Goodbye To Lee's Chicken
- Thread starter Phoenix Rising
- Start date
-
Trouble logging in? Send us a message with your username and/or email address for help.
I disagree, Robert...they have the same objective: a viable economy for Walton County...the methods are a bit different, but not all that much.
It is all geared toward Commerce.
In the state system before it was privatized, the Department of Commerce included both the Division of Tourism and the Division of Economic Development. I worked as the Communications Director for the agency and was involved in both bringing tourism to Florida and "luring" new business...especially the movie making business. During the time I worked there in the 80s, Florida had the distinction of being the #1 tourist destination (thanks Disney) for the U. S. and the #1 state for business development.
We worked as one unit and benefitted the entire state. This is how it is done in many, if not most, places.
Now, we have Visit Florida and Enterprise Florida, two separate entitites...not sure the "powers that be" in either organization talk to one another.
It is all geared toward Commerce.
In the state system before it was privatized, the Department of Commerce included both the Division of Tourism and the Division of Economic Development. I worked as the Communications Director for the agency and was involved in both bringing tourism to Florida and "luring" new business...especially the movie making business. During the time I worked there in the 80s, Florida had the distinction of being the #1 tourist destination (thanks Disney) for the U. S. and the #1 state for business development.
We worked as one unit and benefitted the entire state. This is how it is done in many, if not most, places.
Now, we have Visit Florida and Enterprise Florida, two separate entitites...not sure the "powers that be" in either organization talk to one another.
I think economic development is a whole lot different today than it was in the eighties. The massive amount of regulations put in place in the last twenty years has changed the whole dynamic. Now you have to work on getting assets in place before you even begin your marketing plan. Having the two agencies combined back then, imho, is what led us to build such a tourist only economy that has gotten us into the mess we are in, especially in this county. Opting for tourist/service workers and never really going after manufacturing. It appears we are just now starting to see why we should have investing more in the latter with the creation of the commerce center in Mossy Head. Now if they will only get the infrastructure in place.