Gaylord Palms

A new off-road attraction experience is ready to break into the Orlando tourism market just a few miles from Walt Disney World Resort Walt Disney World Resort, according to the Orlando Business Journal. Legendary Excursions FL LLC, a Winter Springs-based Baja racing attraction, is shopping for more than 36 acres in northwest Osceola County off of U.S. 192 and State Road 417. The company plans to use the land for two tracks — a 5-mile track that would use the Baja race cars, and a 1.5-mile off-road go-kart track. The company is negotiating for operational space at the Gaylord Palms Resort, the paper reports.

Harmony Seeks Contractors for Sports Complex

The public-private venture behind a planned new sports complex in Osceola County is looking for an all-star team of contractors, the Orlando Business Journal reports. Harmony-based Harmony Development Co. plans to build an 81-acre, $21.5 million multi-use sports complex along the southern end of U.S. Highway 192. The county, which is kicking in $7.5 million in tourist tax revenue for the project, expects the complex to add to the millions of dollars in economic impact it already gets from amateur, collegiate and youth sports programs as teams travel to Central Florida for tournaments and championship games, and later spend time at area attractions and theme parks.

U.S. Chamber Ranks Florida's Workforce & Job Training No. 1

Florida earned the top spot in the second annual Enterprising States report just released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Chamber Foundation. After being ranked No. 2 last year for its workforce and training, the Sunshine State moved into the lead based on measures including job placement, the affordability and efficiency of its higher education system and the number of high school students enrolled in advanced placement courses. The nationwide report also touted Florida's Quick Response Training Program. Full story here.

A "Killer' Hire for CI

Channel Intelligence (CI) has hired Frank Lane as senior vice president and chief marketing officer (CMO) responsible for leading CI clients’ use of its e-commerce technology to deliver even more remarkable results. As a well-known marketing guru and business author of Killer Brands, Lane brings a breadth of branding experience to the Celebration-based company. He founded and spent more than 25 years at FrankLane Ltd., where he created the Killer Brand method and consulted more than 100 companies, including 38 of the Forbes' 500. He used his Killer Brand method on such brands as Shout stain remover, Gatorade, Arm & Hammer, Bullfrog Amphibious Formula Sun Block and Neutrogena Products, where he was president and chief operating officer. Full release here.

Born 2011: Florida Department of Economic Opportunity

Gov. Rick Scott signed into law Tuesday legislation that reshuffles the state’s economic development agencies, while eliminating Florida’s lead growth management department. Scott signed SB 2156 into law while meeting with Enterprise Florida business leaders in Orlando. The head of the public-private Enterprise Florida, Gray Swoope, who Scott recruited from a similar post in Mississippi, becomes Florida’s secretary of commerce, under the legislation. The legislation also consolidates much of the state’s economic development efforts under a new Department of Economic Opportunity.

Partin Village groundbreaking = Jobs

Developers Tuesday morning, along with Osceola County officials, broke ground on a new shopping center on East U.S. Highway 192 that they say will generate hundreds of new jobs and boost sales and property taxes – all thanks to a moratorium on county transportation impact fees, the Osceola News-Gazette reports.

Kissimmee gets $2 million from state for Airport

After failing to escape the governor’s veto pen over a number of years, the Kissimmee Gateway Airport received $2 million this year from the $69.1 billion state budget to allow an aviation business park project to take flight and help create jobs, the Osceola News-Gazette reports. The design, which was completed in 2001, calls for a 12-acre park with about 10 parcels of land on which about eight aviation-related businesses could build. Some examples, according to Airport Director Terry Lloyd, could be aviation maintenance shops, manufacturers of aviation components or specialized flight training, such as a jet training school.Lloyd said the airport had been waiting since about 2003 for the appropriation.

Growth rate slows: BEBR

Florida's growth has slowed to its lowest level in more than 60 years, and the rate is expected to steadily decline through 2040 although the state again was a national leader in population gain during the past decade, according to a study released Monday. The University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research analyzed U.S. Census figures that show the state's permanent population increased by more than 2.8 million, or 17.6 percent, to 18.8 million between 2000 and 2010. That was the third-largest increase overall and eighth-biggest on a percentage basis among the states, but Florida's growth rate dropped significantly during the last few years of the decade. Full story in the Ledger here.

Partin Village Shopping Center

Partin Village Shopping Center
A quick slideshow from this morning's ground-breaking.