Stories

2020 Annual Economic Review

July 8, 2021

The Annual Economic Review is a one- and five-year summary of the 13 indicators featured in the Quarterly Economic Dashboard. Annual data gives a macro perspective, allowing comprehensive objectives to come into full focus. Whether an indicator is positive, negative, or neutral depends upon one’s perspective. Policymakers like tight labor markets more than employers do. […]

Intern Spotlight: Gabriella Garcia

July 7, 2021

The Office of Economic Vitality is proud to welcome and spotlight the newest member of our team, Gabriella Garcia. She has joined our MWSBE team as a Graduate Intern. Gabriella is currently pursuing a Master of Science (M.S.) in Applied American Politics and Policy Candidate at Florida State University and will graduate in May 2022.  […]

Director’s Message: Disaster Preparedness

June 11, 2021

June is National Safety Month and marks the official start of the 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season. Small businesses are vital assets to our economy and community, which is why the Office of Economic Vitality encourages all businesses to get prepared! Every organization has unique vulnerabilities and can’t always avoid disasters, but having a plan helps minimize […]

Preparing Bid Responses

By: MWSBE Team Bid responses involve a strategic approach with detailed text and graphics that mirror the understanding of the compliance of your company with the criteria. It is important that during this process, you highlight your companies’ certifications, credentials, services, and products offered. For your response for a bid to be effective, you need […]

The Critical Role of Workforce Training in the Labor Market Recovery

By: Kevin Gehrke, Business Development Manager, Applied Science As we slowly exit the COVID-19 pandemic, markets will begin to open bringing rise to the need for labor, more importantly, skilled labor. In preparation, we, as a community, need to understand how the labor market has changed and if the change will remain permanent. Many industries […]

Director’s Message: Celebrating Economic Development Week

May 6, 2021

Next week, May 9 through May 15, marks International Economic Development Week, which was created and initiated by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). At OEV, we are excited to celebrate this week by bringing awareness to the local advancement opportunities that aim to strengthen our local economy. On Monday, May 10, I am happy […]

Leon County Schools Looking to Increase Opportunities for Small Businesses

May 5, 2021

Shanea Wilks, Senior Coordinator Last week, the Leon County School Board (LCS) approved changes to their small business criteria to align more closely with OEV’s and the Office of Supplier Diversity’s Small Business Enterprise (SBE) criteria. As a direct result, small businesses working with the State, City, County, Blueprint, and LCS will now follow the […]

Despite Pandemic, Multi-Family Residential Development Remains Relatively Strong in Tallahassee

T.J. Lewis, Business Development Manager For the first quarter of 2021, nearly a year into the coronavirus pandemic, new data shows that apartment developers have drawn back on multi-family activity nationwide. Currently in the United States, 565,000 apartments are under construction compared to more than 700,000 at this point in 2020. Large declines have been […]

Tallahassee Businesses Take Home Paycheck Protection Program

Richard Fetchick, Business Intelligence Manager The Covid-19 pandemic created a fast-acting recession with immediate impacts to employment and business bottom lines. Unlike the 2008 sub-prime mortgage crisis, Leon County’s employment dipped by 20,000 in April 2020 – just the second month of the crisis – whereas employment hit its low point following the sub-prime crisis […]

Director’s Message: Entrepreneurship Drives Economic Vitality

April 8, 2021

From driving innovation to promoting social change, entrepreneurship plays a major role in the economy of our city, state, and nation. Entrepreneurship enhances economic growth, creates job opportunities, and enables new markets to be developed through the unique offerings of new goods and services. Great innovators have the ability to change the world for the […]

Upcoming Events
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April 3, 2024

The Economic Vitality Leadership Council is responsible for quarterly meeting to increase the community’s competitiveness across the six economic development initiatives, provide advice upon implementing the strategic plan, encourage collaboration across all community sectors, and recommend improvements to improve competitiveness.

April 3, 2024

The Minority, Women, and Small Business Enterprise (MWSBE) Citizen’s Advisory Committee (CAC) explores strategies for engaging and empowering MWSBEs to meet goals identified in the Economic Development Strategic Plan. This citizen-led committee provides critical input, oversight, and transparency toward OEV’s MWSBE goal attainment. It will form subcommittees and a task force to determine milestones and […]