All you’ve done your entire life is work with your hands. Building, wiring, framing. It’s a tough job, but it’s one you own - the bitter taste of long hours in the sun are offset by the tangible sweetness an honest, good-sized paycheck brings home to your wife and two children. Work is booming and a hard days’ work has never gone further - until, one day, the phone stops ringing.

Welcome to the life of former Bithlo area resident, 29-year-old Kenneth Cross. Several years ago, Cross worked in the construction industry, partnered with his brother Leo, framing roofs of residential homes at a hectic pace. But, as the economy took a downturn in Central Florida, the residential housing market crashed and Cross was left with no work and little hope.

“About three years ago it started to get so slow and if there was work, no one was paying anything,” he says. “My brother and I were just getting into making good money and if it had lasted just a little bit longer, we would’ve been alright.”

Instead, Cross was forced to take up an on-again, off-again landscaping position to help make ends meet. His family has been forced to use food stamps to eat. His wife has become almost the sole supporter for the household, still struggling to survive and raise two young children.

When the calls stopped coming in, Cross remembers being concerned first, then angry at what was going on around him. “I was concerned because we were hurting for money,” he says. “After doing so well for a long period of time, working steady - to go to not making money was rough.”

Then the anger set in. According to Cross, when there was work, it was being given to illegal immigrants who would underbid projects and work for pennies on the dollar. “You just couldn’t do it as cheap or as fast because they had so many guys,” he remembers. “There was nothing we could do to compete.”

Down but certainly not out, Cross decided that it was time for a change. He was going to use his construction skills for something else - he was going to build himself a new career.

Deciding to temporarily put down the hammers and pick up the books, Cross enrolled himself at Valencia Community College and began pursuing a degree in engineering. “I wanted to stay in construction because I’ve already got the experience there,” he says. “My goal for the future, what I’d really like to do, is design the roof trusses on houses after the architect gets done with the initial plans.”

However, with just a few semesters to go before earning his degree from Valencia, an old contact came calling - he had work installing siding on apartments. Not wanting to turn the opportunity to make money and provide for his growing family, Cross stepped away from his education to become the chief family earner again. But, just like the construction industry, the work isn’t steady.

“I work whenever he has work, sometimes it’s a few days a week, sometimes it’s more; last time I worked four days straight, but I’ve been out of work for a little over a week because he hasn’t had any for me to do it,” says Cross. “It’s sporadic at best.”

Cross has now missed the last two semesters of school in favor of providing for his family. But, perhaps most importantly, through the entire situation, he has never given up.

“Its been a tough road, but we’ve made the most of it,” he says.

Article by Corey Gehrold

By now, if you’ve driven down Woodbury Road, you’ve noticed the construction commissioned by the City of Orlando Public Works Department that began on July 27, 2009. The project, officially titled the Eastern Regional Reclaimed Water Distribution System (ERRWDS) Phase II Contract 1B, is set to install approximately 16,000 feet of 42-inch diameter ductile iron reclaimed water main piping south along Woodbury Road. Officially, the project begins 1,500 feet south of State Road 50 and continues to the intersection of Golfway Boulevard before going under the pavement of the southbound lane of Golfway and across South Alafaya Trail. Its final destination will be west to the Orange County Eastern Regional Water Reclamation Facility.

The pipeline stems from a project commissioned in the early 2000’s by the region’s various water management districts to come up with a 20 year water management plan says Allen Oyler, public works director for the City of Orlando. “There was some computer modeling done and we found that in a few years we will be reaching our sustainability limit, so we have to look elsewhere for water,” he says.

Outside of the St. John’s River, the next biggest source for water is reclaimed water that has been highly treated and designated as safe for certain uses, such as irrigation. “The majority of water we use is not for personal use like drinking or hygiene,” says Oyler. “It’s for irrigation. Roughly 55 to 60 percent of water use from OUC is used for irrigation or watering lawns, and reclaimed water is perfectly suited for that use.” According to Oyler, the reclaimed water is far cheaper than the next best alternative, the St. John’s River. “We should save our drinking water for drinking and use this perfectly safe water for irrigation purposes,” he says.

This segment will be the last leg of the pipeline to connect the north portion of the line with the south portion, successfully completing the system. “The system not only helps to further conserve water, but it will also save a good amount of money moving forward,” Oyler says. “I understand residents will be inconvenienced but I cannot stress enough the importance of this project for the region as a whole. Ultimately this will help residents and the rest of the region the in long term regional plan.”

