As he walks through what is now a large empty building made up of thick, explosion-proof concrete walls, Eamonn Hassett uses one word to describe a massive Osceola County project: Courage

Osceola County’s growing effort to become a hub for high-tech jobs is getting a big boost, with a global player in micro-electronics and nanotechnology opening a new office near Kissimmee with potentially more than 100 jobs.

Belgium’s Imec is set to announce Friday plans to have 100 scientists and personnel working at the fledgling Florida Advanced Manufacturing Research Center center, near Kissimmee, in the next five years.

Osceola County officials and members of the Brevard County Manatees’ ownership and management announced the Class A Florida State League team will move to Kissimmee, starting with the 2017 season.

The Margaritaville Resort Orlando project is giving a look at what its first guests will see in 2017 when its first phase is complete.

Leaders for the International Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research are busy securing deals to build up the Florida Advanced Manufacturing Research Center in Kissimmee — and the latest one will lead to plenty of new high-wage jobs.

Osceola County on May 23 approved $15 million in research funding to help the Kissimmee-based group develop a design center. Because of that deal, an unidentified international research institute referred to as Project Nano will open its first U.S. location in the area.

Valencia College at Poinciana Campus opens in the fall of 2017. The 65,000-square-foot building was designed by architect DLR Group to complement its natural surroundings.  .   (Valencia College)

The sprawling Vacation Village at Parkway resort in Kissimmee is gearing up to add two more timeshare towers similar to this tower, built in 2015.

The University of Central Florida and the new high-tech manufacturing center in Osceola County scored a major federal research contract victory, landing a role in a new $75 million deal to develop smart-fiber technology.

• Eastwind Development is planning a two-phase, market-rate, 350-unit apartment complex across the street from the SunRail stop on the Osceola County side. The complex, estimated at about $52 million-$53 million, will feature six four-story mid-rises with elevators and detached garages, as well as a separate clubhouse. Interior amenities will include stainless steel appliances, upgraded light fixtures, nine-foot ceilings and a mix of wood-plank, tile and carpeted floors. The first phase will include 238 units.

• SunRail Senior: The developer wants to build a $32 million, 200-unit, age-restricted apartment community on the north side of the county line. Though it’s still early in the planning stages, it may include a large clubhouse, community room, concierge services, bike storage and repair, a pet salon, fitness center and separate yoga room, as well as a dining area with a warming kitchen. Amenities would include a pool and deck area along with a courtyard with a Zen garden, fountains, benches, pergola and putting green.

The remaining days of April will be extremely busy for Atlee Mercer.

The former county commissioner and chairman of the Osceola County Expressway Authority (OCX) is waiting for Saturday’s official opening of the northern end of Poinciana Parkway, the first leg in the tolled beltway around the southern end of its urban area.

Osceola’s Florida Advanced Manufacturing Research Center has changed a lot since it started vertical construction a little more than a month ago.

What began from just moving dirt around last year on the site near U.S. 192 and Florida’s Turnpike in Kissimmee is now noticeably a large building that will be built with lots of steel and concrete to house very expensive equipment to manufacture tiny smart sensors.

The International Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research is steadily making strides to build up its Florida Advanced Manufacturing Research Center in Osceola County. This time, the organization is eyeing a partnership with a nano-technology firm.

iCAMR CEO: ‘Florida Advanced Manufacturing Research Center will be a think tank for small and big businesses’

Chester Kennedy didn’t pay attention when the initial rumblings began about Osceola County and the University of Central Florida wanting to create a high-tech, smart sensor facility. But that changed once the former Lockheed Martin Corp. executive noticed how it could greatly impact small businesses. “When they started talking about building a design center — a place where I can take my idea and have a product custom-built — now I’m interested,” Kennedy said

What began as a two-story, 30-bed hospital about two and a half years ago in Osceola County is now a four-story, 76-bed hospital.

Poinciana Medical Center on Nov. 17 opened two more floors and 46 new private-patient beds across 40,000 square feet.

The hospital, owned by HCA Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HCA), announced its plans for the $26 million expansion in June 2014, as previously reported by Orlando Business Journal. The project also expanded cafeteria seating and parking areas, and added a community classroom on the first floor, according to a press release.

