ORLANDO, Fla. – News 6 teamed up with Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and other community leaders for a digital town hall focused on the economic downturn in Central Florida due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In an effort to help the community get answers, News 6 hosted Central Florida’s Financial Fight from 8-9 p.m. Thursday. You can watch the town hall in its entirety in the video player above.
The forum, hosted by News 6 anchor Matt Austin, provided information about resources available to Central Floridians and allow you to hear directly from officials about how to best cope with the economic downturn.
Readers were able to submit questions in advance using the form below and by emailing financialfight@wkmg.com.
WHEN
Thursday, April 9 from 8-9 p.m.
HOST
Matt Austin, News 6 anchor
PANELISTS
Mike DeForest, News 6 investigative reporter
Jerry Demings, Orange County mayor
Dr. Sean Snaith, director for the Institute for Economic Forecasting
Pam Nabors, CEO of CareerSource Central Florida
Tim Giuliani, Orlando Economic Partnership
MEET THE PANEL
Jerry Demings
Demings was sworn in on Dec. 4, 2018, as the fifth elected mayor of Orange County. He’s the first African-American to hold the office.
Demings oversees more than 8,000 Orange County employees and a $4.4 billion budget.
Demings became Orlando’s first African-American police chief in 1998 and was elected the first African-American Orange County sheriff in 2008. He was re-elected in 2012 and again in 2016.
An Orlando native, Demings is married to former Orlando Police Chief Val Demings, who also made history as the first female police chief in Orlando. In November 2016, she was elected to the 115th session of the US. Congress and was re-elected in 2018. U.S. Rep. Demings represents Florida Congressional District 10.
Dr. Sean Snaith
Snaith is the director for the Institute for Economic Forecasting and an economics professor at the University of Central Florida.
Snaith is nationally recognized for the accuracy of his business and economic forecasting.
Snaith has served as a consultant for local governments and major corporations, including Compaq, Dell and IBM.
Pam Nabors
Nabors, the CEO of CareerSource Central Florida, oversees a budget of more than $30 million.
Since 2012, she has reinvigorated the organization’s positioning as the premier workforce development board in connecting Central Floridians to careers and developing talent for businesses.
Tapping into her unparalleled knowledge of workforce programs, Pam also navigated strategic efforts in implementing the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) federal legislation, which represented a major shift in operations and service delivery. CSCF’s programs were revamped to focus on businesses and services to better meet the unique needs of individuals.
Tim Giuliani
Giuliani is the president and CEO of the Orlando Economic Partnership.
Tim is leading a pursuit to create a new model for economic and community development that challenges the status-quo and establishes a new path forward toward broad-based prosperity for all.
Orlando Economic Partnership is home to the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Orlando, The Foundation for Orlando’s Future and the Orlando Film Commission.
Tim serves on the executive committee for the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives and is an active participant of the US Chamber Committee of 100. Locally, he is a board member for the Greater Orlando Sports Commission and Visit Orlando.