The Orlando Economic Partnership has facilitated the creation of more than 30,000 new jobs since its inception, defying a period of domestic change and global uncertainty.
| ✓ | The Orlando Economic Partnership has facilitated the creation of more than 30,000 new jobs since its inception. |
| ✓ | Wages associated with OEP’s projects have been consistently higher than the regional average. |
| ✓ | Economic development is hugely competitive, and the region must act intentionally to continue to attract business investment. |
The Orlando Economic Partnership (OEP) was formed in early 2017, the result of a merger between the Central Florida Partnership and the Orlando Economic Development Commission. As our community celebrates Economic Development Week, the OEP’s economic development results defy a period of domestic change and global uncertainty.
30,000 New Jobs & Counting
From 2017 to 2024 – a period spanning three Presidential Elections and a global pandemic – the OEP announced 199 business relocations or expansions. Collectively, these projects committed to creating 29,100 new jobs, or approximately 3,600 new jobs per year:
The total number of new jobs has since risen to more than 30,000 following several company expansion announcements this fiscal year, bringing total capital investment to $3.6 billion and new annual payroll to $2 billion – money that is currently flowing in the Orlando region’s economy that may otherwise have been spent elsewhere. The projects also generate new annual tax revenue for the OEP’s four government partners of approximately $23 million.
Growing High-Wage Industry
At its core, economic development is about generating better opportunities for all and raising income levels across the region.
To achieve this, the OEP proactively targets industries in which the community has existing strength, have strong future growth potential, and offer wages higher than the regional average. Approximately 89% of the projects and 87% of the jobs announced in the last eight fiscal years have been in the OEP’s six current targeted industries:
This high-wage strategy has paid dividends. The average wage for new jobs facilitated by the OEP exceeded the regional average in all but one year. Over the 8-year period, jobs announced by the Partnership averaged a wage premium of 28%:
Attracting Future Investment
For all the region’s success, economic development has never been more competitive. New investment and jobs are coveted by every community in the country, and every business has options when considering its next home. Communities that were successful yesterday are not guaranteed to be successful tomorrow.
Rather, it is communities that can demonstrate both focus and intentionality that will win the future. The OEP’s recently launched Orlando 2045 initiative outlines the industries whose growth will help accelerate our long-term economic ambitions while also identifying critical projects such as DIRT (OEP’s Development Initiative for Regional Transformation initiative to help prepare and enhance existing sites to attract high-value, large-scale industrial projects) that will improve the region’s long-term competitiveness.
As we again celebrate Economic Development Week, Orlando today is home to many vibrant businesses – some new to the region in the last eight years and others with decades of history in our community. Orlando 2045 creates a shared vision for Orlando’s future as a global, creative capital – what’s required now is execution and a commitment to the bold moves necessary to make it a reality.
About Orlando Market Commentaries
Market Commentaries are a series of timely analyses produced by the Orlando Economic Partnership’s Research & Strategy team. Commentaries are typically associated with a major data release or cover areas key to advancing the Partnership’s goal of Broad-based Prosperity®.
