Politics may take over Economic Development in Escambia County. Some may argue that it already has, but now we have two options facing us.
Mort O’Sullivan, chairman of the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce, has been meeting with a task force to restructure how the county handles economic development. The committee recommended completely restructuring the Chamber and establishing a new entity that will focus on jobs and economic development.
The County Commission and Bob McLaughlin (don’t think Bob is doing this without some support from the BOCC) are about to hire Cindy Anderson, executive director of TEAM Santa Rosa, at a salary of $122,000, plus benefits. Anderson will be in charge of economic development for the county. This announcement comes less than a week after O’Sullivan presented his recommendations.
A battle between the Chamber and County isn’t good. Economic development is currently funded by both the local government and the private sector. We can can’t afford to be divided on this issue.