Moving Our Community Forward: Kevin Sheilley

With more than a decade at the helm of the Ocala Metro CEP, Kevin Sheilley and his team have set the pace for job and wage growth in the Ocala Metro. Serving as the voice for the business community, the CEP has attracted new businesses and industries, helped existing employers expand, and launched innovative programs designed to help entrepreneurs thrive. Learn more about the chamber and economic partnership, what new programs are on the horizon, and how the CEP is moving our community forward.

Nonprofit Featured in this Episode: Project Hope

Kevin Sheilley, CCE, President & CEO
Ocala Metro Chamber & Economic Partnership

Kevin is the President/CEO of the Ocala Metro Chamber & Economic Partnership (CEP), the community's primary chamber and economic development organization. He also serves as Executive Director of the Foundation for Chamber Economic Partnership, Lake Economic Area Development, Inc. and the Ocala Downtown Market, Inc.

He is a career chamber/economic development professional and has spoken across the county on issues related to economic and community development. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the National Excellence in Economic Development Award from the US Department of Commerce and FACP's Executive of the Year in 2021. He also recently earned the distinction of Certified Chamber Executive (CCE) from the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives.

The CEP was named the Florida Chamber of the Year in 2018 and ACCE's National Chamber of the Year in 2020 after being a finalist in three out of the last four years. In 2019 he marked his 25th year in the chamber/economic development field.

Prior to coming to Ocala, Kevin had worked in chamber/economic development in Kentucky and Tennessee. The CEP and LEAD represent the fourth and fifth times he has successfully assisted communities in merging/creating new chamber/economic development entities.

Kevin is originally from Louisville, Kentucky, and is a graduate of Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. He and his wife, Lisa, are the parents of three children. 

The Catalyst is hosted by the Ocala Metro Chamber & Economic Partnership, sponsored by Douglas Law Firm and recorded live at Wiley Productions podcast studios, located in Ocala, Florida. New episodes, guests, and perspectives of leadership premiere twice a month. Follow us on Apple, Amazon, Spotify, or wherever you enjoy podcasts.

Transcript

Natalie McComb: 0:06

The Catalyst, a CEP podcast on bold leadership in the Ocala Metro, hosted by the Ocala Metro Chamber and economic partnership, sponsored by Douglas law firm and recorded live at Wiley Productions podcast studios located in Ocala, Florida. Welcome to the catalyst. I'm your host Natalie McComb, Vice President for the Ocala Metro Chamber and Economic Partnership Foundation. And I'm joined today by Kevin Sheilley, President and CEO of the Ocala Metro Chamber and Economic Partnership, better known as the CEP. Great to have you on the show, Kevin.

@Kevin Sheilley: 0:45

Great to be on.

Natalie McComb: 0:46

So you've been at the helm of the CP for more than 10 years, hired as the first CEO of a newly combined chamber and economic development organization. What are the benefits to a community when these two functions are managed by the same organization?

@Kevin Sheilley: 1:00

I am a huge proponent, and have been throughout my... I've now been doing this for 29 years in the industry... and I believe that in almost every community when these two functions happen together the community wins. And I think that for a couple of reasons. One, there can often be confusion when you have separate entities. Well, is that, does that chamber do that? Is it economic development? Often economic development, it's called something else. And you never want to create confusion for your customer. Right? You want to be very clear. And I think that that helps in making it very, very clear. I think more importantly, though, it ensures that these two key functions are completely aligned. So many times where I'm asked in particular to go and consult in a community, economic development has one vision chamber has another and they often end up at odds with each other. And they really need to be hand in hand supporting what each other does, because that's what they do. The Chambers make sure that community's ready, addressing workforce issues, infrastructure, advocacy issues. While economic development is about attracting new businesses, growing existing businesses, and entrepreneurship. And so those two things need to happen hand in hand. And when they're together, you're absolutely assured that they're moving in the same direction.

Natalie McComb: 2:19

Thankfully for us here in Ocala Metro, we've had a good 10 years of that collaboration and being under one entity. So the CEP has often been described as a voice for the business community. What does this mean? And how does the organization work alongside government and other partners?

