Extension of Impact Fee moratorium to be considered

County commissioners have agreed to allow staff to move forward on drafting an ordinance extending the moratorium on both residential and commercial impact fees. The moratorium is set to expire Feb. 1 and the proposal is to extend it until Sept. 30, 2012, as well. The moratorium covers transportation, fire and park impact fees, but not school impact fees. The commission will consider the ordinance in January. As of early December, $7.37 million of fees had been waived in commercial construction and $1.53 million for residential construction, according to county documents. County staff also said impact fees had been waived for new projects valued at about $90 million, representing almost 800,000 square feet of commercial space. In addition, impact fees had been waived for 380 residential units. Read the full story in the Osceola News Gazette.

Parking garage Update

    Have you been to downtown Kissimmee lately? If so, there's no little doubt you've seen the big orange crane that's a key tool in constructing an 8-story parking garage, directly east of the Osceola County Administration Building.
   Scheduled for completion in May, the $15 million garage is expected to employ hundreds of workers in various trades over the course of the project.
   Ask anyone who does business at Courthouse Square and they'll tell you that the 830 spaces on the 1.5-acre site are badly needed.
   The precast concrete garage is designed to accommodate future flex space on the ground floor.
   Fast fact: More than 2,000 tons of stone was installed beneath the ground surface during to provide a solid foundation for the structure.
   Project architect/engineer Heery International included architectural features similar to the adjacent County buildings, including aluminum frames, brick and cast stone/masonry elements to blend with the rest of the campus.
   The civil engineer is Hanson, Walter and Associates Inc., and the construction manager is Manhattan Kraft Construction Inc.

Procurement reaches out to small business

     In an effort to show commitment to locally-owned small businesses, Osceola County has adopted the LSBE program to enhance your opportunities for contracting with the County.   Here’s how the program works. Certified Local Small Business Enterprises are permitted to match the lowest bid price when they are within 5% of the lowest bid. If more than one LSBE is within 5% of the lowest bid, the lowest bidder among the LSBEs is granted the opportunity to match the lowest bid first.

Sessions already scheduled for 2012

January 11, 9 a.m.

January 25, 6 p.m.

February 8, 2 p.m.

February 22, 6 p.m.

Valencia best in Nation

    Valencia College won the inaugural Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. Announced in a ceremony held  Dec.12  at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., the award comes with $600,000 in prize money.
    "It is such a privilege to represent my colleagues and the hundreds of community colleges across the country that have done amazing work for years and years," said Dr. Sanford Shugart, president of Valencia College, show receiving the prize at left in the photo above. "The whole country is looking to us these days, it seems. The nation has discovered that we have this unique instrument at hand. We are institutions where excellence is not defined by exclusivity."
     In selecting Valencia as the best community college in America, Aspen officials noted that over half of the college's full-time students graduate or transfer within three years of entering the school, a rate significantly higher than the national average (51 percent versus 39 percent).
      Because community colleges also train students for the workforce, Aspen judges focused on the college's workforce training programs and the likelihood of graduates landing jobs. They noted that Valencia graduates "are employed at rates higher than graduates from any of the other 10 Aspen Prize finalists. This is especially impressive given the region's unusually high unemployment rate and low job growth rate."
Watch a video here.

Wawa Expanding to Osceola

Folks from the Northeast know all about Wawa convenience stores. For Floridians it is something new. But based on the glowing reviews from its loyal fan base, Wawa's move into Osceola County is exciting stuff. Wawa’s founder Grahame Wood pledged that Wawa stores would be different:  fast, fresh,  and friendly with value pricing. The company invests more than $5 million for every new store it brings to a community, creating 30-40 jobs at each location with a 60/40 mix of full-time to part-time positions. The popular northeast company serves 400 million customers annually – 22 times the population of the state of Florida.
Read more here.

