The enhanced scorecard measures the four-county region of Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties’ advancement toward Broad-based Prosperity™
Orlando, Fla. – Today, the Orlando Economic Partnership (the Partnership) announced the publication of an updated Orlando Prosperity Scorecard. The Scorecard, initially released in November of 2019, measures Orlando’s advancement toward Broad-based Prosperity™ and is a regional tool to develop strategies for economic and community development.
The enhanced scorecard reveals much about the four-county region of Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties. It measures 43 indicators across 13 different themes, selected with feedback from Orlando’s business and non-profit leaders as well as guidance from scholars at the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program.
Key Takeaways:
- The Prosperity Scorecard shows that barriers to workforce participation have been decreasing over time. Orlando has an educated workforce with access to new opportunities being created by a digital economy.
- However, the region’s growth has not been enough to propel Orlando forward in rankings among peer metros. Prosperity is not distributed evenly in Orlando when we consider outcomes by race, ethnicity, and gender.
- The economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic further threatens future prosperity.
“The Orlando Prosperity Scorecard captures a view of the Orlando region before the pandemic wreaked havoc on the national economy.”
Sandy Hostetter, Partnership Board Chair and Central Florida Regional President at Truist
“It serves as a baseline, highlighting the trends that were playing out in an economy that seemed strong by standard measures,” said Partnership Board Chair and Central Florida Regional President at Truist Sandy Hostetter. “It helps us better understand how prosperity has been distributed in Orlando and where barriers to economic mobility linger. At the Partnership, we’re working to level the playing field so that all of our residents, businesses and communities benefit from the region’s prosperity and the scorecard provides valuable insight to help us, and our partners, make that happen.”
The challenges of a rapidly evolving economy are not specific to Orlando. Gaps in pay, internet access, educational attainment and more exist across the country when these outcomes are examined by race, ethnicity, and gender. Preliminary analysis, still too early to integrate into the Scorecard, suggest the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated these challenges.
“As we continue our focus on Broad-based Prosperity™, addressing the opportunities identified by the Scorecard as well as the challenges brought on by the pandemic, we look to shift our strategies away from legacy economic growth patterns and build beyond the baseline set by the Orlando Prosperity Scorecard,” said Partnership President and CEO Tim Giuliani.
“Overall, the Prosperity Scorecard shows promise as barriers to workforce participation prior to the pandemic continued to dissipate. Orlando’s educated workforce must continue to access and drive new opportunities in the digital economy.”
Tim Giuliani, Partnership President and CEO
The challenges identified by the Scorecard cannot be solved by one organization alone and solutions cannot be created in silos. They impact all aspects of the Orlando region’s economy, ranging from the available talent to the health of Orlando’s innovation ecosystem and the community’s collective bottom-line.
“The Partnership’s commitment to inclusive economic growth that benefits all people and all places made them a valuable participant in our Inclusive Economic Indicators Learning Lab,” said Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program, Alan Berube. “Throughout 2020, Brookings Metro worked with the Partnership to refine the indicators associated with inclusive growth.”
“The resulting set of metrics presented in this report, Beyond the Baseline, provide a powerful impetus for coordinated public, private, and civic actions to identify and conquer shared challenges.”
Alan Berube, Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program
To create a more resilient economy, the Partnership will continue to convene stakeholders and evolve new strategies that leverage the anticipated return of regional growth. The Partnership has outlined options for how regional corporations can engage with the Scorecard findings beyond just viewing the data. These options range from presentations and discussions with governance boards to the opportunity for an analysis of corporate philanthropic spending against Scorecard outcomes.
“Our hope is that this Scorecard becomes a goal setting tool for regional organizations,” said Partnership Senior Vice President of Research and the Foundation for Orlando’s Future Dale A. Brill, Ph.D. “The long-term economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic can be expected to make our goal of broad-based prosperity even more challenging.”
“The Scorecard’s key takeaways set a new standard for economic recovery, one where people and place are considered more holistically in regional approaches to growth.”
Dale A. Brill, Ph.D., Partnership Senior Vice President of Research and the Foundation for Orlando’s Future
Orlando’s community and business leaders are invited to use the Orlando Prosperity Scorecard as a catalyst for aligning personal and organizational strategies as critical components of the collective action necessary to achieve broad-based prosperity™.
The Orlando Prosperity Scorecard and accompanying report is available for download at orlandoprosperityscorecard.com. For more information, please contact Laureen Martinez at 407-242-3982 or at Laureen.Martinez@Orlando.org.
