THE 2010 FLORIDA JOBS SUMMIT

Florida's next Senate president and House speaker will convene a statewide-focused Florida Jobs Summit to hear ideas from Florida employers, experts and citizens to help boost investment, economic growth and job creation in the Sunshine State.

With some economists predicting that Florida's job woes may persist to 2012 or beyond, the Florida Jobs Summit will focus on developing a targeted state strategy in three key action areas:

Identifying and removing barriers to new jobs development,
Developing appropriate financial and tax incentives to lure new jobs to Florida, and
Enabling existing employers to create new jobs and retain existing jobs.

The Florida Jobs Summit will be held in Orlando Jan. 15, 2010, at the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel, and will bring together diverse stakeholders representing business, government, education and labor to discuss and develop a smart, strong and strategic agenda for restoring the state's economy to robust growth.

Already, leaders of several key professional organizations have indicated support for the summit and an intention to actively participate. Groups that have already expressed such interest include Associated Industries of Florida, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Retail Federation, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, the AFL-CIO and the Florida Education Association.

Sen. Haridopolos and Rep. Cannon are seeking input and participation from leaders in all sectors of Florida's economy. We encourage you to register for this important event to help build consensus and develop a new policy direction for promoting job creation in 2010.

View Tony Villamil's Presentation Below.

2010 Florida Job Summit, Jan 15

Agenda for the Jan. 15 Florida Jobs Summit

7:00 a.m.	REGISTRATION
7:30 - 8:30 a.m.	BREAKFAST SANDLAKE ROOM Breakfast buffet and attendee meet & greet.
8:30 a.m.	WELCOMING REMARKS Sen. Haridopolos and Rep. Cannon
8:45 a.m.	REMARKS FROM GOV. CRIST
9:00 - 9:15 a.m.	BREAK Set up for panel discussions
9:15 a.m. - Noon	PANELS Sen. Haridopolos and Rep. Cannon will facilitate six Discussion Panels that will run concurrently in two separate rooms - each lasting 50 minutes. Panel discussions to begin at 9:15, 10:10 a.m. and 11:05 a.m.
9:15 - 10:05 a.m.	PROMOTING JOB CREATION: ELIMINATING BARRIERS AND BUILDING INCENTIVES SANDLAKE ROOM Panel discussion: 9:15-9:55 a.m. \| Audience comment: 9:55-10:05 a.m. Facilitated by Sen. Haridopolos LEVERAGING EXISTING RESOURCES TO CREATE SUSTAINABLE JOBS WEKIWA ROOMS 4&5 Panel discussion: 9:15-9:55 a.m. \| Audience comment: 9:55-10:05 a.m. Facilitated by Rep. Cannon
10:10 - 11:00 a.m.	IMMEDIATE OPPORTUNITIES TO GROW NEW SECTORS SANDLAKE ROOM Panel discussion: 10:10-10:50 a.m. \| Audience comment: 10:50-11 a.m. Facilitated by Sen. Haridopolos STRENGTHENING FLORIDA'S TRADITIONAL ECONOMIC PILLARS WEKIWA ROOMS 4&5 Panel discussion: 10:10-10:50 a.m. \| Audience comment: 10:50-11 a.m. Facilitated by Rep. Cannon
11:05 - 11:55 a.m.	SMART GROWTH: BALANCING FLORIDA'S INTERESTS SANDLAKE ROOM Panel discussion: 11:05-11:45 a.m. \| Audience comment: 11:45-11:55 a.m. Facilitated by Sen. Haridopolos GETTING THE WORKFORCE READY TO WORK WEKIWA ROOMS 4&5 Panel discussion: 11:05-11:45 a.m. \| Audience comment: 11:45-11:55 a.m. Facilitated by Rep. Cannon
Noon	LUNCH SUWANNEE 12, 13, 14 and 15
12:30 p.m.	KEYNOTE REMARKS AND Q&A BY DR. TONY VILLAMIL SUWANNEE 12, 13, 14 and 15 Founder, Washington Economics Group Dean and Research Professor of Economics, School of Business St. Thomas University of Florida
1:15 - 1:30 p.m.	BREAK
1:30 - 2:30 p.m.	COMMENT SESSION SANDLAKE ROOM A one-hour Comment Session will allow attendees brief opportunities to share their feedback, input, questions and suggestions. Participation in this session is free and open to the public.
2:30 - 3:30 p.m.	WRAP-UP PANEL SANDLAKE ROOM Wrap-up panel to discuss major themes from each panel, followed by concluding remarks from Sen. Haridopolos and Rep. Cannon.

GET INVOLVED

Getting our state's economy growing again and generating jobs is a task that will require cooperation and teamwork by Floridians of all professions and political persuasions. To a certain extent, it also will require the government getting out of the way so our state's employers can put people on the payroll.

If you are a teacher, you may have an idea of how to better prepare new high school or college graduates to compete in a tough job market. If you work in retail, you may have an idea of how to put money in people's pockets to get them buying again. And if you are a small business owner, you may have encountered state or local regulations that don't make sense but could be improved in a way that would help you hire new workers.

We encourage you to contact the offices of Sen. Haridopolos and Rep. Cannon and share your ideas by e-mail at haridopolos.mike.web@flsenate.gov, and dean.cannon@myfloridahouse.gov.

With your ideas, we can leverage the full resources of the State of Florida to ensure we strengthen our economic base and begin creating good-paying jobs in communities across our state.