- April 24, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
The economic development summit, which will feature more than 50 elected officials and representatives, is underway at the University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service Auditorium.
As the discussions commence, stay tuned to www.palmcoastobserver.com for updated content and pictures.
The discussions will go until 6 p.m. today and the summit will reconvene 8 a.m. Saturday.
Also, follow the Palm Coast Observer’s Facebook page for updates.
Updates from the meeting
Don Upton, president of Fairfield Index Inc., began the summit by introducting himself, describing his background, and setting the tone with this:
"For me, governance follows strategy. Funding follows strategy. I want you to prove to me first what you intend to do. I’m not a facilitator. I’m an economic developer with an attitude. I’m a Floridian and I want us to win in the competitive marketplace."
Right now, all the attendees of the summit are introducing themselves in about 30 seconds. There's a little less than 50 involved as the attendees.
2:51 p.m.:
Every person involved in the discussions has introduced themselves. The discussion going on right now is about “targeting industry clusters.”
Upton said this is a “team” that should view itself as a “board of directors.”
“You want to be the smartest, most responsible team of leaders,” Upton said. “How hard can that be? Not all that hard. If you really want to be a team … you can be the best economic leaders in Florida and the United States.”
Doug Baxter, president of the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce & Affiliates, said the chamber is in the process of sifting through about 7,500 or 8,500 business licenses and plans to find out how many business owners and employees there are in Flagler County.
According to Baxter, this might be the first and most accurate count of the number of businesses, employees and the wage ranges in the county.
Palm Coast City Council member Mary DiStefano suggested surveying the workforce for its skill sets.
"Our unemployment is so high, why not survey the community and know what the skills are then spend time and money on a company?" DiStefano said. "No. 1, we have to find out what skills we have available."
3:12 p.m.:
Flagler County School Board member Colleen Conlin said: "We went from the highest, fastest-growing county in the nation. When people are out of work for a long time, they are trainable. We have folks that are waiting for an industry to come ... if there is one of those clusters that is particularly of interest, than (Flagler Technical Institute) can be build around that. Then we know we have a ready group of folks who are ready to be re-trained to do something else.