The $5,206,568 project is scheduled to be completed in July 2010. Northbound lanes of Woodbury Road and Golfway Boulevard will be modified to maintain two-way traffic during construction, although delays are expected. Project work is scheduled to take place from 7:00 a.m. through 3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, except on city designated holidays. The project will effect roadways and possible sidewalks in front of Waterford Lakes Elementary and Discovery Middle school, which has some officials concerned, at least for the time being. “My biggest concern, and I believe that this will be answered, is ensuring student safety on their way to and from school is in place,” says Daryl Flynn, school board member for District 2. “It’s important that we work together and I’m confident we will find a solution.”

“We plan to do work immediately in front of the schools around holiday break in December because there simply isn’t enough time to complete that at the end of the summer,” says Oyler. Safety for the kids is a high priority for all parties involved. “There may be challenges along the course of the year but from the initial impressions I’ve been given, they seem committed to impacting the schools as little as possible,” says Flynn.

Want to learn more about the project? Follow along on it’s official Web site by clicking here.

Article by Corey Gehrold

A new partnership building in the Central Florida Research Park will help Metro Orlando keep and add thousands of high-tech, high-wage modeling and simulation jobs and remain a national leader in that expanding industry.

The University of Central Florida and the military will share the Partnership III building, which will be home to UCF Institute for Simulation & Training laboratories and related modeling and simulation research. The UCF facility, scheduled to open in fall 2010, will be built to meet at least the silver level of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.

UCF President John Hitt will join military and elected officials at a groundbreaking ceremony Friday, July 10, at the building site, next to the Partnership II building in the Central Florida Research Park. Guests will arrive at 8:15 a.m., and the program will begin at 8:45 a.m.

Speakers will include state Rep. Dean Cannon, retired state Sen. Dan Webster, Orange County Commissioner Bill Segal and Rear Admiral Donald Gaddis, commander of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division and assistant commander for Research and Engineering, Naval Air Systems Command.

Meg Crofton, vice chairman of the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission and president of the Walt Disney World Resort, also is scheduled to speak.

Led by Cannon and Webster, state legislators worked hard to fund Partnership III and related enhancements to buildings that house military agencies in the Research Park. The funding enabled the Department of Defense to meet new security requirements for its personnel working in the area.

The Metro Orlando area is a national leader in modeling, simulation and training, with more than 100 companies that directly or indirectly generate nearly 17,000 jobs in the region. New and expanding companies are attracted to Central Florida in part because of the presence of the military and Institute for Simulation & Training.

U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps simulation offices based in the Research Park expect to award more than $5 billion in contracts this year, and much of that money remains in the Metro Orlando area.

The 118,860-square-foot Partnership III building will be constructed next to Partnership II and will be a mirror image of that building, saving the state about $500,000 in design costs.

What if parts of unincorporated East Orange County were to become an incorporated city of its own? That’s the question a few East Orange County residents are considering with the professional support of NJC Corporate Enterprises, Inc. and its president James D. DeCocq. One benefit of incorporating is the creation of a local government entity that is closest to and most responsive to its citizens. A new municipal government fills in for the government services that the county is supposed to provide but doesn’t, usually because of limited resources.

Due to the sheer size of unincorporated East Orange County, some residents feel that the services provided by Orange County could be handled more efficiently. The benefits to residents living in a newly incorporated municipal government include: local control, maintaining or reducing tax rates, and better services in the areas of police, fire/rescue, building, zoning, and planning, recreation, public works, solid waste management, and emergency planning and recovery.

NJC conducted a financial analysis of one proposed region that could be used as the boundaries for a new municipal government in East Orange County. The region used for this initial study included an area of about 28,000 square acres that sits south of Highway 50 to the Beachline, extends east to the Econolahatchee River and west to Alafaya Trail. DeCocq says, “Based upon the best available data, both Avalon Park Proper and the East Orange County Study Area seem to posses taxable values that indicate a strong potential for financial independence from Orange County, Florida through either annexation or incorporation.”

The sticking point at this time is deciding the boundaries for the new municipal government. “Once official boundaries are established, an estimate of costs for services provided by Orange County to East Orange County residents within those boundaries can be provided,” says a spokesperson from the Orlando Property Appraiser’s office. These expenses are currently assessed through the county millage rates applied to property taxes. “Then parties involved in establishing a new city need to determine the administrative costs as well as cost provisions for the same or some of the services currently provided by the county. These costs would add up to the millage rate the new city would assess its residents,” the spokesperson explains.

While the assessment of millage by a new municipality on property owners sounds like increasing taxes, it’s really not. According to DeCocq, “City services provided to the unincorporated tax districts (UTD) in Orange County is co-mingled for services to all UTDs in Orange County.” Therefore, monies that should support East Orange County could be used elsewhere in the county. “The point is to make local government local. Incorporating a new municipality is more akin to rearing a child than getting divorced from the county,” adds DeCocq.

