Fort Myers Florida Weekly

WHEN ENVIRONMENT EQUALS ECONOMY

Economic development executives say environmental concerns, workforce housing and diversification foremost issues



“The news has been bad, and bad press stays out there a long time. When people see dead manatees and dolphins, that lasts in their minds.” — Jace Kentner, director of Business and Economic Development in Collier County

“The news has been bad, and bad press stays out there a long time. When people see dead manatees and dolphins, that lasts in their minds.” — Jace Kentner, director of Business and Economic Development in Collier County

NOT LONG AFTER RICK SCOTT took office as Florida’s 45th governor in January 2011, he traveled to Spain, where he was entertained lavishly by Spanish royalty. Ostensibly he was seeking to recruit Spanish and European investors who might boost Florida’s economy. One of the features of his pitch and his subsequent actions in Tallahassee was business-friendly deregulation, including deregulation of the state’s vast and complex water systems, already troubled, which slid into toxic disrepair coast to coast and from Lake Okeechobee south to Florida Bay.

Why that happened is arguable. That it happened is both disastrous and inarguable.

Eight years later, only two days after the state’s 46th governor, Ron DeSantis, took office, he presented an ambitious plan with an estimated initial cost of $2.5 billion to hasten the rescue of that water system — a plan that drew praise from officials of both parties and groups as diverse as environmentalists, developers, commercial fishermen, hoteliers and chambers of commerce across the state.

A 16-foot whale shark that washed up on a Sanibel beach is believed to have been a red tide victim. The image remains in our memories. MONICA SCROGGIN / J.N. “DING” DARLING NWR

A 16-foot whale shark that washed up on a Sanibel beach is believed to have been a red tide victim. The image remains in our memories. MONICA SCROGGIN / J.N. “DING” DARLING NWR

Both governors aimed to shore up Florida’s economy, and each confronted vastly different problems. Florida, like the nation, was emerging from a terrible economic recession in 2011.

In 2019, Florida may or may not be emerging from the devastating algae poisonings last year of fresh water from Lake O east to the Atlantic and west to the Gulf of Mexico, and saltwater on both coasts.

In light of that history, this week Florida Weekly asks economic development officers in several counties — Charlotte, Collier, Lee and Sarasota counties on the west, and Palm Beach County on the east — three simple questions:

1. How are water woes likely to affect the economy here in the coming year?

2. What would you have the legislature do to help the economy this year and what do you think it will do?

3. What is the single most challenging economic problem the county faces in the next five years?

 KELLY SMALLRIDGE, president and CEO of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County:

KELLY SMALLRIDGE, president and CEO of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County:

Marine biologists and other scientists warn red tide is not likely to be over and climate change will become increasingly evident.

Economists warn that after the environment itself, the economy bears the brunt of consequential damage in Florida from environmental disasters.

Last week, with red tide again spotting in a couple of west coast locations, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission listed a death count from red tide of 589 sea turtles in 14 months — the highest count ever recorded from such an event — along with 213 manatees and 127 bottlenose dolphins, mammals also killed by red tide or blue-green algae in that period.

NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, cited the dolphin die-off as “an unusual mortality event.”

That news and the 2018 reporting of blue-green algae suffocating the rivers and red tide suffocating near-shore coastal waters, littering beaches east and west with dead fish, reached audiences nationally and internationally.

 MARK HUEY, president & CEO, The Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County:

MARK HUEY, president & CEO, The Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County:

The repercussions continue.

On the west coast, where three destination islands lie like bobbly tourist jewels in the normally blue waters of the gulf off Lee County — Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel and Captiva — losses to service industry businesses on those islands alone amounted to $41 million in just two months last summer, the Chamber of Commerce estimated.

The southwest coast was the hardest hit in the state.

The consequences continue to be played out, presenting an agonizing challenge for economic development and tourist industry officials — public employees representing local and regional governments — men and women obligated to tell the truth about their environments and economies but compelled to put the best possible spin on it.

And for politicians.

One west coast elected official with long experience both in the state house and as a Lee County commissioner, Frank Mann, put it this way, speaking for every county in the region and most counties in the state: “Environment and economics are almost synonyms in Florida. If we’re not taking care of our environment, were hurting our economy.”

