On June 2nd the Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber of Commerce held our annual Osceola Update at Reunion Resort. The event was originally scheduled for March 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Osceola Update combines our Legislative Update and Economic Development Summit into one major, highly informative event.
As always, this event featured updates from, and a panel comprised of, our Osceola legislative delegation: Representative Kristen Arrington, Representative Josie Tomkow, Representative Fred Hawkins, and Senator Victor Torres. The legislative delegation panel was moderated by Leticia Adams with presenting sponsor Walt Disney Parks & Resorts.
In keeping with its roots in economic development, the Osceola Update always includes a theme relevant to economic impact in the County. The theme of our 2021 Osceola Update was housing first as our community continues to face an affordable housing deficit. This year’s event included a panel on Central Florida affordable housing issues that featured Hope Partnership CEO Mary Downey, Magic Development CEO (and former West 192 Development Authority Director and Chairman) Hector Lizasuain, and Steinhauer Group founder Lee Steinhauer. Two keynote speakers were also featured in the program: national consultant on housing first Matthew Doherty, and Florida Realtors’ Chief Economist Brad O’Conner.
Please take the time to view the full program below courtesy of Access Osceola. In additional to Disney, we must thank sponsors Kissimmee Utility Authority and Osceola Regional Medical Center for their support of this event. and reunion for being gracious hosts and accommodating all pandemic-related obstacles.
On May 25 the Small Business Council celebrated Spring and the benefits of the Chamber at their "Grow With Us" membership recruitment and networking event. Held at the Chamber, all attendees of this event received a jasmine plant from new member Bull Bay Nursery to take home, plant, and watch grow along with their business. Any new members who joined at the event also received a goody bag of items donated by SBC board members and a hanging plant from Bull Bay.
All attendees - members old, new, and prospective - welcomed a chance for in-person networking under the Chamber building's porte-cochere. Drinks were enjoyed, along with a selection of sandwiches and bite-size appetizers. At one point, a pair of ballroom dancers entertained the gathered crowd with a dance to "Love Was Made for Me & You." Rounding out the evening, several lucky attendees took home raffle prizes that were offered as part of a business card raffle.
The "Grow With Us" event was sponsored by State Farm - Shane Swan, The Florida Health Insurance Exchange, Salco Contracting, and Kenney Consulting, LLC.
Anyone with interest in joining the Chamber is encouraged to give us a call at 407-847-3174. Current members who would like to get involved with the Small Business Council can contact Christina at cpilkington@theosceolachamber.com.
Last month our Young Professionals of Osceola County offered advice to their peers who might be thinking about a career pivot or career upgrade with their virtual event titled “Translating Your Experience to What’s Next: Resume & Interview Tips & Tricks.” Consultant Samara Elkins joined attendees via Zoom to share her personal tips for tailoring your particular career and life experiences to the job you are looking to fill. As Samara put it, “You know you can do the job; make sure they know it, too!”
Samara’s presentation included how to create a high-level resume checklist, dissect your experience, identify your key resume content, build relevant resume bullet points, and make the most of your experience.
She began with tips to get past the first phase of most job applications – the Applicant Tracking System, or ATS. The fact remains that many times when you apply for a position with no prior connections to the organization, your resume first passes through a computer scanner to weed out applicants. To beat this system, Samara recommends sending your resume as a pdf document, identifying and using key words from the job description on your resume, including the job title in your resume, and pasting your full resume into an answer field when prompted even if it is included as an attachment elsewhere.
Should your resume pass the scanner and make it to the next round where it will be viewed by human eyes, Samara advised keeping the resume one to two pages, and keeping it clean and simple with all bullet points results-focused. She offered six steps to accomplishing this: 1. explain your day-to-day work, 2. identify special projects or unofficial jobs you filled, 3. quantify your work, 4. find jobs you wish to target, 5. prioritize your content to fit the job, 6. build your resume bullets accordingly.
Lastly, Samara explained three key parts of a solid resume bullet:
If you are looking to make a career switch, but are worried you don’t have applicable work experience, Samara recommends to first identify your career gaps and to include and build on your extra curricular experiences – especially if they showcase things that you are missing from your work experience. As Samara noted, the pandemic has been a great opportunity for people to hone new skills, including non-work skills like volunteering, helping with kids, caring for loved ones, etc.
To keep up-to-date with the YPs, follow them on Facebook, and watch the Chamber event page so you don’t miss their next event!
