Winter Park Chamber of Commerce to host Winter Park Outlook on Tuesday, Sept. 25.

Know your region, Winter Park.

Local businesses owners and Winter Park Chamber of Commerce members will have a chance to get up to speed on what’s happening in the local economy at the Winter Park Outlook Tuesday, Sept. 25 at The Alfond Inn.

The annual chamber event will offer a status report on the community and a chance to hear more about factors that impact the area’s economic development.

It gives business leaders a chance to come together and gain a better understanding of the region, chamber CEO and President Betsy Gardner Eckbert said.

“It’s about taking stock of what opportunities are in our midst, understanding what assets we have as a community and then being able to kind of leverage those,” she said. “As we put the program together, we like to include information and stats on how Orange County is doing and then stats on what the chamber is doing to try and create opportunity for people in our community.”

Attendees also will get a chance to hear from keynote speaker Dr. Sean Snaith, director of the Institute for Economic Competitiveness at UCF.

“Dr. Snaith will be focused on factors that are contributing to our economic diversity and success,” Gardner Eckbert said. “We have a full-employment economy — what does that look like and feel like in Central Florida? I think he’s going to talk about macroeconomic factors (such as) immigration, and I think he’s going to talk about what sectors create opportunities for the region and how that comes over to Winter Park. … I think his job title says it all. … He’s a very pragmatic economist who doesn’t sit in an ivory tower and just look at facts and figures. He’s actually someone who understands what’s good for business and what is a climate that is good for business. … He’s just a really valuable contributor to this discussion on the region’s economy.”

Gardner Eckbert said Winter Park continues to be in a strong position as it sits nestled in the middle of Central Florida. Numerous senior business executives choose to live in Winter Park because of the unique quality of life, she said.

“We do see more people looking to relocate their whole company to Winter Park,” Gardner Eckbert said.

“Winter Park is definitely a place where interesting businesses decisions are being made in one shape or another. Even though Winter Park is a community of 29,000 people and seems small on paper, it’s quite a mighty community in terms of its regional, statewide and — to some degree — national and global influencers that live and work here. We’re excited to sit in this nexus of opportunity (in Central Florida). We have a global airport. We have a lot of interesting international trade going on. We’ve got tons of entrepreneurialism.”

Gardner Eckbert said she is looking forward to seeing the business community come together and network as well.

“I feel like this is Winter Park’s business community family meeting,” Gardner Eckbert said. “It’s really fun to get everybody together and hopefully learn something we don’t already know and then be able to leverage that point of connection whether you’re reconnecting or connecting for the first time.”