August/September Business View Magazine

242 243 PREFERRED PARTNER n Office of Economic Vitality www.oevforbusiness.org Into the future, the new sales tax extension for infrastructure has a good balance in terms of grey and green projects which will begin in 2020. Lasting until 2040, it will follow the same struc- ture of investment in infrastructure that leads to growth. There are already $750 million allocated to projects set to create a $1.2 billion economic impact over that period of time. “This includes a significant emphasis on im- provement of our airport,” explains Long, “as well as a $20 million investment in our conference center.We have around 250 state associations here in the state capital and not many of them hold their annual conferences here, mainly be- cause they do not have a place with enough space to hold them. Our analysis indicates that there are an awful lot of those who would have their annual, regular, and quarterly meetings here instead of getting on a plane or driving to Or- lando.We think that is an awful lot of untapped economic capacity that we have there.We also want to continue to support our tourism econo- my.We are not a typical tourist destination in the state of Florida, but it has about a $900 million annual impact in our community. It supports about 14,000 jobs and we have about 2.5 million visitors annually - not insignificant, but we have really just scratched the surface in that area, as well.” “I think a big story here is the larger transfor- mation our community has undertaken beyond the physical transformation. We have always been a beautiful community,” Long concludes, “and people come here and they marvel at our canopied roads, our oak trees, and our history.We are the historic capital and a college town but we are much more than that.We used to suffer from a bit of crisis of complaisance, that all changed LEON COUNTY, FLORIDA when the economy crashed. “While we focused on attracting private capi- tal during the economic downturn, we realized, more than ever, that our greatest asset is our human capital. Our investments in infrastructure, creating places for people and businesses to thrive, and a culture of innovation and partner- ship, have made Leon County a place of choice to live, work, and play.” If you read our County Strategic Plan, it says ‘do well-designed public infrastructure that attracts business and private investment.’ It doesn’t say, ‘fix potholes;’ it doesn’t say ‘reduce traffic,’ or some of the things that you would more commonly associate with a county’s strategic plan. Of course, we have to do those things, but we can do better. And I think that has made all the difference. VINCE LONG COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR YOUR FRONT DOOR FOR BUSINESS SOLUTIONS Tallahassee-Leon County is maximizing our world-class resources in the applied sciences, innovation, and two research universities to create the optimal infrastructure that fosters idea generation , business formation , and sustainable growth .