manages the Metro Orlando Military Affairs Advisory Council, which brings together our region's simulation industry, military and community leaders to support and build this important industry cluster.

Metro Orlando is known worldwide as a leader in entertainment. We're also known for our $13.4 billion technology industry. Thanks to the synergy and collaboration found in this region, many of our industries are blending together, including entertainment and technology. The fusion of these two industries results in the digital media industry. We believe each of the ingredients for success in this industry sector is found here - workforce, education and a nurturing creative environment. We believe this so strongly, in fact, that our goal for this industry is simply stated: "Global Domination!"

The newly released edition of the EDC's award-winning Texture magazine focuses on our lofty goal of global domination of the digital media industry. And the spring 2010 Texture that is on its way to you this month outlines why there's nowhere better positioned to reach this goal than Metro Orlando.

In this issue you'll discover the creative collection of companies that are found here, including Electronic Arts - Tiburon, House of Moves, n-Space, Helios Interactive, IMI Labs and IDEAS, as well as the schools where the professionals who work in this industry train. From music to film to art, you'll learn about some of the festivals held throughout the year and the museums in Metro Orlando.

This issue introduces you to Mary Spio, President of Gen2Media and a true digital diva who is having a profound effect on the digital media industry, and a Lake County innovator, Pranam Ben, CEO and Founder of Visions@Work, a company that could transform the healthcare industry though its online file sharing system between doctors, hospitals and patients. You'll also learn how Jim Jardon, CEO of JHT, Inc. and Marty Rubin, President and CEO of Smart City Holdings, are keeping their technology firms in growth mode, despite tough times. And so much more!

Texture is published semi-annually. The EDC's production partner is the everything ink team of the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau. Special thanks to Orange County, University of Central Florida and Florida High Tech Corridor Council for their sponsorship of this valuable community marketing resource. Click here to view Texture online!

Local production company, DNP Studios, is set to release their fourth feature film, Letters to God, shot entirely on location in Central Florida. The movie is is the 4th feature film to be distributed by Vivendi Entertainment for Possibility Pictures, the movie arm of DNP Studios.

Directed by David Nixon, one of the producers of Fireproof and Facing the Giants, the movie was shot at Universal Studios soundstages and backlot, Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Give Kids The World and various locations around Winter Garden. The Metro Orlando Film & Entertainment Commission - a division of the EDC - assisted with location scouting and film permitting throughout the production.

"We knew that we could make the same kind of Hollywood movies right here in Orlando. Many movie production companies come to Orlando to use the location. They bring in talent and technicians to direct, act and produce, then they go back to LA to finish the movie. But we did it all here with the local film community," stated Nixon.

A tale of inspiration, hope and redemption, Letters to God is the story of what happens when one boy's walk of faith crosses paths with one man's search for meaning--the resulting transformational journey touches the lives of everyone around them.

Letters to God opens locally with a red carpet premiere Wednesday, March 31 at the Plaza Cinema Cafe in downtown Orlando. The film is scheduled to be released in 750 theaters nationwide on April 9th.

What has four wheels, state-of-the-art equipment and the ability to train the employees you need in two weeks right at your doorstep? The Florida Manufacturing Extension Partnership's Mobile Outreach Skills Training (M.O.S.T.) traveling unit, which is not only able to take its services directly to manufacturers' facilities anywhere in the state, but can also tailor its training program to meet the specific needs of the company.

The M.O.S.T. traveling training program - designed to provide a mix of practical skills, theory and hands-on curriculum - utilizes both computer-based 3-D simulations and self-paced training modules. After a two-week, intensive training session, participating employers have the option to interview and hire trainees. Those hired continue to receive on-the-job training from Florida MEP. This approach to hiring has translated into an amazing 85 percent of participants remaining in those manufacturing jobs after six months.

For more information about Florida MEP, visit www.floridamep.org.

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.

"Florida's investment in the life science industry is now paying back like our own economic stimulus package," said Dr. John Reed, president & CEO, Burnham Institute for Medical Research. Dr. Reed went on to thank the community and state leaders for making his and other life science research institutes' location in Florida possible. His remarks came during the official dedication of Burnham's Lake Nona campus this week.

(left to right) Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer; Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty; Dr. John Reed; Raesesh Thakker; Malin Burnham; Florida Governor Charlie Crist; Dr. Dan Kelly

Hundreds of business and community leaders gathered to celebrate as the first facility in the new Medical City at Lake Nona became fully operational. In addition to Reed, dedication speakers included Florida Governor Charlie Crist; Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer; Orange County Mayor Richard T. Crotty; Rasesh Thakkar, senior managing partner of the Tavistock Group; Malin Burnham, philanthropist and chairman of Burnham's Board of Trustees; and Dr. Daniel Kelly, scientific director at Burnham Lake Nona.

(left to right) Burnham's George T. Lucier, Dr. John Reed, and Dr. Dan Kelly

After the dedication, attendees toured the new 175,000-square-foot scientific facility, which will ultimately house 30 head researchers plus 300 scientists and staff. The Lake Nona facility will focus, in particular, on advances in combating diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease. Already the state-of-the-art facility includes an ultra-high throughput screening center, one of only four NIH-funded comprehensive chemical screening centers in the country, complete with three robotic arms capable of conducting more than one million experiments per day. These sophisticated tools, along with a commitment to collaborative research, will enable Burnham scientists to move discoveries from bench to bedside more quickly than ever before.

Burnham's gratitude and commitment to this community came through loud and clear; while Central Florida's pride in this accomplishment - which, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer reminded us, had happened within a span of just three years- was evident and widespread. Perhaps Rasesh Thakker, Senior Managing Director of Tavistock Group, summed it up best: "Today we revel in what has been accomplished."

