About the Ocala Metro Chamber and Economic Partnership

The Ocala Metro Chamber and Economic Partnership (CEP) was created to be a one-stop hub for the community’s business attraction, creation and retention efforts. The CEP’s mission is to be THE catalyst for a prosperous community. The 2020 ACCE National Chamber of the Year, the CEP has directly impacted the announced creation of nearly 11,000 new jobs and more than $1.6 billion in capital investment and is seeking an additional 5,000 jobs and $1 billion in investment by 2027. For more information, visit: www.OcalaCEP.com.

About the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives

Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) is the professional society supporting the women and men who lead local, regional, statewide and international chambers of commerce and related business and economic development organizations. Our membership includes more than 1,600 business/civic organizations worldwide. We provide our members with information resources, thought leadership, education programs, original research, benchmarking, retirement security, and access to a network of peers.

The CEP’s talent development initiative called NEXTworks exist because we believe the next generation works by engaging businesses with Marion County Public Schools and Career Technical Education (CTE) educators along with our higher education providers.

The NEXTworks talent development initiative seeks to develop training programs and tools that align with what our business community needs. Students get real world application in these career paths businesses are aligned with high schools to create a pipeline and give kids access to opportunities they may not have been aware existed. This builds awareness of what careers are available here locally in fields like construction, healthcare, equine, technology, robotics, and logistics.

One example is the partnership between Bellview High School and Optimum RV who is also the NEXTworks presenting sponsor. The RV industry is an exploding sector and servicing those vehicles is a skill that requires special training and significant earning potential. Through this partnership, students receive classroom instruction at Bellview and then spend a portion of their day at the Optimum facility getting hands-on experience. A fully certified RV technician can earn well over $100,000/year.  Continue reading →

The CEP’s groundbreaking series, exCEPtional Mornings breakfast presented by James Moore & Company is designed to foster connections, inspire growth, and cultivate success for everyone involved.

The CEP started our exCEPtional Mornings breakfast almost 10 years ago and the reason was to create an event that once a month would provide an opportunity to bring the business community together. It allows us to share information with them that is valuable to our community and to bring a speaker who is of significance to the local business community. That could be like our most recent breakfast, where we had the Secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation speak. It could be an elected official or a business leader. In fact, those are often our most popular when we have one of our local business executives who talks about their business. Continue reading →

Here at the CEP we are big believers in Manufacturing. We believe that we you make stuff, you make wealth.

Manufacturing is a key component to our local economy. We have a strong, diverse manufacturing sector locally. Companies in the metro make everything from fire engines to missile control systems, cake sprinkles to hurricane impact windows and everything in between. With more than 12,000 employees, the Ocala Metro manufacturing sector is one of the largest in Florida.

AdvisorSmith, a business consultancy, ranked the Ocala Metro as a top mid-sized metro (250,000 to 750,000) for manufacturing. The area ranked in the Top 20 of ALL metros for manufacturing output growth and for manufacturing employment growth. Additionally, the Ocala Metro has consistently been ranked near the top in the growth of our manufacturing employment throughout the last few years. Continue reading →

This column is focused on growth, specifically how our community is growing and what that means for all of us who love to Live Life Here. I’ll start by sharing a few national rankings and then provide a Census update.

U-Haul

Each year, U-Haul reveals their Top Cities for Growth. This list is based on moves using one-way U-Haul rentals. While not completely scientific, it does have a basis in data. Ocala has been on this list every year for the last several years; however, the community ranked #1 for 2022. This ranking is important because of who moves using U-Haul – young people. The company reports their primary target audience are singles and young families.

NAR

The National Association of Realtors unveiled their Where People are Moving list earlier this year as well. This set of rankings was compiled based on US Postal Service change of address requests and reviewed out of metro area moves based on zip codes. In other words, they were looking for true cross city moves and not just changes in neighborhoods. Overall, a pretty reliable data source for moves. Again, the Ocala Metro ranked #1 based on this criterion. Continue reading →

I want to highlight several areas describing the economic growth our community has experienced throughout the last year.

Healthcare

An item which can no longer be denied is the growth of Ocala as a regional healthcare hub. Continued investments and expansions by AdventHealth Ocala, HCA Ocala, and HCA West Marion have added beds, new service lines, and increased access to care throughout the community, all while continuing to provide amazing care through the pandemic. We recently cut the ribbon on a new 26,000 sq. ft. cath lab at HCA Ocala wrapping up their revamped tower while at HCA West Marion a third tower was started with the ribbon cutting on an inpatient rehab and more beds. AdventHealth continues to expand services especially with its refurbished and expanded NICU and its new, free-standing ER in Belleview. Finally, UF Health began work this past year on a new Ocala Neighborhood hospital at US 27 and I-75. Continue reading →

It is especially fitting that as I write this column on Valentine’s Day that I am writing about my Valentine. My wife, Lisa, has absolutely been an integral part of my work life. In fact, I don’t know how I could it without her. That is not prose or sentimentality, it is truth.

Lisa and I will have been married for 28 years in March. I have worked in the Chamber/Economic Development industry for six months longer. This career has taken us to three states and five different communities. Throughout them all, she has become the biggest fan of our newest hometowns. You cannot do this work without loving where you are and she has become a fan of each though some more than others (ask her some time about the 20 months we lived in her “favorite”). Continue reading →