@Kevin Sheilley: 2:36

I think you have to think about or know the history of the CEP to understand why that's so important in what it means. When the CEP was formed in 2012, and the work on it began actually in early 2011, the business community was just not really engaged. But a group of business leaders who really believed that business can be and should be a voice for good, and that business should be in a leadership role, that our And, now the CEP is in year two of its third multi-year business leaders are our leaders and they need to be there. But there was no vehicle for them to take that leadership except for their own individual business. The idea that that the chamber, in our case, specifically the CEP, is that place because all the businesses come together, in our case more than 1200 businesses, were able to really be that voice for business. What is important to business, what is business seeing, what are they seeing from their forecast or in their dealings that would be important to the city or the county or schools or other governmental partners to really become an equal partner with them. And I think what's really key is that we're coming to the table as a partner. And so what that means is that we're really able to bring the expertise, the knowledge, the experience, to the business community, to help our city to help our county to help our schools be the best that they can be. Because we believe that when businesses succeed in a community, everyone can succeed and in a community those aren't mutually exclusive. And so by creating that environment, we're really creating the environment for everyone to be more successful. And I think that's really what we've seen happen in the Ocala Metro over the last decade. strategic plan. And with each rollout, you continue to set the bar for this community. Whether it's job and wage growth or capital investment, the forward momentum strategic plan lays out nine priorities, pretty lofty priorities over the next five years. Any of those in particular that that you want to highlight today? You know, I think there's probably a couple and we're very clear, you know, why do we do a strategic plan? People need to understand this is what they're investing in. Businesses are investing in the CEP. This is that mission. This is what we're hoping to accomplish. We want to grow individual businesses, but we also want to advance our community and that's what all of these goals and objectives within forward momentum are focused on. How do we move our community forward? And, you know, I think some of them are extremely lofty, you know, one I get asked about the most often is our goal to have a commitment for scheduled passenger air service at Ocala International by the end of this plan. That's a big goal. There are a lot of things that have to happen for us to reach that goal. But we're a community of over 400,000 in a region that easily surpasses a million people, we need to have air service here, so that's a goal. That's important. If the CEP wasn't leading that who would be working on that? I don't know. It just doesn't fall naturally to someone. So that becomes our role in partnership in particular with the city. You know, I think our goals around creating neighborhood incubators. And one of the things we believe passionately in, it's actually our mission at the CEP, is to be a catalyst for a prosperous community. That's not a prosperous business community, or a prosperous equine community or a prosperous southeast community. It's everyone. And we do that, one of the ways we focus on that, is through our IMPACT Initiative, where we're bringing entrepreneurship training and development to our three majority-minority communities. Because the data tells us, those are the communities that are the furthest behind, we believe this is a great way to boost them to have an impact and move that forward. And we're seeing that already. But part of what we know is as we help people create businesses in those communities, it's hard for them to find a physical location, there's not a lot of commercial development that's happened. And so we're committed through this planning to opening an Empower incubator, entrepreneurship center, and each of those, the first one in Silver Springs Shores. And then we'll look at how we get West Ocala and Marion Oaks open as well. But really to provide that space on site not only for those businesses to grow to create wealth and opportunity directly in their neighborhoods, but for us to have the space to provide the training, one on one, and the incubator space for those businesses.

Natalie McComb: 7:00

And for those who may not be aware of what an incubator is, I know that training happens in there. But how does that provide a space for the entrepreneurs? Are they actually renting space within the incubator?

@Kevin Sheilley: 7:10

Yeah, and so in this case, there are many types

Natalie McComb: 7:11

That's exciting. And what a great resource for of incubators, we have our powerplant incubator on our downtown campus, which is a technology and communications incubator. So it tends to be very office space driven. The vision with these neighborhood incubators is that you also have an opportunity for retail. And so yes, they're able to rent space, they're getting space available. It is at market rate, that they're paying, but it does include all their utilities and includes access to high speed internet and some of the things but more importantly, it includes training. We know that when a business goes through a programmatic incubator program, that their opportunities to succeed, their chances that they're they're going to succeed, increases 85% versus someone who's just trying to make it go on their own. That's because we're able to bring resources, connecting with people and individuals to help them through. Often what we find these entrepreneurs in these communities to be able to, to is entrepreneurs have great ideas. They are great at fixing something or making something or some service, but perhaps are not as good at understanding what it means to run a business. But those are skills that can be learned. And so we want to teach those to understand how important cash flow is, to actually get lending and get loans and kind of get their feet understand the value of your books, your financials and what that means to understand how to better market all of those tools and bring it together. The other thing I would mention that I think is probably one of the most valuable things that happens in an incubator is that you get 6, 10, 12 businesses who are all in the same space. They're doing different things, but they're in the same lifecycle of their business, and they become their own support network. And I see that time and time again, really being the magic that happeneds, which is really different. And I know when I talk about this, people wet within the industry. That's wonderful. get a little glazed over. But our goal to create a community development financial institute, or CDFI. And that is simply a non-bank lender. It falls under the US Treasury. They have to prove it. They're regulated. But it's an opportunity for us to bring access to capital to, in particular, those three targeted communities. We know that's a real challenge. There is no CDFI currently, specifically serving the Marion County market. There are some statewide ones but they've done nothing here. We're not on their radar and what we know is at the end of the day,

