Does Economic Development Work?

The most recent edition of This American Life, entitled "How To Create a Job," featured a segment on Economic Development - or, in this case, the myth of Economic Development. Adam Davidson of Planet Money attends a meeting of the International Economic Developers Council in San Diego and demystifies some of the claims made for the industry of Economic Development, putting in question the effectiveness of its impacts on local economies.

Apart from chanting "Jobs, jobs, jobs," like a deranged shaman, how are jobs created?

How to Create a Job.

EDC Launches Microsite

Kathy Baylis: Sarasota County working to transform economy now

'BIG, BOLD IDEAS AND THE PEOPLE to carry them out. Sarasota County has what it takes to turn this economy around. And it's happening now."

That's the over-arching message from David Sessions, chairman of the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County, in the introduction to the EDC's 2010 annual report.

Recently launched as an interactive microsite, rather than a printed publication, the digital annual report "provides fresh opportunities to showcase the work of volunteers, local governments, regional partners and staff who are all working toward the same ultimate goal: creating a more sustainable and prosperous community" — to borrow more of Sessions' words. MORE>>>

Sanborn brings Film / TV Production to Region - Maybe

"We want people from Hollywood to come here and fall in love with Sarasota, just like we have," Sanborn said, standing in the hangar.

Entrepreneur to build movie and TV production campus

Kathy Baylis, president of the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County, called the deal with Sanborn "a game changer" for the local economy. Besides bringing an exciting, high-profile business to Sarasota County, this kind of business creates spin-off jobs, she said.

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Tax credits like these were "critical" to Sanborn deciding to put his studio in Florida, he said.

Giving incentives to companies to build filmmaking infrastructure like this is the reason behind the big incentive package the Legislature approved.

"That's basically what he's doing, is building infrastructure," Lucia Fishburne, Florida's film commissioner, said of Sanborn's plans.

* * *

Ringling President Larry Thompson floated another idea for local filmmaking infrastructure last week when he asked county commissioners to help pay for a $1 million post-production center on campus. Thompson says he has commitments from producers and directors, including Werner Herzog and Paul Schiff, to do post-production work on their films at the school if the Ringling studio were built.

[ed. note: we live-blogged an earlier discussion of this proposal here.]

* * *

Both Sanborn and Behr are quick to admit that their plan to build a studio is no sure thing. If they can sell the "Miami 24/7" series idea at an upcoming American Film Market convention in California, for example, it would provide them with deal momentum that they presently lack.

Parks and Smart Growth

Via an email from John Krotec, local civic leader and head of the Fruitville 210 Community Alliance:

Below is some reference material that helps support the Smart Growth aspect of the Benderson Park project.  Despite the fact that it will be a world-class rowing facility, this park will be a great example of smart growth principals in action.  Imagine how visitors and residents will feel when they visit such a state-of-the-art park and rowing facility!!!  It would certainly be a bright spot for our community.  Take care.

"How Cities Use Parks to Promote Smart Growth"

Executive Summary

Parks are commonly thought of as the venue for "fun and games," but that is only one role they play in a metropolitan environment. Urban parks, which broadly include parkland, plazas, landscaped boulevards, waterfront promenades, and public gardens, significantly define the layout, real estate value, traffic flow, public events, and the civic culture of our communities.With open spaces, our cities and neighborhoods take on structure, beauty, breathing room, and value.


Public understanding of the pivotal role that parks play in enhancing the quality of life in our cities is growing, along with an understanding of the links between the quality of city parks and sprawling growth on the fringe of cities. City parks are an important element of smart growth that addresses both the public's need for greenspace and the role of greenspace in mitigating higher development density. The smart growth concerns of the public create opportunities for both public agencies and private foundations to leverage support for smart growth, "by making and "re-making" city parks that both strengthen urban cores and protect the fringe.

• Key Point #1 - Parks have voter support to direct public funds toward growth management strategies.
• Key Point #2 - Parks enhance mixed development and redevelopment strategies, offsetting higher density concerns with accessibility to greenspace.
• Key Point #3 - Parks can both strengthen the urban core and protect the fringe from overdevelopment.

KEY POINT #1:

Parks have voter support to direct public funds toward growth management strategies.

Over the last decade, voters have overwhelmingly supported additional spending for parks and open space conservation. Since 1998, more than 750 measures have gone before voters across the country, with a successful passage rate of 80 percent. Nearly $30 billion in new park and conservation funding has been created — more than $4 billion in cities alone since 1996.


