On August 27, Florida’s Great Northwest (FGNW) received unanimous approval from Triumph Gulf Coast’s Board of Directors for its FGNW: United FORWARD initiative—a strategy designed to fast-track economic transformation across the region’s eight coastal counties.
- The proposal requests an award of up to $4,777,000 to implement this agenda. With match proposed at $1,863,040, the requested Triumph award would represent 72 percent of the total project expenditure of $6,640,000.
- Florida’s Great Northwest is a 13-county organization whose members include the eight Triumph counties, which include Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, as well as Calhoun, Jackson, Holmes, Washington, and Liberty counties.
Triumph dollars will be spent in several ways:
- $75,000 to update the technical data for the eight-county region,
- $53,000 to develop a dashboard of indicators that will be refreshed as data series are updated, and
- $219,500 for producing, then updating three years later, the Northwest Florida FORWARD strategic plan.
- As this work is being performed, FGNW will use $400,500 in Triumph funds to work with a strategic marketing consulting firm to create the market action development plan to guide the marketing campaign.
- FGNW then proposes to implement a multi-channel marketing strategy at $3,030,000 over the 2025 – 2030 period. Over this time, $865,000 would be spent to support the new FORWARD Facilitator and new Marketing Coordinator.
- Triumph grant compliance would be $123,000.
Proceed at the risk of brain freeze:
Word Salad
- Essentially, it supports an eight-county strategic plan, marketing plan, and staff to implement it from 2025 to 2030. You can stop reading here or let them tell you more:
“This milestone is the result of years of unwavering commitment, collaboration, and belief in the potential of Northwest Florida,” said Jennifer Conoley, President & CEO of Florida’s Great Northwest, “We’ve listened, planned, and built strong regional partnerships to position our communities for long-term success. The approval of United FORWARD is not just a funding win — it’s a validation of the vision we’ve pursued to diversify and strengthen our economy for generations to come.”
From the press release: “United FORWARD, developed by FGNW, the regional economic development organization for Northwest Florida, outlines an ambitious and forward-thinking plan. The initiative includes a refresh of the region’s economic development strategy, in-depth marketing research, the creation of a targeted promotional campaign, and the launch of the most strategic, multi-channel Market Activation Plan ever executed in the region for economic development purposes.”
“Through enhanced data analysis, strategic site readiness, and targeted outreach, the initiative aims to increase the volume and velocity of new business attraction, while deepening support for existing employers looking to expand. The expected outcome is a more diversified economy, with sustainable growth that leads to even greater job creation, elevated household incomes, and a more resilient tax base that supports essential services and infrastructure across Northwest Florida. ”
Learn more about these efforts at www.FloridasGreatNorthwest.com