Region pursues state funds

However, it’s still unclear how new grants will be selected — or when they’ll be distributed

TALLAHASSEE — Osceola County wants $17.1 million for a fiber optic network and road work, while Valencia College is asking for $6 million to expand a job-training program. Sanford is seeking $3.6 million to refurbish its downtown and Lake County wants $500,000 for a natural gas line.

Those Central Florida projects are among 92 applications to the new Florida Job Growth Grant Fund, an $85 million pot of money set up two months ago to pay for infrastructure and job training.

But it’s not clear when the money will be dispersed or what criteria the Department of Economic Opportunity, the state agency reviewing the proposals, will use to grade the plans. A DEO spokeswoman said the department hasn’t developed a formula for evaluating the applications, nor is there a timeline to do so.

Valencia’s proposal would use the money to increase its training of workers in manufacturing and distribution logistics at its Osceola campus.

“The [program] is working, and

we want to expand it,” said Joe Battista, Valencia’s vice president for global, professional and continuing education.

A second application from Valencia, which hasn’t shown up on the state’s database yet, is for $2.3 million for another manufacturing and logistics center in the Parramore neighborhood of downtown Orlando.

The school’s application is part of a partnership with Orlando and LIFT Orlando, a nonprofit, and is intended to create a commercial area with Valencia as one of the anchors.

“With this grant, I believe that Valencia College significantly advances our city’s long-term goal of revitalizing west Orlando neighborhoods,” Mayor Buddy Dyer wrote in a letter to state officials dated Aug. 15 in support of Valencia’s application.

Osceola County has submitted two proposals, both for the benefit of NeoCity, a 500-acre planned district the county wants to build into a technology hub. One is for $8 million to help pay for a fiber optic network, the other is for $9.1 million to expand roads.

Sanford is seeking $3.6 million from the state — half of the $7.1 million it wants to revitalize its downtown with streetscaping.

The city’s application says the project will create 254 permanent jobs.

The growth fund was approved by lawmakers during a special session in June after a bitter battle between Gov. Rick Scott and House

“If the Legislature is patient enough and if the citizens are patient enough for this to show its benefits, then it will have that potential to change the paradigm.” Dale Brill, an economic development consultant

Speaker Richard Corcoran over economic development programs.

Scott has made business incentives a key part of his legacy and wanted $85 million. But Corcoran deems them a form of “corporate welfare” and vowed to exclude them from the budget.

They eventually reached a compromise to set up the growth fund, which can only be used to pay for infrastructure and job-training projects requested by governments and schools. The funds can’t be used to benefit a single company.

Other than those rules, however, lawmakers didn’t prescribe how to rank the proposals, so it’s uncertain if they’ll be evaluated on a firstcome, first-served basis, on the amount of expected economic impact or some other standards. The lack of specifics led Democrats to bash the plan as a “slush fund” for Scott. The law calls on DEO to make recommendations to the governor, who will give the final approval.

Dale Brill, a Tallahassee-based economic development consultant and former official with a legacy agency of DEO, said the growth fund represents a major shift in the state’s approach to economic development, but it remains to be seen how successful it will be.

“If the Legislature is patient enough and if the citizens are patient enough for this to show its benefits, then it will have that potential to change the paradigm,” he said.

Yet political considerations could mean the growth fund might not get that much time to grow, Brill said.

“The rule of thumb is that any innovation in economic development that involves government has to be — you have to see results within term limits; that’s your window,” he said. “If you can’t show results within the twoyear cycle of the House or the [four-year] cycle of the Senate, it’s almost dead on arrival because it takes too long.”

Scott has touted the fund as a key component of his quest for more jobs for Floridians.

“With the newly established $85 million Florida Job Growth Grant Fund, we will continue to attract job creators to invest in Florida and ensure we remain a leader in job creation for generations to come,” he said in a statement.