renewable energy by 2050, and fostering a culture of environmental stewardship through programs like Greenworks Orlando, exemplify its commitment to a greener future. CULTIVATING TALENT AND QUALITY OF LIFE “Creating a place where people want to live and raise their family is the best thing that we can do in terms of creating a workforce, because if you have the place that people want to live, then they want to move here and stay here, and work here. Identifying the job skills that we need to train people for are important,” Mayor Dyer argues. “We built, what we call, three community venues, the Kia Center, a reconstruction of Camping World Stadium, and the world-class Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, which is right across from my office. They’re just as important for economic development as they are for quality of life within our community,” he adds. Mayor Dyer emphasizes the importance of creating a welcoming environment that attracts and retains top talent, and the role that education infrastructure plays in developing a workforce. “The University of Central Florida is now, depending on the year, either the largest or second largest university in America, and then within a couple hour drive, you also have the University of South Florida and the University of Florida, so you have 500,000 students within a couple hour drive of downtown Orlando, and Valencia College is one of the largest systems that has tailored a lot of their programs towards the workforce and the needs of our community.” “We have Electronic Arts’ East Coast headquarters here, and 15 years ago they came to me and said ‘We want to grow, but we don’t have enough skilled 6 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 05, ISSUE 07
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI5MjAx