- April 25, 2024
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The group will meet again Friday, March 18, to determine an economic development plan and implementation strategy.
Elected officials and citizen representatives spent about 13 hours inside the University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service Auditorium March 4 to March 5, at the landmark Economic Summit. The group agreed on a five-pronged strategy and plans to meet again March 18. (See Page 4 for a weekend recap.)
Customer is always right
But the next eight days will be spent in smaller focus groups with the intent to bring back tangible plans and goals on March 18.
Garry Lubi, executive vice chair for the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce & Affiliates, volunteered the chamber to facilitate a focus group to devise a plan to improve customer service between governments and businesses.
With the task force, Lubi hopes to talk to companies in town that have already gone through the process. Once the group can pinpoint those problems, then it can fix them.
“Throughout the process is where some of the gaps are occurring,” Lubi said Monday.
At the summit, County Administrator Craig Coffey said part of the problem has been perception, and that the problem many not be as big as people think.
Lubi said it’s partially perception, but there is some reality to it.
“The experience isn’t always consistent,” Lubi said. “ … Customer service extends all the way to the very bottom. You have to think with a customer-centric frame of mind and develop a culture.”
City Council member Mary DiStefano did not think the Economic Summit was valuable, arguing that the criticisms of customer service were unfounded.
“I think the whole process — ” she began, then stopped, in a comment Tuesday, March 8, at the City Council workshop. “I could have used my time better,” she said. “That may not be a politically correct statement, but I feel that we, in Palm Coast, are doing our best. We have our game plan in order for economic development.”
One team, one voice?
City Manager Jim Landon was quiet for much of the two-day summit. When he did speak up, he caused a stir.
When the meeting was nearing its close, Facilitator Don Upton indicated his summary report of the meeting would include the phrase “One team, one voice.” Flagler County citizen representative Art Barr said it should be expanded to “One team, one voice, one message,” and Upton added that phrase, as well.
Then Landon said: “I’m going to be spoiler on that one. We’re one team, one voice, but we are not all going to have the same assets, the same resources. We have some of the same goals, but we have to be careful … Some people in this county don’t want industry in their backyard.
“ … I’ve heard (‘one team, one voice’) for a long time, but it has to take into consideration that we have different entities with different priorities, and you can’t try to lay one priority on all of us.”
Some members of the group appeared to interpret Landon’s comments as an example of the perception the city often struggles with — that the city intends to do what it wants, when it wants, or the “800-pound gorilla” syndrome.
However, School Board member Colleen Conklin asked Landon to clarify, saying that his comments “caused a little angst among the group.”
Landon responded that he hoped the summit would yield something new, not just the same mentality with the same old slogans. County Commissioner Alan Peterson and Lubi indicated that they saw Landon’s point that each municipality has its own strengths and needs.
Lubi added: “I think we have the foundation here for a collaborative comprehensive plan.”
Landon said the meeting was a significant shift from the tenor of the Jan. 31 intergovernmental workshop.
“I think the big difference was, (on) Jan. 31 people were talking about raising taxes,” Landon said. “This meeting this weekend was what we’ve said all along: We need to talk about building a consensus on the action plan and talk about funding after we have consensus about our direction.”
“ … Palm Coast has always wanted to talk about how we can build consensus around working together. We have not supported idea of talking about raising taxes.”
WEEKEND RECAP
Elected officials from all municipalities in the county agreed on five things at the landmark Economic Summit — the only summit of its kind going on in the state of Florida, according to Facilitator Don Upton, of Fairfield Index Inc.
1. Provide exceptional customer service to businesses.
Each municipality agreed to review its policies, including permitting, that businesses are subjected to as they deal with the government.
Garry Lubi, executive vice chair of the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce & Affiliates, said the chamber would facilitate a focus group to devise a plan.
2. Attract targeted industries.
The state has its own criteria for offering incentives to certain industries. Enterprise Flagler Executive Director Greg Rawls agreed to gather data on what industries would be a good fit for Flagler County.
3. Encourage entrepreneurs.
Job creation is likely to occur in smaller businesses that are showing success and want to grow. The county needs to help those businesses develop, officials said.
One example: The city of Palm Coast is working on a plan for a business assistance center.
Other partners include SCORE and incubator programs at Daytona State College.
4. Maximize regional opportunities.
Flagler County is not exactly part of the Jacksonville market, or the Orlando market or the Daytona Beach market. Or it could be part of all three. Officials agreed they need to explore regional opportunities, including making their presence felt at regional regulatory bodies, such as the Northeast Florida Regional Council.
5. Attract and develop talent.
One of the first things site selectors for business prospects want to know is whether Flagler County has a workforce that matches their needs. Officials agreed that the community needs to find ways to prepare its students and other residents to be trainable and attractive to the targeted industries.
In addition, the schools need to show what they can offer already to families of employees of the business prospects. School Board member Colleen Conklin said the school website should have a link or a button that could make the data site selectors seek easier to find.
— Brian McMillan
