Symposium at Harborside to focus on local economy

Can we jump-start our local economy? Leaders from the region and the state plan to tackle this question as part of a day-long symposium planned at the Harborside Convention Center on Aug. 28. The symposium runs from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Among the key speakers will be Department of Community Affairs Secretary Tom Pelham, who will discuss Florida's latest controversial changes in growth management laws and the even greater controversy expected to develop in 2010, when the war among competing interests over growth management reaches the legislature and courts.

A key question among panelists will be: Given the economic climate and latest in global trends, what can community leaders do to get the economy moving?

"The national and international trends are undeniable. If this area is to prosper, we cannot afford to wait for a return to the good old days. They may never return," said Fowler White Boggs attorney and event moderator Mike Ciccarone. "Even if they do, this economy can help itself to prosper in additional ways by exploring new development patterns which can spur redevelopment and promote new integrated communities."

Other featured speakers will include former DCA Secretary Linda Loomis Shelley; University of Florida Emeritus Professor of Law and internationally renowned land economics expert James Nicholas; and Wayne Daltry, retired executive director of the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council and Lee County's current director of Smart Growth.

"Our old growth model was unsustainable, and was established after World War II," said Mr. Daltry, who will speak during the afternoon session. "The new economy of the 21st century dictates change. We are well poised for that change; now we just need to apply the will."

The sponsors hope that the symposium will kick off a larger movement for positive change, and that more symposiums and hands-on initiatives may be just around the corner.