You could say the latter half of this summer is when Orlando really soared as major business developments landed in this ‘sky’s the limit’ metropolitan community. In the past two months, Orlando was powered up by: several international carriers that announced new and expanded air service to the region (and that will result in thousands of new jobs); multi-million dollar defense contracts; hundreds of millions in research dollars to the University of Central Florida; new tech-based school initiatives; new manufacturing and distribution facilities, and numerous top-rankings. Read on for more …

Orlando Gets Better Connected to the World

Already with Orlando International Airport being the busiest airport in the state and currently serving 35 million passengers annually, newly announced and expanded nonstop service to several international destinations are making Orlando even more connected to the world. German carrier Lufthansa is adding weekly service to Frankfurt, Germany. Aer Lingus is offering weekly service to Dublin. And British Airways (with service to London) and Copa (with service to Panama) have expanded their weekly flight schedules. Officials estimate 2,415 jobs will be created directly or indirectly from these announcements.

Topping it Off

• In a recent Harris and MarketWatch poll, Orlando ranks as the #6 city in the country where people would choose to live and is among the top 50 metros for business (respectively).
• According to POLICOM (a group that annually ranks the best metros and states), Orlando is the strongest economy in the state and now the 13th strongest economy in the nation (up from #24 last year).
• Forbes recognized Florida as the 7th best state in the country for business (up two slots from the previous year).
• In a recent Bizjournals study, Orlando ranked as the #1 location in the country for small business vitality. In a separate study, Bizjournals ranked Orlando #37 for best metros for women businesses. In the region, there are currently more than 40,000 women-owned businesses that generated more than $9 billion in annual revenue in 2002 (latest year for information).
• U.S. News & World Report honored Rollins College as the #1 regional university in the South. The college also ranked first in the ‘best universities-master’s’ and first among independent colleges in the ‘great schools, great prices’ category.
• Inc. magazine’s list of the 500 top privately held companies in the nation included 26 Florida companies and 5 Orlando-area companies – making Florida fourth in the nation for companies listed.
• Orlando-based Vax Design, a biotech company that uses white blood cells to test immune response to new pharmaceuticals, received R&D Magazine’s ‘R&D 100 Award.” The company’s artificial immune system was recognized as one of the 100 most technologically significant products introduced into the marketplace over the past year.

Four New/Expanded Manufacturing & Distribution Facilities Add Hundreds of Jobs and Millions in Capital Investment

New manufacturing facilities for power plant parts, chemical concrete products and security vestibules for buildings – as well as an expanded distribution facility for food and merchandise – are coming on-line in metropolitan Orlando … bringing with it $89.5 million in capital investment, more than 300 new jobs and nearly 300,000 square feet of new manufacturing and distribution space. Those projects are:

• Mitsubishi Power Systems America’s expansion of its Orlando Service Center manufacturing facility which repairs, services and manufactures replacement parts for power plants in the U.S., Canada and Latin America.
• Lambert Corp., which makes chemical concrete products such as latex, epoxy adhesives and sealers, is building a new 54,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. Since the company was founded in 1999, it has doubled its revenue to $9 million.
• Puerto Rico-based NovaComm Inc. chose Orlando for its new 26,000-square-foot manufacturing/research and design facility. The company makes bullet-proof security vestibules that detect and lock out armed intruders in banks and government buildings.
• McLane Suneast is adding 100,000 square feet to its distribution facility (bringing the total space to 600,000). The company distributes food, tobacco and merchandise to 3,000 Florida convenience stores each week. With the expansion, the company will have close to 1,100 employees.

Students’ Science & Tech Exposure Get Serious Boost
With math and science being a hot national topic of importance in the U.S. right now, Orlando (which eWeek calls a blooming U.S. city for tech) has become a top spot where those subjects are getting a major boost among young learners:

• Lockheed Martin’s Orlando-based Enterprise Systems is helping nurture the next wave of engineers and scientists. The company is financing and staffing a new $250,000 tech center at a local YMCA geared for middle and high school students. The new facility will include gaming and simulation technology.
• Anticipating a wave of biotech-related jobs that will come to the region in the next decade (as a result of the new facilities of the Burnham Institute, UCF College of Medicine, VA Hospital and the growth of med-tech related companies), Seminole County Public Schools will offer elective classes and job shadowing/internships with local related companies.
• Orlando is becoming home to a growing number of tech camps for kids. The popular iD (for Internal Drive) Tech Camps, offered at 50 colleges across the country, was a sell-out when offered for the first time this summer at the University of Central Florida. In addition, the Orlando Science Center and renowned Full Sail Real World Education hosted a similar summer video-gaming tech camp. Orlando has become a hub for the digital media industry, being home to EA Tiburon Studios, the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (a one-of-a-kind master’s program for the digital media industry), Full Sail (a renowned undergrad and graduate school for the industry), a cluster of film and TV production companies and a growing number of related start-up companies. Also, the region offers techCAMPs – free one or two-day workshops for middle and high school educators that provides them with the knowledge and tools to guide students in the pursuit of tech careers.

Local Companies Win Nearly $100 Million in Military Contracts

• Northrop Grumman Corp.’s Central Florida defense-laser unit received a $91 million Army contract to build hundreds of laser-targeting devices for combat munitions.
• Cubic Corp.’s Orlando unit received a $6.8 million Army contract to provide small-arms training systems and related equipment to armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

R&D Funding Heats Up at UCF, Now the Sixth Largest University in the U.S.
Researchers at the University of Central Florida received a record $121.4 million in outside grant funding in the 2006-07 fiscal year. The nationally recognized university is becoming well known for its R&D in engineering, education, optics and simulation.