Enterprise Florida circles the wagons before incentives fight

The vice chair of Enterprise Florida wants to make sure his organization’s affairs are in order as it fights for Gov. Rick Scott‘s proposed $250 million Florida Enterprise Fund to revamp the state’s business incentives.

High on his list is looking at how much the state’s public-private economic development organization pays its top officials.

Alan Becker, also co-founder of South Florida’s Becker & Poliakoff law firm, on Monday held a conference call for Enterprise Florida’s executive committee. Becker also wanted a review of all “costs and expenses” besides employee pay.

“Enterprise Florida is the governor’s priority and there are people who have personal agendas … that may be at odds with what we do, so that there will be some criticism,” Becker said.

Scott is facing a potentially tough fight, especially in the Senate, for his beefed-up incentive fund to woo companies and their jobs to the Sunshine State. Senators have complained that Enterprise Florida asks for more money than they think it needs.

Becker said he wanted to “take a very hard look at our compensation structure … not just salaries, but benefits, (and) where we stack up on bonuses, not just the amounts but the process.”

The idea is to track it “with how we would want it to be in our businesses, as well as accountable to the public for the job that we are doing,” Becker said. He added that he hoped to have some information by the group’s January meeting.

The organization’s CEO, Bill Johnson, was granted a $50,000 bonus this summer, just half a year after joining the agency at a $265,000 yearly salary. Money for staff bonuses is drawn from the organization’s private-sector funds.

Johnson, who also was on the call, added that he wanted to “make the organization more responsive.”

“I fully acknowledge some missteps on my part,” said Johnson, who has been raked over the coals before. “I still learn day by day.”

He said the organization “has not worked as a team as effectively as we could,” adding that his top priorities are ensuring staff cohesion as well as creating jobs in the state.

Also in the works is a rebranding effort, “Moving Florida Forward,” that needs to succeed “or there won’t be any recurring money for the marketing fund,” Johnson said.

The organization caught some flak a couple of years ago when it debuted a new logo that used a tie in place of the “i” in Florida. Critics derided the logo as sexist; the tie was dropped earlier this year.

“With new leadership comes new ideas for marketing Florida as the best state for business,” agency spokesman Stephen Lawson said in September.