Sarasota County economic development is launching into 2017 with a strong tailwind and a lengthy string of successes in 2016, reminding us that this community is well-positioned to compete and win.

And is doing so.

Three of the Tampa Bay area’s top five manufacturing firms are in Sarasota County — PGT Industries, Sun Hydraulics and Tervis Tumbler, with a combined 3,300 employees — demonstrating growing economic diversity as each pursue strong growth strategies.

The excellent conditions are reflected in the attractiveness of the community, as seen in downtown Sarasota's $1 billion development boom, with 4,200 new apartments, condos and hotel rooms under construction or permitted in the downtown core, along with thousands of square feet of retail and office space. Lakewood Ranch is also experiencing unprecedented growth, both commercial and residential. North Port’s The West Villages is welcoming hundreds of new residents and is now well positioned to become the spring training home of the Atlanta Braves.

A new success last year was launching the University of Florida Innovation Station here. This first-in-the-state connection with the UF Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering will foster interest in engineering and provide a path for students who want to live here, while also offering local companies access to another top engineering research program.

This adds to the existing prolific innovation programs at the University of South Florida, which consistently ranks in the top 15 research universities globally in its number of U.S. patents granted each year.

The city of Sarasota now boasts two co-work startup centers. The HuB, a co-work space and creative incubator, expanded into new quarters in the Palm Tower downtown. It helped spawn companies such as BioLucid, Offrs.com, Dealers United and about 50 other startups. And Bold co-work opened in the former HuB space downtown. This shows the young creative, innovative class of entrepreneurs that Sarasota is nurturing.

A new and rapidly growing economic segment in the region is the health innovation sector, which boasts more than 50 companies and is adding more all the time. Some, such as CAE Healthcare, RPS Diagnostics and Enzymedica, are maturing companies, while many others are smaller startups and young, growing firms. The sector is helping provide the region the opportunity for something leaders have long dreamt of: a more diversified economy.

And the Suncoast Technical College's North Port campus is scheduled to be completed this year, creating another avenue for training the Sarasota County workforce of the future as that city boldly pursues more prosperity for its residents.

A broad range of organizations outside our community have identified many of our strengths and offered accolades, providing perhaps the most objective assessments. In 2016 alone, the following publications and organizations recognized Sarasota County’s competitive strength:

■ The Milken Institute ranked Sarasota-Manatee No. 3 in the nation for job growth.

■ Forbes magazine ranked the city of North Port the 10th best city for job growth in the country.

■ CNBC named the city of Sarasota the 15th best city in the nation to start a business in.

■ Time magazine ranked the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton metropolitan area as No. 1 nationally for well-being.

■ U.S. News & World Report named the city of Sarasota the 14th best place to live in the United States.

■ Truven Health analytics named Sarasota Memorial Hospital one of the nation’s top 100 out of more than 5,500 registered hospitals.

■ U.S. News & World Report ranked New College of Florida number five in the nation among liberal arts colleges and Pine View High School the seventh best high school in the United States.

■ Niche.com ranked the Sarasota County School District No. 2 out of 67 school districts in Florida.

■ The Hollywood Reporter named the Ringling College of Art & Design the 16th best Film School in the nation.

If you are ready to celebrate our success and momentum going into the future, it turns out that Conde Naste Traveler rated Sarasota as the No. 2 food city in the nation. Cheers!

Contact Mark Huey, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County, at mhuey@edcsarasotacounty.com. EDC is the public/private partnership leading economic diversification efforts by working with community and regional partners.