I write today regarding the importance of continuing to work together to overcome our challenges and to maximize our opportunities, while honoring the values that will help us secure a more prosperous future for everyone-regional stewardship, positive civic engagement and unselfish volunteerism.

Like many civic organizations, the Central Florida Partnership is led by a dedicated team of volunteer leaders, focused on addressing needs across our region, and focused on building strategic responses in support of our regional priorities, allowing us to grow mindfully towards a healthy, vibrant, and prosperous tomorrow.  As any family or business would do, we have organized our collective efforts around specific regional priorities, after months of discussion and open dialogue, all done while honoring civic transparency through regular communication with the community and by posting our work on our website.

One of these regional priorities has been an especially energizing effort called "Open for Business."  This regional effort is focused on reviewing the jobs imperatives of our employers and our small businesses, all working to support our family of communities.  While there has been misinterpretation in recent days regarding this volunteer-led effort, make no mistake, this is a critical regional priority.  "Open for Business" is about economic recovery; it is about growing small businesses; it is about creating jobs.  I encourage you to learn more about the research and analysis of the project.  Doing so will help you to understand better how small businesses can be supported to achieve success and how we can work together to activate our regional markets, triggering the job creation we desperately need to put working families back to work.

Public-private partnerships are a critical part of our tool kit, allowing us to tap into expertise and leadership across sectors when it comes to the many critical efforts we must address regionally.  This is true for any viable region or community.  In certain banter of recent days, the very values of stewardship, the power of regional strategies and the importance of public-private partnerships have been questioned, and genuine statements of thoughtful leaders have had their intent twisted by others.

Last week, in a memorandum from our friend, Frank Kruppenbacher, the 1987 Chairman of Orlando, Inc. (Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce), addressed to Phil Brown, Executive Director of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA), several important best practices were highlighted for discussion.  I appreciate Mr. Kruppenbacher’s intent to ensure that care is taken to meet compliance standards, to follow basic business practices, to implement protocols of review and to ensure transparency.  I also applaud Mr. Brown and the entire team at GOAA for ensuring good stewardship of public dollars and for mobilizing and motivating its 650 employees, all dedicated to serving the needs of more than 35,000,000 visitors and residents who pass through our world-class airport each year.  That regional asset was the vision of government and business leaders decades ago, and their persistence in seeing it completed and expanded to what it is today is a testament to Central Florida’s strength.  In fact, we have provided to Mr. Brown all information requested concerning GOAA’s investment in the work of the Central Florida Partnership and its lines of business.

Healthy business practices, proper protocols and transparency are essential to our work at the Central Florida Partnership, as we proudly bring together leaders and thinkers from across the Central Florida region.  As a matter of tradition, we welcome different perspectives and varying points of view.  Our family of communities understands that the more we share ideas and encourage constructive dialogue, the better our outcomes will be.  As any small business owner understands, we must make the best decisions possible with the best information available, and we must hold ourselves accountable, as we continue to move "Ideas to Results."

Jeffery Q. Jonasen, 2012 Chairman
Central Florida Partnership

Central Florida Partnership - Ideas to Results
The Central Florida Partnership is a collaborative of business and civic leaders committed to procuring a better tomorrow for Central Florida's seven counties - Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole and Volusia. We are thoughtful leaders united by a single, guiding principle - that we have both the power and the responsibility to make change happen.

Working together, through four lines of business – Orlando, Inc. (Regional Entrepreneurship), BusinessForce (Regional Public Policy Advocacy), myregion.org (Regional Research & Resolves) and Leadership Orlando (Regional Leadership) – the Central Florida Partnership is moving "Ideas to Results."

About the Central Florida Partnership
Click here to learn more about the Central Florida Partnership.
Click here for the Central Florida Partnership Board of Directors.