Research begins at the University of Florida, but its impact is felt in every community. Through a unique partnership with Florida’s 67 counties, the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF-IFAS) delivers research-based solutions that matter. In this podcast, we share the stories of innovation, people, and collaboration shaping agriculture, natural resources, health, and community resilience across the state.

When Hurricane Andrew impacted Florida in 1992, it exposed deficiencies in our country’s disaster response processes.  Since that time, counties have endeavored to strengthen their response and recovery capabilities, especially in the area of logistics and debris management. Given the scale of disasters in Florida, response and recovery cannot be executed without partners, including those in the private sector.  To understand how private vendors are integrated into county emergency management, in this podcast were are joined by Ashbritt CEO Brittany Perkins Castillo, who discusses a broad range of topics that highlight Ashbritt’s commitment to counties before and after disasters strike.

Although solar energy generation has been around for some time, only recently have we seen this technology really take off. From residential roof-top solar to utility-scale solar centers, investment in this technology is significant and only growing. This emerging trend was recently highlighted by Florida Trend magazine, which detailed where many of these investments are being made in the state and their associated costs. In this podcast, we speak with Florida Power and Light – a FAC corporate partner – regarding its growing footprint in the solar arena in Florida.

On average, eight people are killed and 49 are seriously injured on Florida’s roads every day. In most of those serious and fatal crashes, driver behavior is a contributing factor.  Target Zero is a statewide initiative to reduce the number of transportation-related injuries and deaths across Florida to zero. By using data-driven strategies, Target Zero promotes multi-faceted behavior changes through messaging campaigns and driver education.   A national speaker and advocate for traffic safety, Melissa Wandall talks with us about her work in this area and how counties can play an important role with Target Zero)  (Please note this podcast was originally presented as a webinar on County Connections. Accordingly, there are references to a previous webinar that should not detract from the content of the conversation.  The videos to those webinars can be view Studio 67 webpage: https://flicg.org/uf-webinar-resources/ )

Explore the diversity in the Florida legislature with Sen. Jason Pizzo in this insightful conversation with FAC's finest, Jeff Scala, Bob McKee, and Christopher Mathews.

Explore the diversity in the Florida legislature with Sen. Bobby Powell in this insightful conversation with FAC's finest, Jeff Scala, Bob McKee, and Christopher Mathews.

We are joined by Eryn Hurley, Legislative Director for the National Association of Counties, to discuss the latest updates from Washington D.C. 

Florida’s 16 ports can easily be taken for granted – simply overlooked as large industrial areas, dotted with heavy equipment, warehouses, and a convergence of transportation modes. While this physical description may be fitting, ports don’t always get the recognition they deserve in terms of their overall contributions to our state’s economy.  In truth, ports are significant economic engines for our state. As evidence of this, in 2022 Florida’s ports --through cargo and cruise activities -- supported 900,000 jobs, with an economic contribution of nearly $118 billion; this equates to more than 13% of the state’s total GDP. To help us understand the critical role of ports, we sit down with Mike Rubin, President and CEO of the Florida Ports Council. A recognizable and respected person at the Florida Capitol, Mike is a champion of our state’s ports and long-time friend of FAC.   

A.I. is all the talk now; but how can you actually leverage it in your county in a controlled manner? In this podcast, we hear from Parth Shah, CEO & Co-Founder at Polimorphic, whose company has helped over 40 local governments use generative A.I. to provide constituents better customer service by replacing physical-based workflows with digital ones.  The result is higher customer satisfaction, decreased workload for employees, and a positive financial ROI for the local government.  Please note that this podcast was originally presented as a webinar on County Connections. Accordingly, there are a few references to slides from that presentation that should not detract from the content presented.  The video can be viewed on the Studio 67 webpage here:   https://flicg.org/county-connections/