Northwest Florida corporate partners, economic developers and education leaders have formed a new regional economic development organization, Florida’s Great Northwest, Inc. The new initiative provides a unified approach to marketing Northwest Florida as a potential site in the quest for new, quality jobs. The objective is quality, high-paying job creation throughout the region, as well as building a more positive and visible awareness of Northwest Florida to site consultants and expansion decision-makers.

Northwest Florida must unite its resources and become a saleable product if it is to compete for the skilled projects that are going elsewhere in the southeast. The region’s major corporations, all the economic development organizations and community and four-year colleges have supported this initiative.

Florida’s Great Northwest, Inc. brings together the region’s economic development organizations under one marketing and research umbrella. The staffed organization is available to assist communities competing for job creation projects. Many of the region’s economic development organizations are one-person operations, and this highly trained staff will supplement their operations and ensure more competitive proposals to clients.

The organization has focused on marketing the region, compiling important data for potential projects, building high-energy and informative regional websites and coordinating events that have introduced site consultants and decision makers to the region.

The organization has also partnered with Enterprise Florida, the state’s economic development organization, in several target industry-marketing programs. It is important to use the state’s many strengths to draw attention to the region, and Florida's Great Northwest's global marketing efforts have provided excellent partnering venues throughout the world.

To learn more about Florida’s Great Northwest, log on to www.floridasgreatnorthwest.com.