One way that citizens might see immediate positive consequences resulting from incorporating is through the maintenance of common areas, including the medians between the four lanes of Avalon Park Boulevard, among other areas. What takes the county three months or more to mow could be mowed more regularly. The responsibility, or burden, of such public works is relieved from the county and taken over by the new city. “Property values usually increase as soon as a city becomes incorporated,” says DeCocq. He explains that well maintained landscaping and the “branding” of cities, as seen through street furniture, including street lights, benches, garbage receptacles and the presentation of retention ponds help build a city’s reputation as a safe and clean place to live.

Another key component in the success of incorporating a new city is inter-local agreements. These agreements may involve the county contracting the new city to provide services for outlying communities. For example, if it is economically feasible for the city formed in East Orange County to provide recreation, public works or landscaping services to common areas in Bithlo or Wedgefield, Orange County may pay for such services to relieve the burden placed on their limited resources.

Residents interested in exploring the incorporation of part of East Orange County have a long process ahead of them. At this point the group has contacted and received support from State Representative Sandra Adams, so now they will move forward with a feasibility study. A committee is charged with raising funds to support the study. According to James DeCocq, the newly formed political committee will strive to present a completed feasibility study to the Florida legislation for the March 2010 session.

It is important to note that legislative approval is not a vote for incorporation. Legislative approval simply assigns a date for the people in the affected areas to vote on the incorporation plan. That vote will make or break the entire effort. Stay tuned for more information about the progress of the political committee and the incorporation of East Orange County into its own municipal government.

Article by Evelyn Cichanowski

The good news is that the quality of life East Orlando offers its residents will form the foundation for the recovery of the commercial real estate market. With the development of UCF’s medical school in Lake Nona and their neighbor the Burnham Research Institute, highly employable workers will continue to move into this region. The basic concepts of supply and demand will work their magic as these medical facilities and other support services become available to residents. Then demand for residential properties and retail vendors will increase as will available supplies provided by the commercial real estate market. Only then will the state of commercial real estate in this community begin to improve.

Traditionally, the commercial real estate market lags behind the residential real estate market in terms of acquisition and development. So, if the residential market is nearing its bottom, then commercial real estate sales will continue to decline after the former starts to rebound. If you consider the dynamics of these two real-estate industries, you’ll see their cycles are interdependent.

Today consumer confidence regarding the improvement of the economy remains low. “Until consumer confidence gets high enough to generate spending in retail stores, commercial real estate sales and leases will continue to decline,” explains Jim Spaeth, CFO for Sonata Health Care and president of the real estate group Remora Partners. The decline in leases of retail space indicates there are few tenants for new storefronts. The current statistics for commercial real estate in the East Orlando region, therefore, do not encourage lenders to support new retail businesses. Hence the vicious cycle seems to be endless.

“East Orlando is a fantastic long-term market place for commercial real estate. Demographically East Orlando residents are highly employable, therefore retailers want to be located in this community,” explains Spaeth. High employability of residents means the need for more office space to house the businesses they serve. In turn retailers, who serve the needs of those workers, find the demand required to keep their stores in business.

According to Deron K. Lacy, Senior Vice President Commercial Lending, Riverside Bank of Central Florida, “Most commercial properties in East Orlando are performing. As a lender, I try to be proactive in working with my clients to keep them solvent during this tough economy.” Now is the time for property owners to seek alternatives to their current business loan structures. “Unlike some lenders, I prefer to help my clients before they become delinquent on their loans. I may be able to offer a commercial property owner a short-term interest-only loan, giving him or her lower monthly payments for now,” Lacy adds.

Companies who have more diversified assets in real estate are more likely to weather the current economical storm and rise again. Jim Spaeth explains, “There are four major ‘food groups’ in real estate: residential, retail, industrial, and multi-family. Of these four, the most stable is industrial real estate. This is because industrial businesses are concerned with the movement of goods which is tied to manufacturing.” Manufactured goods are more likely to be solid investments as they are distributed to a wider market and not dependent strictly on local purchases.

Nonetheless, East Orlando residents will continue to enjoy the quality of life offered here. In addition the residents who relocate here to work for industries slated for Innovation Way will find affordable suitable homes for their families, decent education for their children, and easy access to the many recreation venues available in Central Florida. Once the development of the Innovation Way corridor is complete and the critical Beachline access road is in place, East Orlando will be prepared to lead the state in economic recovery.

Article by Evelyn Cichanowski