Foot traffic on the beach became nonexistent during the surge of algal bloom and red tide last August on Fort Myers Beach. VANDY MAJOR / FLORIDA WEEKLY

Foot traffic on the beach became nonexistent during the surge of algal bloom and red tide last August on Fort Myers Beach. VANDY MAJOR / FLORIDA WEEKLY

Economic development officials work with the realities of Florida’s economy on the ground every day. Almost universally they say tourism remains an economic key to our comfortable survival, along with agriculture; they say reducing our reliance on tourism by diversifying our economies and creating a more muscular, talented work force — with affordable workforce housing — is essential to surviving future environmental trouble; and they say our economic system will fail if we can’t provide clean water and a clean environment, along with solid infrastructure to residents and visitors alike.

For them the challenge is not just county by county, but region wide and statewide.

“If you’re up North thinking of coming to Southwest Florida for a vacation, you might not distinguish between Collier, Lee and Charlotte (counties), so I’m afraid our water woes in Collier, where it hasn’t been as bad, are still to come,” said Jace Kentner, the director of Business and Economic Development in Collier County.

 DAVE GAMMON, interim director, Charlotte County’s Office of Economic Development:

DAVE GAMMON, interim director, Charlotte County’s Office of Economic Development:

The same is true for Canadians and many European tourists watching Florida opportunities — they might not distinguish between one location and another on the southwest coast, or on the east coast.

Naples, the Collier County seat, lies about 45 miles south of Fort Myers in Lee County, about 70 miles south of Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte in Charlotte County, and 100 miles south of Venice, in Sarasota County.

On the east, West Palm Beach lies about 20 miles south of Jupiter, 40 miles south of Stuart, and almost 70 miles south of Fort Pierce in St. Lucie County.

In the mind of some tourists, those may boil down to just two places: east and west.

“The news has been bad, and bad press stays out there a long time. When people see dead manatees and dolphins, that lasts in their minds,” Mr. Kentner added.

 PAMELA JOHNSON, interim director, Lee County Office of Economic Development:

PAMELA JOHNSON, interim director, Lee County Office of Economic Development:

Here are the further responses of Mr. Kentner and other officials.

KELLY SMALLRIDGE, president and CEO of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County:

Water woes: “The risk alone of rising sea levels is enough to concern many companies thinking of investing for the long term in South Florida. Companies are trying to evaluate how this will impact real estate and insurance cost in a market that is already expensive.”

What the legislature can do: “The legislature should focus on supporting educational programs that will boost the image of Florida as a state where companies can find a great workforce. Talent attraction drives economic development. Companies will locate where they know they can find skilled workers. However, the legislature will most likely focus on health care and water/environment issues.”

Biggest challenge in the next five years: “As our county continues to grow at record rates, we are challenged to keep up with the necessary infrastructure to handle the growth. This primarily includes workforce housing and transportation. When I speak of transportation, I am referring to a connected system that allows residents to travel to work and home through bikes, cars, walking, Brightline and Tri-Rail.”

MARK HUEY, president & CEO, The Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County:

Water woes: “We’re certainly seeing detrimental impacts to our tourism economy continuing in 2019.

“I interact with major hoteliers and they’ve indicated to me their books are down, and will be down through April, the last month of season. This will really impact us through the season, unfortunately. It’s a little diabolical — you don’t know when it’s going to end. You have a lot of marketing money sitting on the sidelines, so to speak, and the marketers are really in a difficult situation. You don’t want to break trust. You want to be honest about what the local conditions are. But that creates a really tricky situation. The protracted nature of the red tide has been a very rare occurrence historically, and it’s having a serious impact.”

What the legislature can do: “So many voices compete, but my hope is our next steps in the legislature will be guided by science. Not conjecture, not opinion or self-interest, but by the best science available. There is a complex natural ecosystem at the heart of all this. The best way to impact us that is beneficial both to the (environment) and the ocean, and for our economy, is by listening to science.”

Biggest challenge in the next five years: “The biggest challenge facing Florida is to diversify our economy in the state and in our local communities. A lot of the pain we felt as a community in Sarasota County with the impact of red tide has reminded us of our dependence on tourism. We work hard for the day when we’re not quite so dependent on tourism.

“That continues to be the front and center opportunity and challenge. We’ve become more diversified as a state over the last decade or two, and I think there are opportunities. I’m not advocating less tourism or less retirement, I’m advocating diversity, which will make our economies more sustainable.

“Within that, the biggest challenge is workforce. There isn’t enough we can do to support the talent needs of the companies here.

“The shortage of talent is a national problem, and our local community is no different. The major currency of economic development now is talent.”

