Orange County Economic Summit coming this month

Mayor Teresa Jacobs will host the 2017 Orange County Economic Summit to discuss continued job growth, economic success and workforce development. The event will be held at the Orange County Convention Center on Wednesday, Jan. 18 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Jacobs will be joined by elected officials, local education experts and distinguished panelists including:

• Sean Snaith, Ph.D., Director of the University of Central Florida Institute for Economic Competitiveness, will present his annual economic update. Snaith is a nationally recognized economist in the field of business and economic forecasting.

• Vernet Lasrado, Ph.D., Assistant Director for Research at the University of Central Florida, will present on “Regional Landscape of Student Completions.”
• Panel discussion on workforce development with:

o Barbara Jenkins, Ph.D., Superintendent of Orange County Public Schools

o Sandy Shugart, Ph.D., President of Valencia College

o Thad Seymour, Jr., Vice Provost for the University of Central Florida Downtown Campus

o Crystal Sircy, Executive Vice President, Orlando Economic Development Commission

The Panel will be moderated by Pam Nabors, President/CEO of CareerSource Central Florida.

Following the Economic Summit, Orange County will also host the second annual Florida TechMatch, an invitation-only event that paves the way for local technology companies to build relationships and contracts with national industry leaders.

The 2017 Orange County Economic Summit is made possible with the help of sponsors, including Florida Hospital, Florida High Tech Corridor, Orlando Economic Development Commission, CareerSource Central Florida, Valencia College, Orange Technical College, Orlando Regional Realtor Association,Duke Energy, JP Morgan Chase, Tetra Tech, and University of Central Florida.

The Mayor’s annual Economic Summit was launched in 2013 following a series of nine economic and job summits designed to examine the area’s varied needs. Those meetings, which were held in 2011 and 2012, focused on key geographic regions and industries such as life sciences, clean technology and international trade.