Economic Prognostication

    University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith said slow will continue to be a key word in his latest forecast from the UCF Institute for Economic Competitiveness.
   Snaith he predicts unemployment in Florida will remain above 9 percent until the end of 2014 – but that some areas will see growth.
   Payrolls and incomes are expected to creep up, retail sales will be much stronger, and housing starts will go up, Snaith predicts.
   Still, he said, things won't look like 2006-2007 for quite some time.
   "The year is shaping up to be another year of subpar growth," the institute said in its report. "Growth, to be sure, will continue and 2012 will be an improvement over a largely disappointing 2011, but economic growth for the year will (be less than) 2 percent and payrolls will expand by just 1.8 percent….
   "The near term economic picture for Florida is for a modest acceleration of the pace of recovery, including the labor market over the next two quarters," the report said.
    But, Snaith noted, "the damage to our economy from the recession, housing and financial crises was severe, and the process of rebuilding will take time." 

Valencia wins Aspen Prize

    Valencia College  won the inaugural Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. Announced in a ceremony held  Dec.12  at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., the award comes with $600,000 in prize money.

    "It is such a privilege to represent my colleagues and the hundreds of community colleges across the country that have done amazing work for years and years," said Dr. Sanford Shugart, president of Valencia College. "The whole country is looking to us these days, it seems. The nation has discovered that we have this unique instrument at hand. We are institutions where excellence is not defined by exclusivity."

     "This award embodies the idea that community colleges are incredibly important; important to the future of this great country, of course, important to our education system and our economy," said Richard Riley, former U.S. Secretary of Education and former governor of South Carolina.  "The prize is also highlighting which community colleges best show us the way to moving beyond extraordinary access to exceptional levels of student success. That's something we need all community colleges to do nationally."

     In a competitive year-long process, the Aspen Institute, along with a panel of some of the biggest names in higher education, selected Valencia and four runners-up from a preliminary list of 120 "top" community colleges in the nation, based on student performance and graduation data collected by the U.S. Department of Education. The runners-up include community colleges from around the country, including Miami-Dade College, Lake Area Technical Institute in Watertown, S.D., Walla Walla Community College in Walla Walla, Wash.,  and Western Kentucky Community and Technical College in Paducah, Ky.

Colt's Expanding to Osceola County

   Osceola County, Florida - Colt's Manufacturing Company, LLC announced (on Dec. 1) its commitment to create 63 jobs in Osceola County for its new regional headquarters and product manufacturing center. The center will hire people for engineering and manufacturing jobs, among others. In 2012, Colt is projecting to begin phasing in the first of 63 jobs paying an average salary of $45,060 to be created during the following three years. Governor Rick Scott and Colt's Manufacturing Company President and CEO Lieutenant General William M. Keys USMC (Ret.) were joined by the Osceola County Board of County Commissioners for the announcement.
   "As a supporter of new job creation and the Second Amendment, this announcement sends the clear message that Florida is both open for business and a defender of our citizen's right to bear arms," Florida Governor Rick Scott said. "My primary responsibility as governor is to be our state's chief advocate for job creation. My personal involvement in bringing Colt to Florida demonstrates my administration's deep commitment to rebuilding our economy."
   Colt is making a $2.5 million capital investment in a vacant building, which the company will lease, that is owned by Osceola County. Governor Scott and his economic development team at Enterprise Florida Inc. and the Osceola County Economic Development Department worked with Colt to bring this project to fruition. State incentives include $250,000 from the Governor's Quick Action Closing Fund and funds for workforce training. Osceola County is offering additional incentives, including renovation of the building and rent concessions.
   "Colt looked at many possible sites across the nation, but we ultimately decided to locate our new facility in the State of Florida," Gen. Keys said. "Florida offered a strong pro-business incentive package. Coupled with the low cost of doing business in Florida and a favorable regulatory environment, opening this new facility was very attractive to us. Governor Scott's personal commitment to both Colt's growth plan and America's right to bear arms was instrumental in our decision."
   "Attracting an American icon like Colt, which is one of the world's top brands, is a real coup for our economic development efforts," said Commission Chairman John Quiñones. "Beyond creating new, high-wage jobs, Colt is going to be a great asset to our community."
   "Colt's expansion to Osceola County is a perfect fit for the region," said Dr. Sanford Shugart, president of Valencia College, which will design a specialized training program for the company. "Valencia College stands ready to deliver the best trained, best educated workforce possible. We welcome Colt's Manufacturing to Osceola County and commit to partnering with them and serving their employees and families for many years to come."