FloridaWest: Pensacola's new jobs engine


  • June 30, 2015
  • /   Carlton Proctor
  • /   community-dashboard
Pensacola's lead economic development agency has a new name and a new mission statement focusing on the familiar themes of job growth and sustainable prosperity. FloridaWest and its new logo were unveiled Tuesday evening before about 100 key politicians and business leaders at the University of West Florida's downtown Voices of Pensacola Center. The new moniker replaces the Community Economic Development Association, a  spinoff from the Greater Pensacola Chamber in early 2014. FloridaWest President John Hutchinson, a former Gulf Power executive, said the name change was the culmination of a major reorganization of the Greater Pensacola Chamber that began in the fall of 2013. That shakeup led to the creation of CEDA, a temporary placeholder name, along with Visit Pensacola Inc., once the tourism arm of the chamber, and now a separate, self-governing entity. Hutchinson said FloridaWest's primary strategy going forward is "building, growing and sustaining" the economic potential and prosperity of Northwest Florida. "FloridaWest has three guiding principles," Hutchinson said. "One, is creating an economy of success for the people of this community; the second is fostering an economy of relationships; and, third, an economy of collaboration." Greater Pensacola Chamber Chairwoman Carol Carlan reminded the audience that FloridaWest, and its CEO Scott Luth, have a lot of success to build upon. "Over the past four years our economic development efforts have helped create 8,800 new jobs, added $450 million to the community's payroll and some $797 million in capital improvements," Carlan said. "But more than those numbers, we worked hard to bring our community together." [sidebar] CEDA by the numbers The Community Economic Development Association, which preceded Florida West had: — A budget of $1.08 million.

— A staff for five full-time and two part-time employees (approximately $500,000 of budget).

— Since 2011, Vision 2015/CEDA has created more than 8,800 new jobs with average salary of $51,000.

— More than $65,000,000 in state, local and federal incentives were awarded in this time. The range of incentives include worker training incentives, qualified target industry incentives (tax credits per job created), economic development ad valorem tax exemptions (EDATES) and some funds available through various oil spill legislation.

For a look back at how FloridaWest's preceding agency — CEDA — fared in the job creation business, read more here. [/sidebar] The rollout of FloridaWest was greeted enthusiastically by local political leaders, including County Commissioner Wilson Robertson and Mayor Ashton Hayward III. "One of the most gratifying aspects of my job as commissioner has been being involved in the economic development of Escambia County," Robertson said. "I've never seen so much progress in this community as we've had over the past 10 years." Hayward said Pensacola's efforts to collaborate with other economic development agencies across the Panhandle "have been a key driver of Northwest Florida's growing economy. And we're just getting started." In addition to Robertson and Hayward, those attending the event included businessman and philanthropist Lewis Bear, County Commissioner Lumon May, State Rep. and chamber CEO Clay Ingram, Pensacola City Councilman Larry Johnson, and School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas. During the unveiling, Luth outlined the four key goals of FloridaWest's new development strategy: — Wealth Development: Building individual, corporate, and community wealth that contributes to a greater quality of life in the area — Economic Partnerships: Linking policy makers, educational institutions, private sector leaders, entrepreneurs and investors to maximize the economic potential of Northwest Florida. — Sustainable Growth: Ensuring the longevity and prosperity of existing business partners, clients, and the community. — Transformed Workforce: Working with local education partners to build and train a workforce that attracts new businesses and supports existing businesses. Key sectors of the group’s focus include: financial and professional services; information technology and business outsourcing; offshore vessel service and support; aviation manufacturing and repair; cybersecurity and manufacturing. The job of forging the new branding campaign and CEDA's name change was handed to Mona Amodeo and her staff at idgroup, a local creative agency. [caption id="attachment_25423" align="alignright" width="300"]Scott Luth president and CEO of the Community Economic Development Association of Pensacola & Escambia County at the Greater Pensacola Chamber Friday, June 26, 2015. Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Today Scott Luth president and CEO of the Community Economic Development Association of Pensacola & Escambia County at the Greater Pensacola Chamber Friday, June 26, 2015. Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Today[/caption] Luth and idgroup have been working on the rebranding effort for the past six months. Amodeo's firm also put together Visit Pensacola's new Destination 2020 tourism development strategy, which debuted this spring. “When we were working on names for the organization, we wanted to incorporate some of the great aspects of our community," said Luth. "First, we are the westernmost part of Florida. As the late Mayor (Vince) Whibbs used to say, we are the ‘Western Gate to the Sunshine State.’ “So, we decided that FloridaWest would mark us geographically, but also mark us culturally and send a message that this is a great place to do business,” Luth said.
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