Air Flamenco, a mainstay of air travel in the Caribbean, will open a satellite base of operations at Kissimmee Gateway Airport (ISM) early next year.

Rubén Torres, who founded the Puerto Rico-based airline in 1976, now lives in Kissimmee and has a deal to co-locate with Quantem, a fixed-base operator at the municipal airport. The airline will offer a combination of charter service to and from the Caribbean, cargo flights and commuter flights throughout the state.

October 15, 2015 (Kissimmee, FL) -The City of Kissimmee’s Economic Development Office announced today that Infinity Medical Engineering will open their business in the City by the end of this year.

Infinity Medical Engineering, a medical device research, development  and manufacturing company, will open at 301 Church Street, near historic downtown Kissimmee, and will house a 10,000 square foot medical clean  room.

The company develops devices that focus on curing and preventing hospital acquired infections, as well as improving current technologies and medical diagnostic equipment. They will manufacture catheter devices and own a microbial fomiula that prevents hospital infections from occurring. They also own blood analysis equipment which provides results  in seven (7) minutes, as opposed to the 48-hour wait time that now exists.

New hotels are just one element of the longterm master plan for Osceola Heritage Park.

Don Miers, the county’s director of sports facilities, told GrowthSpotter that for months, county planners have “been dabbling with different concepts of what a master plan could look like.”

The 168-acre park on U.S. 192 houses the 11,000-seat arena, the Houston Astros training facility, an agricultural center, a 90,000-square-foot exhibit hall and multiple recreational fields.

The Whaley family, who for generations have operated a cattle ranch  their land east of Lake Tohopekaliga, are getting ready to list their property for $42 million.

Kissimmee-based developer George Chen should break ground within a few weeks on a $6 million winery, botanical gardens and event space in partnership with Florida’s Island Grove Wine Company, an attraction he hopes oenophiles and nature-lovers will flock to while visiting the W192 tourism corridor.

Based on 11 acres on the northeast corner of Funie Steed Road and Formosa Gardens Boulevard, the property owned by Chen’s family firm, Formosa Developers, Inc., is just a few blocks south of his Formosa Gardens Village shopping center on W192. It also neighbors property for the future Margaritavillage resort announced just a week ago.

The smart sensor project currently underway in Osceola County is big and some call it a game changer, but the president of University of Central Florida thinks it’s much more than that.

During a panel discussion July 15 at the Florida Economic Development Conference, UCF President John Hitt was asked what he thought about the planned Florida Advanced Manufacturing Research Center for Osceola County. His response: It’s not just changing the game, it’s a whole different sport.

If DT Minich’s vision is successful, Kissimmee will be known as the “Vacation Home Capital of the World” — complete with pro athletes and corporate executives popping in for stays at sprawling, richly appointed mansions.

“It’s real exciting for us,” said Minich, chief executive officer and president of Experience Kissimmee. “It’s a whole different market.”

Different doesn’t begin to describe the luxury-rental-home market for which Kissimmee is becoming known.

A year after it was created, The International Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research is planning its “coming out party” at the nation’s leading semiconductor manufacturing conference, which runs July 14-16 in San Francisco.

Last June, the University of Central Florida, Osceola County and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council committed funding and resources to develop the $61 million state-of-the-art advanced manufacturing research center.

Valencia College had a dilemma.

When it got a $2.5 million federal grant under the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training initiative in 2014 to expand training and education in high-tech manufacturing, it was missing a key component: A manufacturing training center.

Wanting to get started on training the future workforce due to more than 5,000 manufacturing job openings in Florida, with nearly 2,000 in Central Florida, Valencia College needed a facility quickly — without having to jump through the hoops of getting a building site approved and landing state construction funds

A ribbon cutting and open house for the The Carrousel Therapy Center was held on May 18, 2014.

The Center is a 14,200 square foot state of the art facility that offers unique interdisciplinary and centralized therapy and behavioral health services in Central Florida.

Osceola County’s first trauma center is now open, an addition local officials say will save lives.

Osceola County already has seen one transition in its consumer power base from agriculture to tourism. The next seismic shift could be to becoming a manufacturing base.

The proposed Florida Advanced Manufacturing Research Center under construction just east of Kissimmee will lead much of the new push in the technology-manufacturing field. But many other Central Florida firms have products to be built, and they need skilled workers to make their visions happen as well.