The annual Economic Forecast Events are presented by Allen & Company of Florida, LLC. in partnership with the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce and the EDC on Florida’s Space Coast. In 2020, the event celebrated its 33rd year of bringing professionals, investors, and business owners together to focus on the current economic landscape and major factors that affected financial markets.
This year, we chose to amplify a specific topic. It’s a topic that Brian Wesbury — Chief Economist at First Trust and returning keynote speaker — regularly addresses during his forecasts, and one that’s close to our hearts. It’s the significance of each single “great idea”; the eventual impact that even just one can have on the economy and — for that matter — our very way of life. Entrepreneurs bring these ideas to life.
We have captured several unique stories of Florida entrepreneurs and the communities and ecosystems that support them. Each of these businesses started with a single great idea and grew to something much larger. We’ve highlighted these stories in the magazine you are about to read, as well as through video.
You’ll meet real people with unique backgrounds from a variety of industries in these interviews. From brewing beer to launching rockets, to manufacturing silica or programming robots, each of these professionals has taken their own path. They’ve met challenges with determination and imagination. They may all be at different stages in their careers, but what they all share is far more important. It’s what makes Central Florida such a vibrant, growing hub of innovation.
It’s the entrepreneurial spirit.