JACE KENTNER, director of the Business and Economic Development Division, Collier County:

Water woes: “In Collier County’s economy, while we work for diversification we’re still reliant on the hospitality and tourist sector to carry the wealth of the county.

“So, while we showed increases in tourism after the red-tide blooms, and while our tourism department was and is proactive with a good marketing campaign to let people know we’re not as affected as some other areas, we can still suffer by being identified as part of a place with trouble.”

What the legislature can do: “From an economic development standpoint, stop this talk of ‘corporate welfare.’ We had a very toxic atmosphere towards economic development last session.

“Now, (former House leader and newly appointed Education Commissioner) Richard Corcoran’s going into education. His favorite saying in the House was “corporate welfare,” a chicken-little response to economic development. That’s hard to fix.

“So, first thing is to get back to this rhetoric: The economy is good, jobs are good.

“There are underlying problems, of course: Workforce is an issue, housing is an issue in virtually every county. And that extends to our water woes, too. You can’t point fingers, you need to suggest solutions. Even suggesting bad solutions can get the comments going, so we’re not in a standoff.”

Biggest challenge in the next five years: “If we continue to kick the workforce can down the road, and not come up with solutions for workforce housing, then in five years it’s going to be a really big problem.

“We’re enjoying low unemployment and a continued influx of people — and people will continue to move down here. So, we’ll continue to have people, but the workers will not be able to live here. And employers will not be able to employ them. And we will lose this traction, these great gains in non-hospitality businesses. We’ve had great success, but sooner or later it’ll stall, and we’ll be back to relying on hospitality and tourism. That alone won’t support our palms trees in the median, our great schools and our infrastructure.”

DAVE GAMMON, interim director, Charlotte County’s Office of Economic Development:

Water woes: “As you know, red tide was a major topic last year and could prove to be again this year. Although red tide did affect several of our local businesses, Charlotte County fortunately escaped a tremendous blow to our tourism dollars. The county’s tourism department attempted to stay ahead of the situation by altering its promotional material to focus on other attractions (not affected by red tide) that our region offers. For 2019, we will continue to promote the region and all that it offers and fully expect our tourism revenue to recover. But we will keep our fingers crossed that the red tide will go away.”

What the legislature can do to help: “I asked Emily Lewis, Charlotte County’s assistant county administrator and former legislative manager, for assistance on this question. The county would like to see continued support for grant funds such as the Jobs Growth Grant Fund. This fund has proven to be beneficial to small- to mid-sized communities that don’t normally benefit from other state-funded programs. We would also like to see continued support and maybe increased funding for a K-12 budget for vocational training for targeted industries. And lastly, we would like to see a continuation of legislative streamlining of burdensome regulations on companies interested in relocation to our state.

“That’s what we’d like. In terms of what we think the legislature will do, we believe they’ll look at continuing efforts to support funding for infrastructure and workforce training. We believe the legislature will continue to support administration and appropriate dollars accordingly. And we also believe the legislature will be open to streamlining regulations as needed.”

Biggest challenge in the next five years: “That’s pretty easy but it’s two issues: workforce and affordable housing.

“The county has been aggressively addressing these issues and we are making significant progress. We’ve been fortunate to win a $1.7 million Florida Jobs Growth Grant Fund for Workforce Training to establish an Aviation Airframe and Powerplant Mechanics Certification venue that will train a generation of aircraft mechanics for a Florida-identified target industry.

“We are marketing county-owned property to be developed for affordable product for our workers. We work with Careersource Florida on training needs for businesses currently here or wishing to relocate to our community. This will be an ongoing battle that we are addressing and expect to address over the next five years.”

PAMELA JOHNSON, interim director, Lee County Office of Economic Development:

Water woes: “The challenge of last summer seems to be an exception rather than a rule. Given the strength of bookings for the first quarter this winter season, I would say we’re (having a good year). And from an economic development standpoint, we’re working with a lot of businesses thinking of expanding here — and (red tide and the environment) is not at the top of their concerns. These are businesses that are not dependent on tourism. Some small light manufacturing businesses, call centers and the like.”

What the legislature can do to help: “We can’t predict what they will do, but the Economic Development Office supports the Lee County delegation’s legislative agenda, with priorities across the board — the Caloosahatchee River and estuary protections, water quality … Those things will overall help with the quality of life in our area, which is important to visitors and residents alike.”

Biggest challenge in the next five years: “Definitely water quality is a critical priority for visitors and residents and the quality of life in our community. That said, transportation — infrastructure from an air and ground standpoint — is very important.”

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