@Kevin Sheilley: 9:38

And I would just add, one thing I think is really cool is sometimes people think, oh, that's competition the people who can best address the needs and opportunities of the Ocala Metro are the people who live and work every day in the Ocala Metro. So this is an opportunity. We were very fortunate to get a grant that runs through the CEP Foundation. To allow us to go through the process. We've hired a consultant to help us. And so the greater Ocala Catalyst Fund has been created. Hopefully, we'll be able to move on through the process with the Treasury and sometime late next year, we'll have a CDFI that we can begin becoming operational and making a difference in our community. for banks, the biggest supporters of CDFIs are banks, because what it means is for clients who they would love to provide a loan to or to assist, they can't they don't meet their very stringent regulations that they have from the FDIC, they now have a way to refer them, Hey, I am not ready yet. But let's get you to the CDFI. We'll get you a loan there. You take care of that successfully though, we're going to provide that technical assistance now you'll be ready to come back and we can get you in traditional financing.

Natalie McComb: 10:58

And Ocala has really become a hub for a lot of industries, but in particular logistics. We've got the big distribution centers like Amazon, FedEx and Dollar Tree coming in. And that gets a lot of attention. But what other industries are growing in the Ocala Metro that you see?

@Kevin Sheilley: 11:16

Yeah. So you know, there are five key industry sectors we talk about that drive our local economy. One of those, obviously, is logistics. And it's been huge the last few years. Another one, though, that people often don't recognize us here because I think it's in large part pretty quiet, is manufacturing. We are a significant manufacturing center in the state of Florida. And we believe that when you make things you make wealth, and as you think about who some of our largest manufacturers here, whether that is Lockheed Martin with nearly 2000 employees, you're doing missile control systems, REV Fire and E-One with 1200 employees headquartered here, significant company making fire engines, what can be more exciting than that? And Signature Brands and what they're doing in prepared foods. You have Cardinal LG, which has two different plants and a technical center here, Pella Glass. So you've got all this manufacturing in a really wide array of areas growing medical device, biopharma and that's really, really important. And we continue to see that growth in manufacturing. Obviously, healthcare is huge. It's the largest employer in our market, it pays the highest average wages, it continues to grow, we often don't recognize we are a regional healthcare hub. And what that brings to our community, people come here for health care. And that's so important. The growth of our office economy. We have a lot of companies that have offices here, headquartered here, far more than people realize, and how important again, it helps diversify that economy really provides stability and diversification. And the last one I'd mentioned is to be the horse capital of the world. We know and it's getting old now it's eight years old, but from an economic impact analysis, that equine contributed $2.6 billion a year to our local economy. And that was before The World Equestrian Center or the reinvention of HITS. So you know, I'm sure that number has grown. We're going to redo that study in another year or two. But how important that industry is and what it leads to now with tourism and the additional dollars that come into the Ocala Metro.

Natalie McComb: 13:15

Well, and big name projects often get the biggest headlines, the CEP has also invested heavily in entrepreneurs and small businesses. So what can the community look forward to in the next few years as it relates to this piece of the local economy?

@Kevin Sheilley: 13:29

You know, I think you know, we've talked a lot already on this about what we're doing with their IMPACT communities and CDFI, and incubators, but know that we're gonna continue to offer to be the lead entrepreneurship organization for our community. That anyone who wants to start or grow a small business, the CEP is where they need to come and we're going to offer those services for free, and to be able to provide technical assistance and trainings like FastTrac, which is 10 week program. I'm such a huge fan, we use the Kauffman Foundation's 1 Million Cups, which happens

every Wednesday at 9: 14:02

30 at the power plant business incubator. That happens in over 130 communities around our country at the exact same time. But interestingly, Ocala has one of the largest and most diverse groups who meet every week, we have 60 or 70 people who come to support entrepreneurs. It's really exciting and inspiring to go to one of those meetings. So we're going to continue to see those things. We're going to look for ways to grow. Our ability to do pitch competitions to help entrepreneurs be able to go especially on the technology side to be able to go look for that next level of funding and financing. Encourage our students with entrepreneurship, supporting the Entrepreneurship Academy at Forest High School, and our Youth Business Planning competition, just really continually looking at ways we can make sure that we're covering all the bases. I don't ever want someone to leave our community because they can't find the assistance they need for their business. We want to make sure that whatever it is, they can find it here in the Ocala Metro.