In the November 2003 election, voters created $1.8 billion of new conservation funding, passing 100 out of 134 measures on the ballot. The use of new tax dollars to pay for parks and greenspace is a trend that recognizes the leveraging value of the enormous public interest in parks and greenspace. It is fueling new strategies and investments, blending regulatory and market-based tools to address the challenging issues of density, mixed use, and community livability.


This issue is important to voters from a number of smart growth angles. Voters prioritize water as a critical reason to buy land, no matter how it is expressed — from drinking water protection to protection of rivers and streams.Voters care about "natural areas," not "open space," which more often conveys a message of abandoned lots. And most importantly, voters care about creating parks for a reason — natural areas, recreation, and safe places for kids to play — rather than just creating parks that abstractly prevent sprawl.


In Ann Arbor, Michigan, 68 percent of voters approved a $72 million bond measure for parks and open space in November 2003. The focus of the measure is to create a greenbelt around the city. "In neighboring communities there has been a very real and negative impact from sprawl, and the voters in Ann Arbor can see it themselves," according to Doug Cowerd, co-chair of the campaign. "There has been an impact on quality of life and voters have shown they are willing to pay to try and affect some positive change." (Trust for Public Land and Land Trust Alliance, 2004.)


Miami, Los Angeles, and Raleigh, North Carolina, have also benefited from partnerships with their counties, passing park measures worth hundreds of millions of dollars which are split between counties and cities for their separate priorities. Last November, voters in Raleigh passed a $47 million bond measure with a 69 percent margin (Trust for Public Land and Land Trust Alliance,2004). The funds will be spent over a seven-year period, which allows the city to pay them back without an increase in taxes.These funds can be further leveraged by use of a grant fund set up by Wake County. Grants are made for both planning and land acquisition. A 50 percent local match is required. Some municipalities have been allowed to pay their portion over time through a loan from the county.


In states where state programs will match local funding, including Florida, Massachusetts, Colorado, and New Jersey, local ballot measures have won partly on the availability of state funding matches that leverage local buying power. In 2003, in New Jersey, 27 municipalities passed measures ranging in size from $180,000 to more than $9 million (Trust for Public Land and Land Trust Alliance, 2004). Now 189 municipalities in New Jersey have dedicated open space taxes, generating more than $200 million a year in funding.


KEY POINT #2:

Parks enhance mixed development and redevelopment strategies, offsetting higher density concerns with accessibility to greenspace.

City neighborhoods need to maintain or increase their population while staying attractive and livable; however, density often remains a contentious issue for city neighborhoods of all types and sizes. Many residents oppose high density because they believe it will consume open space, exacerbate parking and traffic issues, or threaten the existing quality of life. A strong policy promoting parks and green-space can play a crucial role in addressing these concerns.


As many now understand, density is less the issue than design and amenities. A recent study in Texas showed that people are twice as likely to accept smaller residential properties if there is a park nearby (44.3 percent versus 18.6 percent) (Waugh, 2004).


Vancouver, British Columbia, is widely recognized as a leader in making high density work.That city's efforts stem from the adoption of their Central Area Plan in the late 1980s, which shaped a growth strategy emphasizing housing and neighborhoods first, known locally as "Living First." Vancouver's focus on a core-area open space system acts to mitigate higher density, and to tie areas together by allowing people to travel on foot. As Larry Beasley,co-director of Vancouver Planning, comments, "It's about the open space and the public realm being used to contribute to neighborhood form and identity. It's not about having useless private plazas, but instead shaping buildings to emphasize the respite of open public park spaces and squares that are an integral part of every neighborhood building cluster." (Beasley, 2002.)


One barrier to infill development is the need for upgraded infrastructure, including parks, to attract developers. Some cities are trying to address this issue. In 1998, the city council of Portland, Oregon, approved a systems development charge (SDC) that partly offsets the costs of services needed to support new housing.At the current rate of $1,630 per single-family unit, the residential development fee generates about $1.5 million a year for park capital improvements. Based on the SDC, the city developed a 20-year plan to build more capacity into the park system.


Across the country, 11 of the nation's largest cities, including Ft.Worth, Chicago, and Albuquerque, use impact fees to try to offset the costs of services delivered with new housing.


KEY POINT #3:

Parks can both strengthen the urban core and protect the fringe from overdevelopment.

