Brothers from Brazil find educational success on their path to becoming chemical engineers. Miguel Amador was entering kindergarten when his parents moved the family from Araraquara, Brazil, to Lakeland in 2004. His brother, Victor, was part way through first grade. Speaking only Portuguese, they credit Valleyview Elementary School with ensuring they learned English. And they […]
A team of Central Florida Development Council representatives will be heading to the Paris Air Show to represent Polk County at the Enterprise Florida pavilion. Their goal: Recruit aviation and aerospace business to Polk County. “One of CFDC’s objectives is to promote Polk County as a global business hub, and the Paris Air Show, being […]
Aviation education takes flight in Polk County in many ways, supporting a growing industry that provides an $878 million economic impact to the area. The county’s aviation leaders, working together as part of a Central Florida Development Council’s aviation committee, hope to keep growing this sector of the economy. “Part of that strategy focuses on […]
Hot, hot, hot. That’s what experts are calling the Polk County real-estate market, where inventory of existing houses remains low and homebuilders are busy. Various reports rank the local real-estate market in the Top 5 among major metropolitan areas, continuing a trend that started in 2018. Realtor.com places the Lakeland-Winter Haven MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area, […]
As construction continues to accelerate in Polk County, builders look for employees who can show up for work on time, ready to tackle that day’s project. They’re getting help from the Polk County School District. This year, the district opened four new construction academies, which are modeled after the first one at Bartow High School. […]
Forward-thinking research being tackled by a Florida Polytechnic University assistant professor could prevent cyber-attacks of the future. Dr. Arman Sargolzaei, assistant professor of electrical engineering, is working with students at Florida Poly and a colleague at Florida International University to make cyber-physical systems (CPS), like autonomous vehicles and smart grids, more resilient against new types […]
Whether it’s awarding bachelor’s degrees to the next generation of nurses and computer programmers or certificates to future machine operators and aviation dispatchers, Polk State College is training the workforce that will keep Polk County on the cutting edge. It’s just one goal Polk State President Angela Garcia Falconetti points to as she leads Polk […]
Lakeland Linder International Airport, the largest airport in Polk County, provides an economic impact of nearly $575 million a year, according to a study released in March 2019. But with dynamic leadership, a supportive City Commission and continued infrastructure improvements, the airport is continuing to grow, increasing that impact even further. In May 2019, airport […]
Crediting challenging AP classes, Michael Jernigan, a graduate of Bartow High School, isn’t surprised he’s studying electrical engineering at Florida Polytechnic University. Jernigan is being profiled as part of a series on students who attended Polk County Public Schools and are now pursuing STEM-related degrees in colleges here and across the country. He loved to […]
The Florida Economic Development Council honored the Central Florida Development Council for its leadership role in helping attract Nucor Steel Florida to Polk County. The FEDC presented the CFDC with the Urban Deal of the Year Award at its 2019 Annual Conference for landing Nucor Steel in southeast Polk County. Now Nucor Steel Florida, the […]