Enterprise Florida officials have a message for the organization’s stakeholders across the state: We’re here, we’re effective and we’re going after our funding.
The embattled official economic development organization for the state of Florida opened its two-day board of directors and stakeholders meeting Wednesday at the Omni Jacksonville Hotel.
At that Stakeholders Council Meeting session, President and CEO Peter Antonacci cited a recent poll that suggests 56 percent of state residents disagree with the Republican-led Florida Legislature reducing the organization’s funding in the 2017-18 state budget.
“That’s very encouraging to see after the bloodletting that happened last year we still have a majority that believes if Georgia is doing it and Alabama is doing it on our borders, and everybody in the country is doing it, by gosh we’d better be next,” Antonacci said.
“This past year of the current regime in the House will pass and we will look forward to the future, where that 56 percent of Floridians will be brought to bear so Florida can compete on all fronts,” he said.
Over the objections of Gov. Rick Scott, House leaders pushed to eliminate Enterprise Florida’s funding during the 2017-18 budget debate.
An agreement in the Senate instead cut the agency’s budget from $23.5 million to $16 million and Enterprise Florida applied that cut to its marketing program, slashing it from $10 million to $3 million.
That puts Florida at a competitive disadvantage, according to agency leadership, as other states spend more than $100 million a year on marketing to recruit business.
“We have a governor for one more year and chairman for one more year who will continue to advocate for the interests of economic development and the role of (Enterprise Florida) in particular in that process,” Antonacci told stakeholders.
“We are the key players statewide and we will continue to do what we have done over the past few years in our new stripped-down role working with you,” he said.
Executive Vice President Mike Grissom told the group Enterprise Florida will pursue reinstatement of the lost funding during the legislative session that begins Jan. 9.
“The good news is that this is an election year and it’s the favorite time in Tallahassee because the session tends to be short, sweet and to the point,” Grissom said. “(Legislators) want to get back home so they can raise money for their campaigns.”
Grissom said Enterprise Florida has an ally in Republican Rep. Jim Boyd of Manatee County.
“Rep. Boyd and I met last week and he is a big proponent of ours and will help us along the way,” he said.
Jerry Mallot, president of JAX USA Partnership, echoed Grissom’s sentiments.
“To show the world we’re back, that’s going to be very important,” he said.
Mallot reported to his statewide colleagues that, even without state incentives, Jacksonville was successful in landing Formativ Health, a New York company that will provide front and back office services for hospitals from across the country. It has hired half of its planned 500-employee workforce, he said.
“It was a great opportunity for a company that wanted to be in Florida even though we did not have an opportunity to apply any incentives,” added Cathy Chambers, JAX USA senior vice president of strategy and business development. “That is a testament to a brand that we have specifically around health care. We did our best to keep coming back to the table with something to convince them to come to Florida.”