There is an important connection between open space/park programs and urban/metro growth policy. By reducing or eliminating some of the infrastructure and financial incentives for developing low-density "edge cities" far from the centers of metropolitan areas, cities can be created that have both vitality and environmental sustainability. A dense, vital central city helps decrease the pressure for peripheral development, while policies that limit development at the edge encourage the kind of infill development that helps keep central cities alive.


Although public interest and support for new conservation programs is high, elected officials rarely leverage city park projects and other green infrastructure into regional policies that protect against sprawl.


In an attempt to persuade cities and counties to think more about smart growth, Maryland's Priority Places Strategy uses the "carrot" of state funding, including infrastructure funds, as incentive for local governments to redirect development to existing growth areas.The program has helped support neighborhood redevelopment as well as protection of rural and open space resources with grants for land conservation.


Austin, Texas, is seeking to control sprawl by focusing on the protection of drinking water. After a comprehensive mapping project showed that new housing construction was negatively affecting the city's all-important drinking water source, the Edwards Aquifer, the city decided to direct its public transportation and park investments to East Austin in an attempt to attract developers to concentrate growth on the less sensitive east side of town. East Austin is not only outside the drinking water protection zone but also is an area historically underserved by parks (Blaha and Harnik, 2000). Austin's 2004 Smart Growth map shows four new destination parks, all the city's proposed new rail corridors, and proposed infill development targeted to its "Desired Development Zone" on the east side of the city, and extensive watershed protection goals for the west part of the city. Since 1998, Austin has raised $153 million through ballot initiatives for parks, open space, and watershed protection.


Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has also been aggressive in linking neighborhood conservation and rural development in its comprehensive plan, Sioux Falls 2015: A Growth Management Plan (Schmidt, 2002). While managing growth at the periphery — including mandating high-density projects and investing in new parks — Sioux Falls has aggressively redeveloped brownfields and vacant lands in its central city with the help of investments in its parks and trail system.


Regional park partnerships can work for growth management when multiple jurisdictions coordinate, and sometimes collaborate, on park plans that serve multiple needs across the region. Led by the Metropolitan Council, the seven counties surrounding the Twin Cities in Minnesota work together on a regional park and greenway plan that extends from rural sites that protect water quality to neighborhood parks and playgrounds in Minneapolis and St. Paul.


Goals to protect natural areas in rural and suburban areas, as well as equity "gaps" in urban areas, are combined in planning and public outreach strategies. The Metropolitan Council received an award this year from APA's Minnesota chapter for its regional growth plan, which emphasizes four smart growth policies including conservation of natural resources for parks and economic benefits (www.metrocouncil.org/parks/parks.htm).


Based on the experiences of Maryland, Austin, Sioux Falls, and the Metropolitan Council in Minnesota, a parks/growth management policy effort can be effective if it is strongly supported by elected officials, the business community, and the general public. Their leadership requires continuing efforts on the part of local planners to keep citizens involved in the planning process, and to keep parks positioned as a redevelopment and growth management tool.

Resources

Beasley, Larry. 2000. "Design for Living in Vancouver." Paper given at CNU 2000 Congress.

Blaha, Kathleen and Peter Harnik. 2000. Opportunities for Smarter Growth: Parks, Greenspace and Land Conservation. Coral Gables, Florida: Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities. June.

Schmitt, Jeffrey. 2002. "Sioux Falls 2015: A Growth Management Plan." Paper given at the 2002 APA National Conference. April.

Trust for Public Land and Land Trust Alliance. 2004. LandVote 2003.www.tpl.org/download_landvote_03.cfm.

Waugh, Dave C. 2004. "Buying New Urbanism:A Study of New Urban Characteristics That Residents Most Value." Texas State University-San Marcos, Department of Political Science (Pol. Sci. 5397), Spring.

This briefing paper was written by Kathy Blaha, senior vice president for national programs at the Trust for Public Land. Questions about this briefing paper may be directed to Kathy.blaha@tpl.org.

How can cities (or counties) use parks for economic development?

Public parks are often the "engine" that drives tourism in many communities. In a simplified tourism model, visitors use some mode of transportation to leave their homes and travel to attractions, which are supported by various kinds of services, such as hotels/motels, restaurants, and retailing.The attractions and support services provide information and promote their offerings to target groups they have identified as potential visitors.



