Life and politics from the Sunshine State's best city

Enterprise Florida could give employee pay raises

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

Pay raises may be in store for some employees at the state’s business-recruitment agency as bonuses have been withheld this year.

Enterprise Florida President and CEO Pete Antonacci advised members of the agency’s Finance and Compensation Committee Friday of recommended increases as a way to keep employee salaries competitive with the private market.

“Salary adjustments were recommended for retention and marketplace competition purposes,” Enterprise Florida spokesman Nathan Edwards said in an email.

Details of Antonacci’s proposal were not immediately available. The proposal must still go before Enterprise Florida’s Executive Board, which has not set a date for its next meeting. Antonacci, a former general counsel to Gov. Rick Scott, previously recommended against using a bonus program that was approved under his predecessor.

In August, Scott sent a letter to the members of the boards of directors at Enterprise Florida and VISIT FLORIDA outlining his opposition to employee bonuses at both agencies.

“Employees are the key to success in any organization,” Scott, who serves as chairman of Enterprise Florida board, said in the letter. “But, after a long legislative session where the spending at these organizations was greatly debated, I do not believe that employee compensation should include bonuses at this time.”

Instead, Scott advised the agencies to review employee pay “to ensure that everyone is being compensated fairly relying on salaries rather than bonuses.”

Last October, Enterprise Florida handed out $448,662 in performance pay to 57 employees. A similar arrangement had been set up for the current year, before Antonacci joined the agency in early August.

VISIT FLORIDA, which gave out $440,915 in bonuses to 119 employees in May, has announced it has ended the performance reward program.

Republished with permission of the News Service of Florida.

The News Service of Florida provides journalists, lobbyists, government officials and other civic leaders with comprehensive, objective information about the activities of state government year-round.

Latest from Statewide

Go to Top