Here, Dr. John Reed explains Orlando's spirit of collaboration impressed the Burnham Institute.

No, we're not talking holidays...we're talking commercials! Fall officially kicks off the season during which companies and ad agencies from all over descend on Metro Orlando to shoot television commercials. Why, you ask? Because, unlike up north where the leaves have started to change, the leaves here in Orlando stay green year-round. That's good for commercial production since locations in Orlando can represent any season of the year!

As a result, film permit requests have been flowing into the EDC's Metro Orlando Film & Entertainment Office. Recent commercials shot here include: Bright House, Stein Mart, Orlando Health, Rooms To Go, TD Ameritrade, Gillette, Bush's Baked Beans, Cracker Barrel, Honda Boats, Snickers, BOSE, NBC Sunday Night Football Open and David Maus Toyota, to name a few.

Darden Restaurants, a Fortune 500 company, recently celebrated the opening of their new 469,000-square-foot headquarters operation in south Orange County.

Well known for its commitment to its people, the company's three-story building, situated on a 57-acre campus, is designed to maximize staff performance, interactions and efficiencies. It will house 1,300 Darden employees who provide support to nearly 1,800 Red Lobster, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52 restaurants throughout North America.

Joining in the ribbon cutting were (left to right): Bob Abberger, Trammell Crow Company; Jim Lawrence, Darden; Mayor Crotty, Orange County; Clarence Otis, Darden; Drew Madsen, Darden; Mayor Dyer, City of Orlando; Don Reynolds, Perkins+Will; and Steve Rivers, Hardin Construction.

The new facility is also designed to maximize energy efficiencies. Development partners Hardin Construction, Trammell Crow and Perkins+Will developed the building in accordance with Gold LEED certification for new construction from the United States Green Building Council. Upon final certification, Darden's corporate headquarters will become the largest LEED Gold NC building in Florida. Construction elements include use of high-efficiency heating and air conditioning systems; an automatic lighting system that dims or brightens according to the amount of sunlight entering the building; increased use of natural light made possible by a 114,000 square-foot glass curtainwall exterior; a highly reflective roof system that helps maintain the building's interior temperature; restrooms and irrigation systems using reclaimed water; and use of native trees, plants and grasses that require minimal water.

Orlando, Florida, is one of the fastest growing regions in the country for Hispanics according to the Pew Hispanic Center. And Hispanic Heritage Month - which runs from September 15 to October 15 - is an opportunity to remind us of the contributions Hispanics have made to our community and our nation. Throughout the month, there are several celebrations taking place, including the Orlando Hispanic Film Festival.

In addition, Orlando is opening doors for Hispanic entrepreneurs to realize their dreams. There are a multitude of organizations that directly support the Hispanic community in Central Florida, including both the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Hispanic Business Initiative Fund.

Metro Orlando's diversity, combined with our region's reputation as a community that welcomes those from all backgrounds and walks of life, provides a competitive advantage in attracting minority owned and led businesses. Building on the belief that a culturally diverse community makes good business sense, the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission (EDC) established a Minority Channel initiative aimed at encouraging minority owned and led businesses in targeted industries to consider Orlando as the site of choice for relocation or expansion.

There's Mosaic, Arcadian Broad and Drew Thomas Magic. If you're not familiar with these names, they're among the folks that made it to the Top 40 in the popular America's Got Talent show. They have something else in common. They all come from a city where creative talent is building ... and in the eyes of Richard Florida (of the popular 'Creative Class' theory), that's one of the key ingredients to economic competitiveness, transformation and innovation.

Orlando, Florida, has become a place where creative talent is flowing and in multiple industries. The region, long known as an entertainment destination, has transformed into a technology hub that's entertaining company leaders, researchers, entrepreneurs, workers and young minds alike. Here are some reasons why:

This week, Orlando welcomed its inaugural class of 41 med students at the University of Central Florida's (UCF) new College of Medicine -- the first medical school in U.S. history to offer full, four-year scholarships to an entire class. The new college is one anchor in a new 'medical city' underway - one of only two such developments happening in the world right now. It's joined by the recently opened East Coast hub for The Burnham Institute for Medical Research, and forthcoming openings of the University of Florida Research Facility, Veterans Affairs Hospital, M.D. Anderson Cancer Research Institute and Nemours Children's Hospital. Economic analysts predict that by year 10 of operation, the world's newest life sciences cluster here could create 30,000 jobs and $7.6 billion economic activity.

At UCF, research and patents are on the rise. UCF, now the fifth largest university in the nation, has seen research funding (and subsequent lab space) grow exponentially in the past decade, from $37.5 million in 1999 to the new record high of $122.8 million in 2008. Additionally, UCF's patent portfolio was ranked in the top 10 of 122 universities in the U.S.

Inventors, scientists and entrepreneurs are thriving here. New drugs, therapies and vaccines are being developed ... one scientist is genetically modifying lettuce heads to produce insulin in the quest to develop a cure for diabetes. An entrepreneur has developed ultra-portable personal air-conditioners for military personnel. Another is developing advanced micro-batteries for use in medical, alternative energy and other applications. In addition, the number of incubators has grown rapidly here, opening the door to more entrepreneurs.

A new Photonics Academy was created at a local high school in partnership with Northrop Grumman to encourage student interest in the laser/photonics field. This new academy joins others already in existence, including one focusing on simulation (an industry with a top-ranked cluster in Orlando).

Nation-leading digital media schools in Orlando-- Full Sail University and UCF's Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy -- continue to see enrollment grow in this burgeoning field.

Entrepreneur Magazine recently recognized Orlando as one of best places to start a business. Forbes recently recognized Orlando one of best cities for tech jobs. And Next Generation Consulting ranked Orlando as a top hot spot for young professionals.