Economic Development in Citrus County
As president of the Citrus County Economic Development Council (EDC) and a Citrus County commissioner, I would like
to take this opportunity to discuss economic development in Citrus County and some of the steps the Board of County
Commissioners (BOCC) and the EDC are taking to improve the economic landscape of our community.
It has been six months since the newly revamped EDC began working with the BOCC, and we have been working extremely
hard in this very difficult economic time to have a positive impact on our local economy. It is one thing to talk about
doing so but another to do it. Below are some of the issues that we have been working on.
First, the BOCC has temporarily eliminated the Transportation Impact Fees, with the goal of giving businesses a real
opportunity to start up or expand successfully in these very difficult economic times. Consequently, we have also
substantially reduced the “change of use” impact fees to help businesses move into existing buildings without
facing prohibitively high fees. With regards to the total impact fees being charged to build, we are now competitive with
our surrounding counties, which makes coming to Citrus County more desirable and financially feasible than in the
past.
The Land Development Code (LDC) is the document that guides a majority of our development rules and regulations in
the county, and the BOCC is currently involved in modifying the LDC to make it easier to do business in Citrus
County.
In addition, in a partnership with the EDC, the BOCC has funded a Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) that
will enable our county to receive federal funds for our local roads. This has the potential to be a huge savings for our
local taxpayers, and from an economic development standpoint, having a funded, adequate transportation network is vital to
commerce.
Also, the BOCC has voted to bring in a new Small Business Development Center (SBDC). It has a full-time individual
who is now assisting local small businesses in creating business plans, acquiring grants, and helping them with any other
needs they have. This position is funded through business license fees, and the majority of the funding comes from a federal
government match. The SBDC is up and running and assisting our local businesses. The BOCC has also adopted redevelopment
incentives and removed barriers and excess regulations to encourage infill, or development of available space in existing
commercial structures. The goal here is to make it easier to open a business in an existing building.
The EDC, too, has been hard at work. The newly reformed group continues to recruit new industry and business to our
area with a renewed focus, but it has also expanded its scope to include assisting existing businesses in our area. The EDC
has formed alliances and partnerships with multiple economic organizations, including SCORE, Workforce Connection, the Small
Business Development Center (SBDC), and the College of Central Florida. The EDC has also partnered with the Citrus County
Chamber of Commerce to draw on the many resources of the chamber and the 1,200-plus members in that organization.
We are being proactive, reaching out to businesses with an ability to assist them in writing business plans and
acquiring funding through SCORE and the SBDC, as well as finding qualified employees through Workforce Connection.
In conjunction with the BOCC, the EDC has approved incentive programs to help recruit business to Citrus County. We
have a tax incentive grant that enables us to provide property tax relief to new businesses or existing businesses looking
to expand their operations.
New jobs are crucial, and we have also developed a job creation incentive grant to help businesses fund new
employees. In addition to those incentives, we have developed additional incentive opportunities that cater specifically
to small businesses.
We are going on the offensive and going after the type of business and industry that will compliment our community,
such as technology companies, medical facilities, and businesses that serve the energy plants we have in Citrus County. We
have also started a job creation campaign that targets businesses that we can assist in hiring new employees.
In partnership with the EDC, the BOCC recently joined the Tampa Bay Partnership (TBP), a regional economic
development organization that works to both bring new business and to expand existing business in our region. We are the
eighth county in the group, and we now have a seat at the table in an organization that will greatly improve our resources
and ability to attract the kind of business and industry we want to our area. Joining the TBP is a huge step for our county
and another signal that Citrus County is open for business and serious about economic development.
In addition to the initiatives above, we have started the process of looking at ways to improve how we work with and
foster the medical industry in Citrus County. We are conferring with individuals and businesses to look at the concept of a
medical corridor in the Central Ridge portion of the county, as well as enhancing the current medical centers in our
community.
We are happy to say that all the hard work has already resulted in some successes. The BOCC and the EDC recently
awarded our largest ever job creation grant to a local company called Technology Conservation Group (TCG), to help fund the
creation of 16 new jobs. TCG also recently received an outstanding honor by receiving the Governors Green to Gold award,
for exemplified green leadership through a product or process. TCG is the first Citrus County company to receive such an
award. We are also working with a company called Sibex to assist them in the creation of 20 new jobs through our job
creation grant.
Both companies are shining examples of industry and business we want in Citrus County, and they provide clean,
technologically advanced, higher wage jobs.
In addition, we are in the process of working with multiple companies for our tax incentive grant. We are also
working with a number of corporations on possible expansion plans into our county, including additional technology
companies, energy companies, and multiple retail operations.
The EDC has worked with our alliance partners and assisted in the hiring of numerous individuals at six different
companies in our county. Hundreds of local businesses have attended a number of business summits we hosted to assist them
in marketing their businesses, in hiring new employees, and in finding and acquiring capital in the current difficult
market.
As a result of our membership in the Tampa Bay Partnership, Citrus County is now part of a comprehensive industry
and business study about geographic concentrations of interconnected businesses, suppliers and associated institutions
that will enable us to go after industry that compliments Citrus County. The partnership received a grant of more than
$600,000 to do the project with Stanford University. With the data gathered from this project, we will be able to customize
and concentrate our efforts and form a true strategic vision for the future of economic and business development in our
county.
With all the information listed above, I hope you can see that we are working extremely hard on many fronts to
create an environment that is conducive to a strong, diversified economy. I would like to thank the many businesses
providing goods and services to the citizens of our county and also the residents of Citrus County for supporting those
businesses and our local economy.
When we have a vibrant, diversified economy, it benefits us all, from the retired citizen, to the working family,
to the children in our community. Working together, we will make Citrus County a better place to call home.
Joe Meek is a Citrus County commissioner and president of the Citrus County Economic Development Council.
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