Lakeland economic development council summer leadership program

The goal behind this entire presentation was to create a conversation about potential solutions. We do this all the time. For 30 years, these discussions were held among a very small group of people, and the ideas were then taken to the City Commission for a vote. The LEDC is not just about big business. We created Catapult for entrepreneurs in and have a new state-of-the art facility which will be opening soon.

We also created YLakeland as a talent recruitment and retention initiative that has brought you the Summer Leadership Program graduates year old , Campus Ambassadors on our 5 university and college campuses recruiting those students to stay in Lakeland when they graduate, late night study spots at local coffee shops during finals week, and 75 internships for college students at Catapult and the LEDC.

We are always brainstorming new ways to improve our community, to make it more attractive to the next generation. That is ok. We may also disagree on the type of growth we want. The LEDC would prefer to see development take place where our community already has existing infrastructure, more density will bring more amenities. What type of amenities? They provide a one-of-a-kind space, educational programs, workshops, and mentoring opportunities to launch businesses and take start-ups to the next level.

Lakeland Economic Development Council is a private non-profit organization with more than member companies. We have a great group of member commercial lenders willing to talk to you about your options.

You can find commercial lenders in our Business Directory. The City of Lakeland is a community that welcomes new development and supports businesses that choose to call Lakeland home. The City of Lakeland and the Lakeland Community Redevelopment Agency have a number of wonderful incentives to assist in real estate and business development.

While many of the incentives are based on geographical location we also have incentives which are based on employment and job creation. The Summer Leadership Program was created in To date, SLP has had graduates from over companies. Learn more here. The LEDC started their an internal internship program in and to date have hired over 54 Interns. Justin plans to build a career as a Publix associate. In he was the United Way coordinator of the year after a successful store-level campaign.

Justin is dedicated to being a responsible citizen in his community, is extremely passionate about the well-being of others and wants to make a lasting impact in the lives around him. Growing up, Makenna realized her passion for service and is excited about serving her community through her work at United Way of Central Florida.

She plans on completing her associate degree before transferring to the University of Central Florida to continue her education. She is responsible for providing premier customer service but also assumes administrative roles that includes processing payroll, record keeping, new associate processing and she also mentors associates to aid with their success in their role within the Customer Service Department.