Can new jobs czar bring business to Florida?

Very encouraging news in a market that has been hurting for a while now - Bob

BY MICHAEL C. BENDER

HERALD/TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU

TALLAHASSEE -- Gray Swoope pulls his hands from his pockets long enough to hold open each door he crosses in the state Capitol for anyone who might want to pass through first.

As Gov. Rick Scott’s jobs czar, Swoope (rhymes with “hope”) must open the door to more business in Florida, finding a better calculus than his predecessors to lure new companies across the state line while keeping existing employers from escaping.

There have been early signs of success. The state’s 10.3 percent jobless rate is its lowest since June 2009. In September, Time Warner announced plans to create 500 jobs in Hillsborough County. The company got state and local tax incentives worth $3 million.

CHALLENGES AHEAD

But there have been hints of trouble, too. CCS Medical, one of Tampa Bay’s biggest private employers, moved its headquarters and 230 high-paying jobs to Dallas. Foreclosures in Florida hit an 11-month high in October, statewide construction expenditures have dropped three consecutive quarters, and the number of children living in poverty in Florida — nearly one in four — is growing faster than the national average.

If those stats are disturbing, then perhaps Swoope, an understated Southerner with a syrupy drawl, is the right man for the job.

Before flying on a T-2 Buckeye Navy/Marine trainer as part of a site search last year, the pilot asked Swoope how much “upside down time” he wanted.

“However much we can do, I guess,” he grinned.

Scott’s mission to put Florida back to work started, paradoxically, with a $300,000 job for a Mississippian.

But almost by definition, Scott needed to look outside Florida for someone to rebuild the Sunshine State’s splintered approach to economic development.

Scott has made job creation his top goal and he’s turned up the pressure on Swoope and others by saying publicly he wants Audi to open an auto plant in Florida and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to relocate to the state.

Scott said Swoope “will be a major reason” if Florida succeeds. Scott, a former businessman and Midwest native, had high praise for Swoope, describing him as “nice” and “relentless.”

Swoope, 50, started March 21 as president and CEO of Enterprise Florida, the state’s public-private economic development arm. He also has the ceremonial title of commerce secretary in Scott’s administration.

Tue Dec 06 2011 11:34:52 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time)

Read more:  http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/05/2530943/can-rick-scotts-jobs-czar-bring.html

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