Natalie McComb: 15:00

Yeah, and you know, you mentioned youth, Kevin, and we talk a lot about workforce development and talent development. But what does that mean when when we talk about how we engage with our youth, in supporting local industry and business?

@Kevin Sheilley: 15:13

You know, the idea is that we want every student, just as we want every business to be successful, we want every student to be successful, we believe they can

Natalie McComb: 15:19

We know that the CEP is all about partnerships. find their future here. And for some, that's going to mean going on to university. And we want to make sure that our schools are And in 2022, the CEP joined in a public-private partnership to offering the programs and the academics that they need to go on to university. But for the vast majority, that's going to mean something else. And we believe it's key that that'd be valued exactly the same.. With a student who's going to university, that's great. But we also value the student who's going to focus on career technical education. That student who's going to go to MTC or to CF and get that two-year degree or that certification, because those are viable paths forward. Those are opportunities to earn not just a living wage, but a really good wage, and to fulfill themselves as individuals. And so making sure that we're providing those career pathways within our schools. And with our post-secondary providers, I don't want us to forget about how important it is that we support our students who choose to enlist and serve our country. We talked about it with the school systems about how do you choose your E, is that enrollment? Are you going to university? Is an employment, or you're pursuing a career technical education? Employment after school. Or is it enlistment? Or it's entrepreneurship? And having programs in all of our schools that support those key areas. address economic development in adjoining Lake County. So tell us more about that decision and the regional strategy behind it.

@Kevin Sheilley: 16:46

Yeah, you know, it's probably it's been interesting to me if there's one thing that we've done that people have been confused or misinformed about, it is our partnership with Lake County. But it is a fantastic partnership, that 100% benefits the residents of Marion County while also benefiting completely the people of Lake County. Starting a few years ago, the business community in Lake County, much as had happened here in Marion County, really began looking what was going on. And they realized that while their community was growing in Lake County, which is roughly the same size as Marion County, just over 400,000 people. It wasn't seeing the economic growth, it wasn't seeing the business and employment side. And they start saying why is that what's happening and in what they found is that economic development was being led by the county, and some great people there. But they're also doing economic development, and planning, and codes, and this and that, so that the actual work of economic development is less than 10% of their job. And so this, Hey, we need to figure out what are other communities doing. And so they looked around and we were one of the models that they looked at. And they came and met with me and they came several times at different groups to learn about how we do economic development here. They had me come down and speak twice to different groups. And after the last time, they said, look, Kevin, this is the model we want to follow. We think this makes a lot of sense. Will you come down here and help lead our economic development? Well, no. But let's talk about how we can work together. And so what we came up with was really, I think, an innovative partnership. We helped them create a public-private partnership called LEAD, Lake Economic Area Development. It has a board that is 100% Lake County. It is 100% funded by Lake County governments and Lake County businesses focused on business attraction, business retention, and business creation in Lake County. But to really jumpstart that effort, they contract with the CEP to manage and lead that effort. We can take advantage of our back office with HR, with IT, with employee benefits. It's so hard to attract really talented people if you're like well, we're hoping we'll get an insurance program, and we're hoping to be able to offer retirement one day or you know, come be part of our overall umbrella. We're able to bring our expertise, our R&D, our research to help and so these three soon to be four employees who are there are CEP employees, but they're 100% dedicated to Lake County. LEAD pays us a contract to cover those costs. So there's there's no money coming out of Marion County funding Lake County. And so it really helps us to be more productive and successful. But most importantly what we already know is the companies that are looking at and need to look at Lake County are very different than the companies that are looking in Marion County.

Natalie McComb: 19:40

How so?

