Two weeks ago, Mort O’Sullivan and the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce delivered to the Escambia County Commission and the Pensacola City Council their proposal for revamping economic development.
Tomorrow the Board of County Commissioners tackles economic development with their own “Innovative” Task Force. It will have 10 members – Each commissioner will appoint one member; the City of Pensacola will appoint 2; Chamber 3 and Century 1.
In October 2008, the BOCC had agreed to to create a nine- to 12-member committee to make recommendations in four areas: 1) The level of funding needed for economic development, 2) Funding sources, 3) Financial incentives to be offered by government to prospective industries and 4)Whether economic development responsibilities should remain in the hands of the Pensacola Area Chamber of Commerce.
That committee got derailed when Gene Valentino was replaced by Marie Young as the chairman of the BOCC. Instead the Chamber formed a 18-member task force headed by Mort O’Sullivan to tackle the issues.
The members were: Mort O’Sullivan, chairman; Pam Dana, facilitator; Blaise Adams; Judy Bense; Oliver Darden; Kevin Doyle; Britt Landrum; Freddie McCall; Collier Merrill; Al Stubblefield; Al Wendstrand; Justin Beck; Jim Cronley; Fred Donovan; Laura Kaiser; Lumon May; Ed Meadows; Susan Story; and Tommy Tait. Not a bad group at all. They met for about four months on the issue.
The proposal called “Partnership for Progress” had several elements:
· Restructuring the Chamber to be more focused on economic development.
· Establishing a dedicated source of funding for economic development.
· Cash incentives totaling $4 million annually for creating new jobs and fostering economic expansion.
· Acquiring large tracts of at least 1,000 acres or more for commerce and industrial parks.
· Increasing private sector funding to $1 million.
· Increasing public sector funding by $400,000.
Now the County wants to revisit the issue and doesn’t appear it will accept the Chamber’s recommendations. The first indication that the County wanted to do something different was the failed attempt to hire Cindy Anderson as deputy administrator and economic development chief.
The earliest the BOCC Innovative Task Force can complete its work is probably September 2009. Then everybody will debate its recommendations for another couple months. We don’t know if any consultants will be hired to help with the work.
Maybe by 2010, we will have our act together on economic development….but I wouldn’t bet on it.