The Value of Economic Development as a Core Governmental Function

At the most recent District 1 Town Hall Meetings held--a large majority of citizens signaled agreement with economic development incentives given by the county to companies for the creation of good jobs locally.

Over the last month or so, there has been a group of citizens, elected officials, community leaders and others involved in the process to replace outgoing Florida West CEO Scott Luth.

Along the way this ad hoc committee has looked at the resumes and LinkdIn profiles of dozens of leaders in economic development around the country--folks that have submitted resumes for the opening at Florida West.

This past week the finalists have been interviewed by this panel.

The meetings were open to the public and attended by one member of the media and one member of the public outside of the committee.

But reading what these men and women have accomplished in their respective communities in terms of capital investment won and jobs created is an amazing testament to the value and need for economic development as a core function of local municipalities and counties.

Some small factions may disagree--but those who understand the issue and have seen the fruits of this labor understand that yes, this is an important governmental function.

And the general public, by and large, gets it, too.

At my last several town hall meetings, I have asked the question

"Do you support the county offering tax credits to lure big businesses to our area for job creation"

to which I was met with a sea of green "agree" cards being held high in the air.

So the folks in the business get it, the informed community gets it, the county and the city get it, and others who are shown the information understand it.

Interestingly--the very few who don't get it or who do understand it but for whatever reason don't support economic development--they are the ones who purposely outed a confidential deal a few years back that would have brought dozens of jobs and more than a million dollars in capital investment to our area.

Some of these folks also don't apparently "get" the concept of keeping confidential information confidential.