Check out the briefing paper on how cities use parks here, or download the pdf here.

Hearing on Fruitville Comp Plan Amendment Continued

Four hours into a hearing on a proposed Comp. Plan Amendment, the Sarasota County Commission voted to continue the matter for three weeks.

The postponement is designed to give residents of Richardson Road neighborhoods east of I-75 time to talk with planners to see if they can find suitable common ground to shape the future of approximately 320 acres that involve two quadrants on I-75, east of the Fruitville exit.  (Some more background here).

Economic development meets the little foxes

What happens when priceless land near a major highway becomes ripe for development as a "major employment center," and residents who have lived in a nearby, placid neighborhood fear for the consequences?

Something of the sort is shaping up at the I-75 exit at Fruitville Road, where Sarasota County is considering allowing a Comp Plan amendment to enable more creative, unified, sensitive planning. At least that's what advocates promise. Opponents say the amendment would open a Pandora's box of higher densities and intensities than the Comp Plan currently permits. The residents fear for the wildlife - foxes, 182 species of birds - and tranquility that have been their lot for generations.

The County Commission will vote on amending the Comp Plan on Tuesday. One possible outcome: deferring a decision until the fall, so that all parties have time to examine potential consequences. Stay tuned.

More from Sarasota Community Connections

Economic development Property Tax Exemption put on ballot   Sarasota County commissioners unanimously approved a referendum on the Aug. 24 primary election ballot. If approved by voters, the measure would give the commission the authority to grant up to 100 percent of property tax exemptions for up to 10 years for existing and new businesses that qualify for the exemption. Officials from Venice, North Port and Sarasota also have expressed interest in the measure and will consider placing local versions of the ordinance on their ballots.

SCAT and Google partner to offer public transit options on Google Maps Sarasota County Area Transit (SCAT) has a new online tool that makes it easy to ride a bus. Google Transit allows SCAT riders to plan their route with new features, including stop locations, transfer points, customizable routes and fare calculations. Users of Google Maps looking for locations in Sarasota County will find accurate SCAT route informa tion included when they search for directions to their destination. (MORE)

Sarasota County Siesta Beach ranked No. 2 in country   For the second year in a row, Sarasota County's Siesta Beach has been ranked the second-best beach in the country by Dr. Stephen Leatherman, also known as Dr. Beach.   Dr. Leatherman, the director for Coastal Research at Florida International University, has been ranking the country's top 10 beaches annually for the last 20 years. In his review of Siesta Beach, Leatherman said, "With some of the finest, whitest sand in the world, Siesta Beach has clear, warm waters that serve for ideal swimming. This beach is great for volleyball and other types of recreational fitness."

Coolidge on the vagaries of "Economic Development in Sarasota

Belatedly noted: This article by MC Coolidge in Creative Loafing, entitled Face Reality - (for more context, see here):

We’re so gaga over the idea of attracting film and entertainment business to the area that several City Commissioners (in the name of “economic development”) were in favor of leasing the much-used (and not-a-dime-subsidized) Sarasota Municipal Auditorium to Ringling College for soundstage use for a measly $1 a year. Thankfully, for once, the audacity inherent in the request, coming as it did from a college well-known for being so well-endowed it would make Jenna Jameson blush, riled up taxpayers enough to squelch the idea.

Of course, that deal would have been small potatoes compared to the heaps of taxpayer dollars Sarasota leaders have already spent pursuing “economic development” crushes that haven’t returned the sentiment. Do I need to remind readers about the roughly $5 million our city and county commissioners spent in pursuit of the Red Sox — for a “deal” that was never anywhere near real?

...

If government is going to be involved in and spend money on economic development for businesses (which I’m not at all sure it should be doing anyway), then I’d prefer them to focus on finding ways to develop and enhance the businesses that are already here — right down to the truly small businesses and including the many creative-type sole proprietors (of which I am one) who support those businesses — and to support new businesses that are committed to coming here and staying here without being paid off to do so.

High School Rowing in Sarasota this Weekend

Setting up for the High Schools competing in the Rowing Regatta this weekend at Benderson Park:

More images here.

More about the economic impact of Rowing for Sarasota here.

Rowing at Benderson could have large economic impact

Via Mysuncoast:

SARASOTA - Athletes from around the world are already training here in Sarasota County, and by the end of 2011, Sarasota may become the premier rowing destination in North America.

