Regional Econimic Development in Northwest Florida
Regionalism has become one of the most discussed trends in economic development, and support among economic development policy leaders for regional approaches to economic development continues to grow. Increasingly, size and scale mean the difference between success and failure, since more and more global economic activity is migrating to larger metropolitan regions. In addition, pressures on public and private economic development resources are causing a greater emphasis on efficiencies found in collaborative regional economic development approaches.
Business Speak Regional Economic Development in Northwest Florida
Regionalism has become one of the most discussed trends in economic development, and support among economic development policy leaders for regional approaches to economic development continues to grow. Increasingly, size and scale mean the difference between success and failure, since more and more global economic activity is migrating to larger metropolitan regions. In addition, pressures on public and private economic development resources are causing a greater emphasis on efficiencies found in collaborative regional economic development approaches.
Northwest Florida is no exception. In fact, the arguments for regional economic development in the Florida Panhandle are even greater than in many regions of the country. While no two regions are alike, and regional approaches to economic development must be customized to reflect the unique circumstances of each region, regionalism makes sense in Northwest Florida, where neighboring counties share many attributes and challenges.
Although Northwest Florida does not function as a single economic geography, there are many compelling reasons for the region to work collaboratively across county boundaries to promote the region as a single product to companies considering the Panhandle as a business location. Florida’s Great Northwest’s mission is “to market and brand the 16-county Northwest Florida region as a globally competitive location for business and to work with regional partners to recruit new jobs and investment throughout Northwest Florida.” Like Enterprise Florida at the state level, Florida’s Great Northwest is focused on diversifying the economy of Northwest Florida by attracting new companies — and the jobs, incomes, tax base and tax revenues that follow — to the region.
Don Kirkman became president of Florida’s Great Northwest on January 1, 2011. Florida’s Great Northwest represents a 16-county region consisting of Bay, Calhoun, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Wakulla, Walton and Washington counties. Prior to joining Florida’s Great Northwest, Kirkman had a 20-year career leading regional and local economic development organizations in North Carolina.
That is no easy task, particularly in the challenging global economy in which Northwest Florida competes for new jobs and investment. While the Florida brand is recognized around the world, most people associate that brand with the major metro areas on the Peninsula. In addition, most people associate that brand with tourism and retirement. While those two economic engines must remain vital for Florida’s economy to thrive, the state needs more. Military and defense are also huge economic drivers in Northwest Florida, and in other areas of the state as well; but Department of Defense budget reductions are all but certain, and Northwest Florida will be adversely impacted. Northwest Florida must diversify its economy beyond tourism, retirement and defense, and fortunately the region is well positioned to do that — but only if people know the region and its assets.
As Northwest Florida’s economic development professionals travel outside of the southeastern United States to talk with site location consultants and representatives of companies in their target industries, they find that there is little familiarity with Northwest Florida. Few people have visited our region or have any perception of our geographic location and unique attributes. Even among consultants who are working with clients interested in locating new facilities in the Southeast, often Florida is overlooked. That is particularly troubling for Northwest Florida, since one of the region’s greatest advantages is its unique northwest location, making it an excellent location for companies that manufacture and distribute goods to Southeast markets.
Beyond the challenges of branding and marketing Northwest Florida to global businesses, Northwest Florida faces internal challenges within the State of Florida as well. Again, size matters in politics, and although Northwest Florida contains nearly one quarter of Florida’s counties and 20 percent of the state’s land mass, the 1.4 million residents of the region represent less than 8 percent of the state’s nearly 19 million residents. That means the population, as well as the electorate and their elected leaders, largely resides on the Peninsula. For Northwest Florida to be heard in Tallahassee, or in Washington, it is critical that the region work across jurisdictional boundaries.
The economic development bottom line is this: The more assets offered to a prospective business, the greater the likelihood that the prospect will find something he likes in Northwest Florida and choose to locate in the region — more buildings and sites, more colleges and universities, more airports and ports, more military bases and their skilled and dedicated workers, and more choices of places to live and things to do. These assets do not reside in a single county or city — they reside in the region. Ultimately the client will choose where to locate, and it will be in a county, and possibly a city or town, hopefully somewhere in Northwest Florida. And the entire region benefits when that happens. But without an awareness of the Panhandle and the regional resources that are available, the company will never call Northwest Florida home, and we all lose.
