Received this evening: January 2, 2010 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Arts Council of Northwest Florida Mission Our mission is to create a premiere arts and culture community in Escambia County to enrich the…
Tag: economic development
City is already in Economic Development business
Both Charlie Fairchild and Jerry Maygarden have said the City of Pensacola government shouldn’t be in the economic development business. Well, it already is. The City of Pensacola owns two of the…
Rebuttal to Maygarden viewpoint
In today’s daily paper, former Pensacola Mayor Jerry Maygarden makes that point that economic development is not the city government’s job. While I agree with Maygarden that the primary role of municipal…
Nodine won’t run for Mobile mayor
Mobile County Commissioner Steve Nodine has apparently decided not to run for mayor of Mobile against incumbent Sam Jones (Read). Nodine tried to use crime as the catalyst for his campaign trial…
More GV emails
I think this is the last set of emails to/from Commissioner Valentino with BPM on economic development. There are some duplicates from earlier posts. I am posting as I received them without…
More PEDC notes
The meeting was heavily attended. All PEDC members were present: Gene Valentino, Sam Hall, Century Mayor Freddie McCall, Comm. Kevin White, Councilwoman Maren DeWeese, Mort O’Sullivan, Collier Merrill, and Rhette Anderson. Blaise…
ED battle is over
The battle of the Economic Development plans is over. Councilman Sam Hall made a motion today at the PEDC meeting for the body to let both the Escambia County Commission and the…
The Economic Development Question
Does the Escambia County Commission want to create the PEDA – Pensacola Economic Development Authority – or any government body to control and handle day-to-day operations of economic development in the county?…
No need for PEDC review, only one decision
Economic Development hinges on one decision that only the Escambia County Commission can make: Should Valentino’s PEDA (Pensacola Escambia Development Authority that has the commissioners appointing themselves or personal representatives) be in…
Valentino/Birdwell strategy
Their strategy is clear–delay voting on economic development as long as possible in hopes of building a ground swell against the Chamber. Yes, against the Chamber, not for Commissioner Valentino’s vague proposal….
Charter commission sets public hearing
This is a big week for local government. On Tuesday, June 16, at 9 a.m., the Escambia County Commission will discuss economic development at its Committee of the Whole. The hockey lease…
Economic Development update
From Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce: # $2,000,000 – We received confirmation late last night from the US Economic Development Administration that we have been awarded $2 million toward the construction…
Chamber behind Mobile success
Commissioner Gene Valentino and his PR person, Jane Birdwell, make much of the Mobile success story. Mobile outshines Pensacola in the economic development arena. I wouldn’t want to live there but there…
Where’s the beef?
That’s the question that I and others had after Commissioner Gene Valentino’s prerecorded presentation and the follow-up Q&A on Tuesday, May 19. The only change in the presentation from the one handed…
Chamber accomplishments
While Commissioner Valentino has been bashing the Chamber on WEAR TV, I thought it might be helpful to find out what the Chamber has actually accomplished over the past five years. Here…
Will politics plague PEDA?
Will PEDA bring more politics? That is one of the big questions I have about the Valentino plan for economic development. The Escambia County Commissioners have the largest block of members appointed…
More notes on Valentino meeting
The meeting with Gene Valentino could have been contentious, but it wasn’t. The meeting with the Commissioner and County Administrator Bob McLaughlin had been scheduled two weeks ago. I went into it…
Valentino shares his plan (updated)
Updated 11:42 am, May 15 Commissioner Gene Valentino gave the IN a peek into his black box to see his economic development plan. He will fully present his proposal –yes, it is…
Wood: Hall called about PEDC
Just got off the phone with Charles Wood, the senior vice president for economic development for the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce. On April 28, at approximately 3:30 p.m., Wood received…
Did Hall and Valentino violate Sunshine Laws?
Did Councilman Sam Hall and Commissioner Gene Valentino violate Florida Sunshine Laws? Hall and Valentino both serve on the Pensacola-Escambia Economic Development Commission (PEDC). Valentino is the chairman, Hall vice-chair. According to…