If you're not a rower, what does that mean to you?  Money.

When the lake at Nathan Benderson Park is expanded to world-class rowing standards, leaders in the rowing world say it can attract regattas here that will bring in tens of thousands of people who'll spend several days and leave big bucks behind when they return home.

It's an amazing stroke of luck.

"Who would have thought a few years ago Sarasota could be a rowing destination?" says John Leeming, president of Sarasota Crew.

But it just happens that the 600-acre lake at the new Nathan Benderson Park -- a lake originally dug as a mining pit -- can become what some say would be the best world sanctioned rowing facility in North America.  It meets all the qualifications.  "It's a dedicated piece of a body of water.  It has no current, straight shoreline, good depth, great location for accessibility...local hotels and rest," says project manager Paul Blackketter.

Currently, the lake is 1500 meters long...not long enough for the world sanctioned rowing regattas.  But the county is already working on a project using federal stimulus money to extend Cattleman Road, which would increase the size of the lake to just under 2200 meters -- exactly what's needed in international rowing competitions.

This week, international leaders in the rowing world are in Sarasota, including the editor of Rowing Magazine and a representative from the Boston rowing facility.  Monday they told Sarasota County commissioners what a gold mine the county has with the lake.  "They are all thrilled by the fact that this course can be a 12 month a year rowing facility, and they are also enamored by our community and the access that they have to the intracoastal (waterway), which provides the long distance rowing venue for training."

And these experts say when the lake is expanded to required length, the county could attract more than 77 countries to world class rowing regattas.  And that would certainly have an effect on our economy.  "Tremendous effect.  An average regatta can attract over 10,000 people; ten regattas a year, you're looking a more than 100,000 people...huge economic impact."

The Florida Inter-collegiate Rowing Regatta is coming up at Nathan Benderson Park this weekend.  12 colleges from across Florida will compete for the state championship on Friday and Saturday.

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Swimming with Sharks

Richard Clapp, mayor of Sarasota, swam 

with bonnethead sharks (which eat 

only crustaceans and small fish) to interest Google.

The mayor of Duluth, Minn., threw himself into the ice-ringed waters of Lake Superior. The mayor of Sarasota, Fla., immersed himself in a tank filled with bonnethead sharks, simply to one-up him. The mayor of Wilmington, N.C., said that he would even jump out of an airplane — with a parachute, of course.

... Google’s offer of a network with speeds of one gigabit per second, or 100 times faster than many of today’s high-speed connections, could be a great selling point for a recession-plagued town. Newspaper.

Forum in the news

A brief story about the Economic Recovery Forum in today's paper:

Prescription for Sarasota County: a new economy

Obama rolls out Small Business lending program

Practically coincident with the Economic Development Forum came this bit of news from the Federal level:

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama proposed a $30 billion small business lending program Tuesday, the latest in a series of administration efforts to jump-start hiring by the nation's small businesses.


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704022804575040722955784294.html?mod=WSJ_Small+Business_LEADNewsCollection

SARASOTA ECONOMIC OUTLOOK 2009–2010

Below is the conclusion to Prof. Grimes' study of the economic outlook for Sarasota:

CONCLUSION

Sarasota County’s economy has entered its worst economic episode in memory. The unemployment rate in the county, which historically has been below the national average, now exceeds the unemployment rate in the nation as a whole, and it’s expected to get worse before improving slightly in the second half of 2010.

The county’s economic troubles can be traced to the construction-and-real-estate-related boom between 1995 and 2005, which inevitably has led to a construction-and-real-estaterelated bust. The nation has followed a similar path, but the amplitude of both the boom and the bust has been much greater in Sarasota. We anticipate that there will continue to be job losses in Sarasota County in 2009 and 2010, but the losses in 2010 will be minimal, partly because we have assumed that the much-discussed economic stimulus package, especially its infrastructure spending portion, will mitigate some of the job losses in residential construction activity.

The good news is that there has been some employment growth in the high-wage, higheducational-attainment industries in the county, even during the first two years of employment decline. We expect that employment will continue to grow in these industries (health care, professional services, and corporate headquarters) over the next two years, but that these gains will be too small to overcome the job losses resulting from the construction bust and the weak economy overall. Job opportunities for people with relatively low levels of educational attainment will be scarce.

We are forecasting that the unemployment rate in the county will continue to increase through the first half of 2010, when it will peak at 9.3 percent, after which it will begin to drift down slowly.

