In 2016-17, the Central Florida Regional Planning Council (CFRPC) facilitated the designation of the City of Frostproof and Polk City as Competitive Florida Communities through the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO). Through this program, the CFRPC has been able to assist these municipalities to identify strategies to build and enhance their local economies while staying true to what makes them unique and give them a competitive advantage.

The City of Frostproof launched Frostproof on the Move, a collaborative effort that enabled the City to identify key community assets and set goals to implement an economic vision and strategy for the City. Through community conversations, surveys, and a public workshop, information was collected from citizens, local businesses, and service organizations to shape the economic vision and strategy.

In Polk City, a mini-grant was awarded to further implement the recently adopted Polk City Vision Plan using innovative planning tools to enhance the local economy. A comprehensive GIS mapping database of all developed and developable commercial and industrial properties as well as an inventory of all vacant developable lands in the City was created. A familiarization tour was also hosted to gather input from local and regional business leaders to create an economic development information package. And, in June of 2017 the CFRPC and Polk City facilitated the first WaterWise Expo to inform the community on best practices in water conservation and low impact development (LID). The expo had a special focus on the Green Swamp Area of Critical State Concern as the City is located in this important water resource area.