Orlando is once again named in fDi Magazine’s (Foreign Direct Investment) top 10 large “American Cities of the Future.” Orlando ranks in the top ten in several 2017/18 categories including: No. 2 for Human Capital and Lifestyle, No. 3 for FDI Strategy, No. 8 for Connectivity, and No. 10 among large cities overall.

“Orlando’s assets as a business location are evident when you look at the specialized workforce we’ve cultivated and nurtured over the past decade,” said Tim Giuliani president and CEO of the Orlando Economic Partnership. “We have made strategic quality of life investments in cultural and entertainment options while also heavily investing in infrastructure projects that keep us connected.”

Orlando is home to several international companies, many of whom have chosen the region as their American headquarters. Among them:

• imec (Belgium), the world-leading nanoelectronics research center, established its first U.S. location in the Orlando region with the opening of a new design center located at BRIDG in NeoCity.
• Thales (France), a developer of in-flight entertainment systems, employs hundreds of high-tech employees near the modeling, simulation and training cluster near the University of Central Florida and the Research Park.
• Adacel (Australia) produces state-of-the-art simulation and training solutions, advanced speech recognition applications and operational air traffic management systems, with North American operations based in Orlando.
• Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (Japan), the manufacturing plant for turbines and components, is located in Orlando alongside the company’s western hemisphere headquarters for power generation systems.
• Siemens’ (Germany) U.S. center for global fossil power generation is headquartered in Orlando. The company also operates a wind turbine technician training facility in the region.
• Signature Flight Support, BBA Aviation (United Kingdom), the world’s largest network of Fixed Base Operators (FBOs) providing support services for business and private aviation, has a corporate business unit headquarters in downtown Orlando.
• Mazor Robotics (Israel), a producer of advanced health care technology such as a robot that was instrumental in performing the world’s first deep brain simulation surgery, has its U.S. headquarters in Orlando.
• Italico Aviation (Italy), an airplane manufacturer, opened a facility at the Kissimmee Gateway Airport to manufacture light sports aircraft.