Laura DiBella, the deputy secretary of the Florida Department of Commerce, was in Pensacola yesterday to speak with local business leaders about Enterprise Florida.
“We are the state economic development arm, but we are your biggest supporter here at the local level,” DiBella told Inweekly on her way to the meeting. “That’s the primary message. Economic development is all local. It begins and ends at the local level. So we are primarily there just to support that and leverage whatever we can at the state level to bring success to a local community. I don’t want to say it’s a message that’s been lost, but it is a message worth repeating and refreshing.”
Laura DiBella has a strong background in economic development having served as the executive director of the Florida Harbor Pilots Association and Nassau County Economic Development Council. Having been on the job less than three months, she wanted to introduce herself to local leaders.
The deputy commerce secretary shared, “This gives me an opportunity to introduce myself and hear everybody out as well because every community is just a little bit different. It’s good for me to know that when I talk to companies that are looking to be here and also expand here.”
DiBella said she is talking to several companies about coming to Northwest Florida because of the availability of Triumph Gulf Coast dollars.
“Your golden ticket here really is the Triumph funding,” she said, That is very unique to , obviously, this part of the state and is something that is a major magnet for industry looking here right now.”
She continued, “It is probably one of the number one topics of conversation when I speak to companies that are interested in being here or expanding here. I think it’s a tool that is just really beginning to be realized known to the outside world. So it’s exciting.”