A 'living endowment' for region's economy


  • August 19, 2015
  • /   Carlton Proctor
  • /   community-dashboard

BP oil spill skimmers. Photo credit University of West Florida

The five board members of Triumph Gulf Coast, charged with investing $1.5 billion in BP oil spill fines, got their marching orders Tuesday.

{{business_name}}Don_Gaetz_(R-4th)

Florida Senate President Don Gaetz

Speaking at the board's inaugural meeting in Destin Tuesday, Senate President Don Gaetz said Triumph's mission is to diversify the tourism/military dependent Panhandle economy and create jobs.

"Triumph was created by the Legislature to deal solely with the economic recovery of Northwest Florida, said Gaetz, the legislative godfather of the nonprofit corporation.

"Triumph Gulf Coast Inc., is not a governmental grant-making machine, but a living endowment that will invest $1.5 billion over a 30-year period," he said.

And if board members had any doubts about the enormity of their task, or its potential impact, Gaetz quickly put them to rest.

"No group ever had so much power to effect in a positive way the economy of Northwest Florida," he said. "These dollars are going to be used for business investments that are the result of sound business decisions."

Triumph Gulf Coast Inc., board of directors

— Stan Connally Jr., Gulf Breeze resident, president and CEO of Gulf Power Company, appointed by Gov. Scott.
— Allan Bense, Panama City businessman and former speaker of the Florida House, appointed by Senate President Don Gaetz.
— Pam Dana, Destin resident, senior strategic advisor for Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition, appointed by Attorney General Bondi.
— Stephen Riggs IV, Okaloosa County resident , partner at Carr, Riggs & Ingram, appointed by Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater.
— Bob Bonezzi, Destin resident, co-founder of Bonezzi Development Company, appointed by House Speaker Will Weatherford.

Gaetz noted the stellar business backgrounds of each of the five members, and encouraged them to remain independent of political pressure.

"Don't worry about politicians," Gaetz said. "Your job is to encourage private investment, encourage big developments, and use these funds to make a big transactions occur in Northwest Florida."

In creating Triumph, the Florida Legislature also directed that it give priority to projects and programs that will increase household income, expand high growth industries, leverage regional assets and partner with tourist development councils and chambers of commerce.

Rick Harper, a University of West Florida economist and head of the Office of Economic Development and Engagement, said the $1.5 billion is fine money meant to address and help recover sales tax lost as a result of the April 2010 oil spill.

Harper noted that during the 2010 spill occurred during the peak spring/summer tourist season. As a result bed tax revenues across the Panhandle dropped by 40 percent, along with significant losses reported by restaurants, entertainment venues and other businesses dependent on tourists.

"This event exposed the fragile nature of the Northwest Florida economy," Harper said. "Triumph Gulf Coast is our chance to diversify and strengthen our economy."

{{business_name}}Rick Harper

Rick Harper

Under terms of a lawsuit filed by the state, the agreed upon loss in tax revenues and other lost fees was set at $2 billion.

Seventy-five percent of that figure — $1.5 billion — is required by state statute to go the eight Panhandle counties most affected by the spill: Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, Franklin, Wakulla and Gulf.

Brice Harris, Harper's UWF associate at OEDE, said the statute creating Triumph specifically requires any entity awarded Triumph money to provide matching dollars.

Moreover, any awardee also must agree to contract provisions that allow Triumph to "claw back" investment dollars from companies that do not fulfill job creation numbers.

During the meeting Harris said the board would not be officially constituted until the 2016 Legislature appropriates the first BP dollars to Triumph's coffers.

Board member and Gulf Power CEO Stan Connally asked Harris what Triumph should be doing while awaiting arrival of those dollars, estimated to be in excess of $100 million.

"You do not want to have those dollars deposited in the bank and not be ready to spend the funds," Harris said.

Board member and former Florida House Speaker Allan Bense said the board faces some major challenges ahead in leveraging the BP dollars.

But Bense, who was informally elected chairman of the Triumph board, also said, "if we do it right we can end up with three or four very large employers in Northwest Florida that are game changers.

"That's what the Legislature intended when it created Triumph Gulf Coast," he said.

Bense also warned BP dollars must be spent wisely and expeditiously.

He cautioned that the legislation creating Triumph, and mandating that 75 percent of the funds be spent in the eight most affected counties, can be repealed.

"We have to all be on the same page and protect these dollars," he said.

Triumph's next meeting is tentatively set for mid-September and will be at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort's Bayside Conference Center. An exact date and time has not been confirmed.

 
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