The CEP recently completed its second 5-Year Strategic Plan, Moving Forward- Phase II, on 31 December 2021. This aggressive planned followed up on the original Moving Forward plan and outlined a series of strategic initiatives to advance the CEP’s goal of “being the catalyst for a prosperous community.”
The following is descriptions of several of the initiatives and programs outlined in the plan which were then implemented by the CEP:
- Equine Engagement Initiative presented by Pyranha – just prior to the launch of this plan the CEP commissioned an economic impact analysis of the Marion County equine industry. We knew were Horse Capital of the World® but we did not know what that meant from an economic standpoint. The analysis revealed the equine industry contributes more than $2.6 Billion a year to the local economy. As a result, the CEP created the Equine Engagement Initiative to connect the horse community to the business community and vice versa.
- NEXTWorks –is the CEP’s talent development initiative. This initiative seeks to partner the business community with our education providers. The goal is to develop and align training programs around skills needed by businesses in the Ocala Metro and that align with higher education providers such as the College of Central Florida (CF), Marion Technical College (MTC), local governments, the CEP, and CareerSource CLM. The CEP works closely with Marion County Public Schools, CF, and MTC on these initiatives with the recognition that while not every student needs to go to university, every student needs skills and career pathways that allow them to add skills throughout their lifetime.
- Live Life Here presented by Professional Realty Ocala – as quickly as our community is growing, we cannot build all of the workforce we need today locally. We need to recruit talented individuals to discover why the Ocala Metro is a great place to live, work, and play. The Live Life Here initiative seeks to do that through targeted digital marketing.
- Impact presented by Ausley Construction – is based on the belief that one of the best ways to impact communities is through entrepreneurship. Helping residents create their own jobs and wealth generators will have the most impact long-term and aligns with the CEP mission of creating a prosperous community. This initiative seeks to impact the communities of West Ocala, Marion Oaks, and Silver Springs Shores through onsite business assistance, a Certified Diverse Small Business Enterprise program, multi-language training events, and a supplier matching program.
- Sphere presented by IHG – is the CEP’s effort around building a robust healthcare economy comprised not only of our growing and expanding hospital network but with enhanced R&D, healthcare manufacturing, healthcare logistics, biopharma, entrepreneurship, and workforce development.
Additionally, the plan outlined three major Jobs goals:
- To impact the announced creation of 4,500 new primary jobs;
- That those jobs will pay on average wages 15% above the County average;
- Result in a direct investment in our community of more than $400 million.
These goals were completely smashed with the CEP impacting the announced creation of nearly 5,900 jobs with wages 16% above the County average and resulting in a direct capital investment of nearly $900 million. Next month, I will outline the CEP’s new 5-year Plan, Forward Momentum.
