Local Voices
North Port EDC expands its role
August 7, 2013
North Port, Fl: The North Port Economic Development Corporation (NPEDC) announced today an expansion of their role in the economic future of North Port.
According to Robert Rosenberg, NPEDC Chair, “The expanded role will allow us to take a more proactive position in developing a strong economy for the city of North Port.” The expanded role is
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Role of North Port EDC (FACES)
Facilitate projects that are developed by the NPEDC. This includes the continuation of the “Opportunity Acquisition” and “ACTION” programs. These programs focus on developing our community resources and developing economic metabolism for the city. As a result of these programs activity occurs which focuses on specific, defined outcomes.
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Advocate for economic development to the city. This entails an open dialogue with the city regarding obstacles that stand in the way of economic development and solutions that address those obstacles.
Connect economic development prospects with community resources. An example would be to arrange meetings between the prospect and community leaders to discuss the assets of the city. In this area, we are a resource to the City of North Port's Economic Development Division.
Encourage businesses to relocate and/or expand their operations to North Port and to guide them through the relocation process
Seek to create a positive governmental climate that is conducive to a healthy economic environment
According to Peter Bartolotta, President of the NPEDC “The expansion of our role to encourage businesses to relocate and/or expand their operations to North Port, should send a signal that we are serious about creating a strong economic future for our city. We took out the “refer” element, where we referred leads to the city, because once we gave the city the lead, we never heard back. Our members expect us to be proactive and not having the city cooperate with us makes that difficult. We expect to be announcing some aggressive marketing plans later this year.”
Currently the NPEDC does not engage in any marketing outside of the immediate area. Most of their efforts since the inception of the group less than 18 months ago, have been focused on development of their five Vision Initiatives and presentations to various local organizations and groups as well as speaking to area residents. “When we speak about our initiatives, people respond positively to our message and ask us to get the word out,” Bartolotta continued.
In addition to taking a marketing lead, the NPEDC will also seek to create a positive governmental climate that is conducive to a healthy economic environment. According to Bartolotta “Without a government that encourages a positive economic climate, businesses will look elsewhere. We intend to continue to work with government entities at the national, state, county, city and region, when those governments are serious about working with us.”
For more information on the North Port EDC, call (941) 416-9297 or visit www.northportedc.com.
The mission of the NPEDC is to foster and encourage positive and measurable economic development through entrepreneurial thinking, collaboration and innovation.
The North Port Economic Development Corporation(NPEDC) is a non profit 501c6 private economic development organization. To receive the organizations newsletter visit their website www.northportedc.com and click on the Stay Informed link
