Kissimmee, Florida

K I SS IMMEE , FLOR IDA The City of Kissimmee’s Economic Development Office was established in 2009 and is responsible for developing the marketing strategies and incentive packages designed to attract and retain corporate residents in the City of Kissimmee. The office is also responsible for planning, coordinating, and executing its economic development and redevelopment initiatives. Some of those duties include working with developers and entrepreneurs to facilitate real estate development in key City redevelopment areas. The Economic Development Office also promotes City attributes that provide an extraordinary quality of life for residents and businesses alike. Kirkegard explains that the two sectors where the City saw excellent growth opportunities were the medical and aerospace industries, both of which create high-value, high-wage jobs communities desire. Regarding the medical industry, she explains, “we are fortunate to have two strong hospital chains represented within our City. Osceola Regional Medical Center, a Level Two trauma center, has invested over $200 million in campus expansions or improved services lines and generates more employment. The other chain is AdventHealth - Kissimmee campus. They, too, invested over $100 million in campus expansions - in just the last five years, they have doubled their footprint and are still in construction mode. They finished constructing a massive surgical ward, approximately 22,000 square feet of specialized space, and they are adding four more floors to the tower.” “Both hospitals are within a mile from each other, and we wanted to capture the synergy between the two, so we created a Medical Arts District in 2016,” Kirkegard continues. “Within it, we designed economic development incentives to attract medical companies into this area. We’ve been successful in not only seeing these