Senaida Avalos, a freshman at Polk State College, is grateful the Polk County School District develops new programs that keep up with current market demands, such as the Pharmacy Technician Academy at Fort Meade Middle-Senior High School. “I think that one of the things that the school system did well was create programs, such as […]
The Lakeland/Winter Haven MSA, which includes all of Polk County, retained its No. 1 spot as having the most diversified economy in the state, according to a new ranking. The county has a competitive edge being based along the Interstate 4 corridor and in the middle of the state, said Jerry Parish, executive director of […]
When you think of innovative, progressive cities where people are moving to start a business, Austin, Nashville, and Charleston might come to mind. Now add Lakeland to that mix. Polk County’s largest city landed at No. 30 on the 2020 Surge Cities list compiled by Inc. and Startup Genome. The two companies gathered information in […]
As a new decade comes into focus, Polk County’s education, municipal and business leaders are forecasting economic activity, growth and a lot of progress in 2020. Fourteen leaders in the community offered their thoughts on what the new year might bring, covering everything from new restaurants and development to aviation and transportation improvements. City Leaders […]
The new board members represent key enterprises in Polk County, including higher education, government, real estate, citrus, and manufacturing. “We are excited to add these five new members to the board and will harness their energy and enthusiasm to keep pushing economic prosperity,” said CFDC President and CEO Sean Malott. “Each brings valuable insight into […]
Mankind has always had a fascination with space, and as Mars 2020 approaches, Polk County is playing an ever-increasing role in the high-tech aerospace industry. Some of the county’s involvement stems from Florida Polytechnic University, where a 14-member team is working with the Florida Space Institute on a capstone project to build a Mars rover. […]
Polk County Public School graduate, Riley McDanal, likes to figure out why people think and act the way they do, a trait that’s led her to follow in her mother’s footsteps and major in Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. McDanal is being profiled as part of a series on students who attended Polk […]
Seeing a need for more sports facilities in Polk County, Garrett Kenny, CEO of Feltrim Group, decided to get in the game. Now, he’s hitting it out of the park as the company gets ready to open the Feltrim Sports Village in Haines City. Kenny said work on the village was moving at a brisk […]
Polk County’s Fort Meade is working its way to a new vision, thanks to a $40,000 Competitive Florida Partnership Program Grant. Fort Meade is one of six small rural communities to receive the award based on their economic need and community support for their partnership with the state Department of Economic Opportunity. According to the […]
As more people turn to alternative forms of medicine to cure their aching back or recover from surgery, physical therapists are in more demand now than ever. Florida Southern College is helping train the physical therapists of the future through its new Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program, which started in the Fall 2019 semester. […]