Spencer Schar sits on the board of the Lake Economic Area Development (LEAD) Partnership, a public private partnership between Lake County and local businesses. This article will provide an overview of LEAD’s role in helping businesses of all sizes to capitalize on the significant commercial opportunities Lake County has to offer. The attached PDF provides more information about Lake County and its economy.
Dedicated to the advancement of economic development efforts, LEAD supports the people, communities, and businesses of Lake County. The public private organization was created to lead efforts to further unite, grow, and diversify Lake County’s regional economy. LEAD works closely with private businesses, chambers of commerce, government, workforce and education organizations, and other related stakeholders, with the ultimate goal of collectively driving economic growth in Lake County.
LEAD aims to create businesses, providing sole traders and partnerships with the resources and networking opportunities necessary to establish, grow, and scale their enterprises. LEAD has increased investment in emerging industries and innovation clusters in order to encourage economic diversification. The attached infographic identifies some of the biggest growth industries in 2023.
In the realms of business retention and expansion, LEAD helps existing businesses with issues relating to workforce assistance, financing, permitting, post-disaster continuity, and other challenges and growth opportunities, serving as a vital point of contact between businesses, local stakeholders, and government leaders.
For businesses seeking to establish new operations in Lake County, LEAD assists with numerous measures, such as economic data and location analysis, bridging relations to help meet government requirements, attaining local funding and capital investors, and helping businesses to access a custom-trained workforce prior to their arrival in Lake County.
Strategically located in the heart of Central Florida northwest of Orlando, Lake County boasts easy access to several major transportation networks, including US Route 441 and the Florida Turnpike, providing access to 50 million people within a 500-mile radius. In addition, several international airports are located nearby, including Orlando International Airport, Tampa International Airport, Sanford International Airport, and Daytona Beach International Airport. The embedded video contains more information about Daytona Beach International Airport.
With an 80.4% prime-age participate rate and an impressive 89.7% educational attainment rate with school leavers earning a high school diploma or higher, Lake County, Florida, is outpacing national, state, and regional growth averages, with 2.3% annual growth as of the fourth quarter of 2022 according to a report published by JobsEQ.