Lakeland, Florida

Lakeland is a city in Florida, located roughly midway between Tampa and Orlando.

Though it has been a suburb of both Tampa and Orlando, it is a decent-size city in its own right. It is arguably part of the Bible Belt

It is best known as the headquarters for Publix Supermarkets, one of the largest American grocery chains (one of a very few having over 1,000 locations, notwithstanding that it operates exclusively in the Southeastern United States) and one of the largest employee-owned businesses of any type. Publix is world-renowned for exceptional customer service, thus allowing it to compete effectively with the much larger Wal-Mart; it is the dominant supermarket chain in Florida.

Lakeland is also known as being the home of Sheriff Grady Judd, a no-nonsense conservative who has held the position since the mid-2000s, and the Lakeland Dreadnaughts, who are back-to-back state champions in high school football. Lakeland has one of the state's level II trauma centers: Lakeland Regional Medical Center.