Gulf Power exec to chair Great Northwest

(Northwest Florida) Dec. 13, 2011—Florida’s Great Northwest, the regional economic development organization for the 16-county Florida Panhandle region, announces the following Officers, Board of Directors members, and Executive Committee members for 2012. The 2012 officers and directors were elected at the organization’s December 4th Annual Meeting.
2012 Florida’s Great Northwest Officers:

John Hutchinson, Gulf Power Company – Chairman
Ed Gardner, PowerSouth – Vice-Chairman
Jeff Helms, Atkins North America, Inc. – Past Chairman
Kim Bodine, Gulf Coast Workforce Board – Secretary
Neal Wade, The St Joe Company/incoming Bay County EDA Executive Director – Treasurer
Associate Member Representatives to the Board:
Rick Bitner, Farm Credit of Northwest Florida
Johnathan Taylor, Landrum Employer Services
Bobby Pickels, Progress Energy
Lawrence Saunders, SunTrust Bank
Economic Development Representative to the Executive Committee:
Larry Sassano, EDC of Okaloosa County
Corporate Representative to the Executive Committee:
Denise Barton, Sacred Heart Health System

2012 Florida’s Great Northwest Board of Directors:
Cindy Anderson, TEAM Santa Rosa
Denise Barton, Sacred Heart Health System
Rick Bitner, Farm Credit of Northwest Florida
Kim Bodine, Gulf Coast Workforce Board
Ed Gardner, PowerSouth Energy Cooperative
Ty Handy, Northwest Florida State College
Rick Harper, University of West Florida
Jeff Helms, Atkins North America
Jim Hizer, Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce
John Hutchinson, Gulf Power Company
Beth Kirkland, Economic Development Council of Tallahassee/Leon County
Rick Marcum, Opportunity Florida
Ed Meadows, Pensacola State College
Kim Moore, Workforce Plus
Jim Murdaugh, Tallahassee Community College
Scarlett Phaneuf, Walton County Economic Development Alliance
Bobby Pickels, Progress Energy
Larry Sassano, Economic Development Council of Okaloosa County
Lawrence Saunders, SunTrust Bank
Sandy Sims, Gulf Power Company
Bill Stanton, Jackson County Development Council
Jeff Stevenson, Gulf Coast Community College
Linda Sumblin, Workforce Board of Okaloosa-Walton Counties
Johnathan Taylor, Landrum Employer Services
Neal Wade, The St Joe Corporation/Bay County Economic Development Alliance
Richard Williams, Chipola Regional Workforce Development Board

In other business, the Florida’s Great Northwest Board of Directors approved a new, five-year capital campaign for the organization. Florida’s Great Northwest, as the region’s economic development marketing and business recruitment organization, is uniquely positioned to lead the effort to raise awareness of Northwest Florida as “the Southeast’s Business Location Solution.” FGNW President Don Kirkman noted that “one of the goals of the campaign is to engage and unite the leadership of Northwest Florida in a regional effort to diversify and grow the region’s economy, create new jobs for its citizens, and promote new capital investment for its communities.”

Florida’s Great Northwest is the regional economic development organization representing the 16 counties in the Florida Panhandle: Bay, Calhoun, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Liberty, Leon, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Wakulla, Walton, and Washington. The mission of Florida’s Great Northwest is “to market and brand the 16-county Northwest Florida region as a globally competitive location for business and to work with regional partners to recruit new jobs and investment throughout Northwest Florida.”