HOME BASE: ORLANDO

Orlando's central location within Florida has long made it a good spot for planning and executing statewide events. Now Patti Coons, an Orlando-based meeting and incentive event planner, has decided that her hometown makes a logical base for planning events in a much bigger realm: the entire southeast Atlantic and Caribbean region.

"A lot of people are starting to book events that will combine Florida with a second destination like the Bahamas, so it seemed appropriate to create an entity that could serve not only those needs, but reach into the Caribbean as well," said Coons, whose new enterprise, PCA Events Caribe, builds on her years of planning events throughout Florida and the continental U.S.

With its headquarters in Orlando, PCA Events Caribe has offices now in Cancun, St. Thomas and Grand Cayman. Coons said the company has staff as well as support supplies and equipment in its field offices, plus centralized, one-stop event shopping available in the Orlando office.