State of the County Address touts county's resources, ability to push and move forward
The color of the day Thursday at Osceola Heritage Park was green.
No, the Boston Celtics' NBA G League team out of Maine didn't play in Kissimmee -- the Osceola Magic open their season Friday. But Osceola County, taking a slightly different tack on its annual State of the County event at Osceola Heritage Park, highlighted its sustainability efforts to move the county forward.
While many think of sustainability as environmental concerns with resources and the ecosystem, county leaders said that also involves how people move and gather.
"Sustainability is not just a buzz word," said Osceola County Commissioner Cheryl Grieb, who may have seen the irony in that statement, as a local beekeeping operation offered up raw honey to attendees. (She threatened to host the event in a bee outfit, but instead chose a lovely full-length green dress to meet the subject). "Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do. Osceola County is not just resilient, but thriving. That benefits residents and visitors."
The event, billed as the largest one in the 12 years the county has held it, was nearly rescheduled when Hurricane Milton arrived during the planning stage. A readiness and recovery plan taken on by officials and residents made the blow one the whole county shook off rather easily.
"We proved that when we unite, we can weather any storm," Grieb said.
Each of the five county commissioners showed how the county is working to promote a "greener and smarter" sustainability outlook. Ricky Booth, a cattle rancher by trade, showed how the local ranching industry is working to provide cleaner water and protected open spaces. Brandon Arrington explained large efforts to clean an rehabilitate Lakes Tohopekaliga and Kissimmee.
Peggy Choudhry talked of Osceola's "people resources", like how NeoCity Academy, a nationally-ranked magnet school, and Osceola Prosper, the county's initiative to cover the costs of county graduate's Associate's degree or technical certification, form an educational foundation. Viviana Janer noted efforts to form sustainable communities to live in, like efforts toward affordable housing.
And Grieb polished it all off with how the county is fostering a more vibrant technical ecosystem. Plug and Play, an accelerator program for the semiconductor manufacturing and research force building at NeoCity, has added 10 startups to its list of cohorts working to make the tech farm a Silicon Valley of the east. Osceola is also home to three major solar power panel facilities used by OUC and Duke Energy, and another at NeoCity will soon go under construction.
"I have always loved our environment, that we create complete streets," Grieb said. "It's important to me and all of our residents as well. 60% of our county will never be developed. We want to preserve land so we can have locally-sustained fruits and vegetables and things. This is where I've spent most of my life."