The county has some great assets to promote future economic development. These include its natural beauty and weather, its recreational opportunities, and its arts community. There is already a sizable and reasonably healthy white-collar employment base in the county. These assets are a magnet to attract up-and-coming industries.

Among such opportunities is a group not usually thought of as an industry, that is, affluent retirees. It is fortunate that so many of them have gravitated here on their own, but there should be no slacking off of efforts to keep them coming.

At the same time, it is important to recognize the county’s liabilities, especially the fact that it is geographically isolated from most of the country. This will make it difficult to attract manufacturing companies to this area, an observation supported by Sarasota’s very low share of manufacturing employment that is not related to construction. In fact, it would be difficult to imagine a less geographically hospitable place for manufacturing than coastal southern Florida, except for Alaska and Hawaii. Economic development efforts should be directed elsewhere.

The most important factor in determining any area’s economic prosperity, at least as measured by the income of its residents, is the level of educational attainment of its work force. Sarasota County needs to become single-minded in its efforts to attract highly educated residents and the industries that seek to employ them. We believe Sarasota has the assets to do so.

Context: Sarasota Employment and Wages by Industry

Click on image to enlarge:

via Enterprise Florida

Can the Arts replace Construction as an Economic Engine in Sarasota?

From the HT:

Among the participants is University of Michigan economist Don Grimes, who warned local officials early last year that the construction industry would never again become Sarasota County's dominant economic force. Grimes suggested local governments and the business community concentrate on developing other promising sectors, such as the arts.   

Questions abound: How do the Arts generate wide employment? What sort of jobs would become possible? Does the success of an arts-driven economy depend upon the quality of the art? If so, how does a locality ensure quality in its arts? How much of a role does marketing play in the image of a community as a "happening" place in the Arts? How does the Sarasota EDC (Economic Development Corporation) fit in?

For reference, here's a community profile of Sarasota County, with an employment breakdown by industry, provided by the EDC.

Live online coverage of the Economic Recovery Forum

We'll be blogging Sarasota County's Economic Recovery Forum on Tuesday, live, from 4 - 5:30 p.m., so stop by online.

Also, look for live tweets here: http://twitter.com/tommatrullo

Sarasota holds Economic Recovery Forum Tuesday

Economic recovery forum planned for Feb. 2

The community forum, called “From Recession to Recovery,” will explore economic strategies for Sarasota County to recover from the recession. It is the first time in Florida that a television news station and a newspaper have partnered with a local government to provide a public discussion of a community issue. SNN Local News 6 also will produce four news reports based on the economic recovery forum that will be aired during news shows in weeks following the program. When: 4-5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2 Where to watch: Sarasota County Access TV, carried on Comcast 19 and Verizon 32. Streaming video on the county’s Web site at www.scgov.net. How to submit questions: E-mail to communityconnections@scgov.net. Hosts: Lauren Mayk, anchor for SNN Local News 6, and Tom Tryon, Opinion Page editor for the Herald-Tribune. Panelists: Joe Barbetta, Sarasota County Commission chair Nora Patterson, Sarasota County Commissioner Jim Ley, Sarasota County Administrator Larry Thompson, president, Ringling College of Art and Design Don Grimes, University of Michigan specialist in economic forecasting and regional economic development Pat Neal, homebuilder Jody Hudgins, FNB Corp. and  member of the Sarasota County Planning Commission Kathy Salvador, Florida Power & Ligh Others attending the panel discussion will include economic development specialists, and representatives of the tourism and real estate sectors. For more information, contact the Sarasota County Call Center at 941-861-5000 and ask about the “From Recession to Recovery” forum. We'll be blogtweeting this live Tuesday, 4 - 5:30 pm

Sarasota Has No Economic Development Strategy?

Sarasota County rethinks growth

[The] recession, the end of the building boom and a future made uncertain by the growing options of retirees has turned the old economic development model on its head.

The change was foreshadowed last December when County Administrator Jim Ley admitted in an internal memo to county commissioners that "we have no economic development strategy as a community." ...

the plans to spend more than $90 million on economic development in such a short period of time signaled a decided break from the past.

That shift was apparent again this week when Sarasota County commissioners announced plans for a program to give property tax breaks to businesses promising to create high-paying jobs here. The tax abatement plan would have to be approved by voters, and could be on the ballot as early as next spring.

more...