@Kevin Sheilley: 19:40

So you know, if we think about in particular on the industrial side, the businesses you've talked, our logistics advantage, we've talked about manufacturing, those are companies that are serving statewide, this is the spot to be in if you're serving the state. Even though Lake County is just a little bit further south, the numbers change dramatically. From a logistics standpoint, if you're in Lake County on an industrial side, you're there because you want to serve the Orlando Metro, you're really focused on that. And we have some great opportunities there. And so they're very different targets. They're very different sales and value propositions. But they support one another. They're very complementary. Tell you through the first year, we're coming at the end of our first year with this partnership, I think we've had two RFPs out of the dozens and dozens and dozens we get every year that have overlap.

Natalie McComb: 20:29

What is one nonprofit organization that you'd like to highlight on the show today?

@Kevin Sheilley: 20:33

You know, there's so many good ones in our community, we are so blessed to have so many fantastic nonprofits meeting the needs, I think that's one of the things this community does so exceptionally well. I reference that earlier, hey, there's a need, there's a challenge, we're going to take care of ourselves, we're not going to wait for someone else to come in and do this. And there's so many but my wife and I are such huge fans of what goes on at Project HOPE. She's been on the board there now for a few years. But this is a, they own an apartment complex. And they're able to bring in homeless moms and their children. Take them through a training program over two years. They're able to house them immediately into a two-bedroom apartment, furnish that for them. Take them through all types of skills and training, everything from finance, to parenting, to job development, so that at the end of this two-year period, they're able to be able to get a home on their own. And whether that's another apartment or a duplex, or as they've seen some happen actually be able to buy a house. I mean, think about that, to be able to go from homeless to being a homeowner in two years. It has such an impact. We're big fans of what they do and how they do it.

Natalie McComb: 21:46

Yeah, that's great work, and we'll be sure to include a link to Project HOPE on our episodes page. And now a word from our sponsor.

@Sponsor: Douglas Law Firm: 21:54

Hello, this is Jeremiah block with the Douglas law firm. We are a full service law firm with many practice areas to serve your particular needs. We are located in downtown Ocala 110 North Magnolia Avenue. Coming from a seventh-generation family here in Ocala. I am honored for our law firm to partner with the CEP to bring you these podcasts. We hope you enjoy.

Natalie McComb: 22:16

So, now that's this is the fun part of program our lightning round questions.

@Kevin Sheilley: 22:20

Ok, i'll get my hand ready. I'm ready.

Natalie McComb: 22:23

So Kevin, what trait do you value most from members of your team?

@Kevin Sheilley: 22:28

You know, and I have a phenomenal team. You included obviously, I think people who are doers. Not talkers, but people who are willing to take action and just go make things happen.

Natalie McComb: 22:43

Biggest pet peeve? So, a message for our listeners, Kevin sees

@Kevin Sheilley: 22:44

Oh, this this is easy for me. And it absolutely has driven me nuts for years. And that is people who cannot be bothered to take their shopping cart or buggy as we would say in Kentucky and put it in the buggy corral. If you leave that in the parking lot. I am generally a very nice person. I overlook a lot of things. I am likely to say something to you if I see you leaving your cart in the parking lot. you. When you leave that cart in the island. You're probably going to get a comment.

Natalie McComb: 23:18

Yes. I love that. Um, so what's a fun fact that most people wouldn't know about you know? Yes, yes. Take it from someone who has been

@Kevin Sheilley: 23:24

I use this one a lot. But I still think it's pretty interesting. If someone hasn't met me and they can't very tall most of her life. You don't always like it at first. tell this on the podcast. I'm tall. Sheilley's are tall. I am 6'6. I have a brother that 6'1, Excuse me, my brother's 6'3, a sister that is 6'1. But I'm also a twin. And I have a twin sister and she is 5'5. So there's 13 inches difference between my twin sister and I, which I always think is kind of interesting. I'm glad it ended up that I'm the tall one and not her. You kind of have to grow into it. Literally.

Natalie McComb: 24:03

Yes, yes, exactly. Well, thank you so much, Kevin for being on The Catalyst today. We really appreciate your time. And thank you again for sharing a little bit about CEP

@Kevin Sheilley: 24:12

Natalie, thank you for having this vision and for the incredible job you're doing. I enjoy listening to each of these and I hope the listeners today have enjoyed our conversation.

Natalie McComb: 24:21

Thank you. Thank you for joining us for another episode of the catalyst hosted by the Ocala Metro Chamber and economic partnership sponsored by Douglas law firm and recorded live at Wiley productions podcast studios. New episodes, guests and perspectives on leadership premiere twice a month. Follow us on Apple, Amazon, Spotify or wherever you enjoy your podcasts. Have a suggestion for a future guest email us at thecatalyst@ocalacep.com