The Pasco County Commission soon will be deciding how to allocate funds from Penny for Pasco proceeds to create jobs and spur the county’s economy.
Before they can do that, though, they must adopt a resolution that establishes how funds from the Penny for Pasco Jobs and Economic Trust Fund will be allocated.
The resolution will define eligible applicants, such as Pasco County, the Pasco Economic Development Council and private industry, that can submit unsolicited proposals.
Commissioners had a workshop on Jan. 20 to discuss how to proceed in choosing investments and allocating funds.
The particulars haven’t been ironed out, but the process is expected to include an application process, a ranking system and an economic investment council.
Commissioners will appoint an economic investment council, which likely will have members possessing expertise in a variety of fields, such as manufacturing, commercial/industrial, site selection, real estate and agriculture.
Commission Chairman Ted Schrader told county staff that the council should include a representative from the health care industry.
“Health care obviously is the economic engine in Pasco County,” Schrader said. “I think that’s critically important.”
Pasco is notorious for the tens of thousands of residents who head out of the county for work in the morning and return to the county at night.
It’s been trying to shake the image of being a bedroom community for years and wants to use Penny for Pasco funds to inject energy into the county’s economic development.
With so many people leaving the county each day, it’s obvious that Pasco has an available work force, said Commissioner Mike Moore.
“What jobs are they leaving for?” Moore asked. “That’s where our focus should be initially.”
The primary goal of the trust fund is to attract jobs to Pasco, said Richard Gehring, the county’s planning and development administrator.
Gehring said the county has a number of opportunities.
There’s a railroad corridor in East Pasco, as well as heavy industrial zoning, which the county could use to create new opportunities, he said.
There are also buildings that can be recycled for other uses, he said.
The county needs to develop a method for scoring applications because those who are not selected will want to know why, Gehring said.
The county is expected to generate $45 million to $50 million for economic development through Penny for Pasco.
The goal is for the county to get a 4-to-1 return on investment, said Melanie Kendrick, senior planner for economic development in Pasco.
The county is going after jobs being generated in the Tampa Bay region, with the aim of Pasco becoming a prime player, Gehring said.
John Hagen, president and chief executive officer of the Pasco Economic Development Council, said putting money into acquiring an industrial site would not create jobs directly, but would set the stage for that to happen.
Commissioner Kathryn Starkey would like the county to invest in infrastructure into areas where it could attract numerous end-users.
County Administrator Michele Baker said that allowing private applicants to make unsolicited applications could result in attracting potential development the county had not even imagined.
“Part of the problem is not knowing what ideas are out there that might come forward,” Baker said. “We don’t know, what we don’t know.”
Hagen urged the county to adopt a process that is easy to understand.
“If it is too complicated or too difficult, people will go, ‘I can’t deal with that,’” Hagen said.
Since the board cannot take action at a workshop, the Jan. 20 session was intended to give the staff additional direction before preparing a resolution to bring back for the board’s consideration.
Published January 28, 2015
