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Enterprise Florida could save $6M through a series of cuts, reorganization

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Major changes could be coming to Enterprise Florida. A review of the state’s public-private economic development agency found it could save $6 million through a series of cuts, including slashing 27 positions and reducing operating. Gov. Rick Scott in March ordered a review of the state’s public-private economic development organization. The Naples Republican tapped David Wilkins, the former head of the Department of Children and Families, to conduct the audit and work with the organization to define its new role.…

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Bill Johnson to receive $132K as part of severance package

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The departing head of the state’s private-public economic development agency will receive more than $132,000 as part of his severance package. The Enterprise Florida board of directors’ executive committee approved Bill Johnson’s severance package during its committee meeting Tuesday. Johnson will receive $132,500. His final day is June 24. Alan Becker, the vice chair of the Enterprise Florida Board, said Johnson will not get “the bonus he would have been entitled to” had he stayed through June 30. Gov. Rick…

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Enterprise Florida downgraded in Rick Scott’s new organizational chart

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The next head of Enterprise Florida, the state’s public-private economic development organization, will no longer report directly to Gov. Rick Scott, according to a new Governor’s Office organizational chart. The chart, first unearthed Wednesday by Associated Press Capitol reporter Gary Fineout in his The Fine Print blog, had been quietly posted on the Governor’s Office official website, www.flgov.com. It shows Enterprise Florida has been stricken as a separate heading and converted into a subhead under Deputy Chief of Staff Frank Collins, whose portfolio…

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Enterprise Florida shouldn’t “be overlooked,” vice chair says

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The vice chair of Enterprise Florida (EFI), the state’s public-private economic development agency, sounded like he was playing defense in a conference call with the group’s executive committee Wednesday. “As you read some of the newspapers, they make it sound like we’re out of business,” said Alan Becker, co-founder of South Florida’s Becker & Poliakoff law firm. Though Gov. Rick Scott is the chair, Becker presides over meetings as vice chair.  He was responding to a report on EFI’s recent business development…

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Rick Scott orders probes into Visit Florida, Space Florida

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Gov. Rick Scott has ordered examinations into Visit Florida and Space Florida, two high-profile public-private partnerships with the state government, according to the Orlando Sentinel’s Gray Rohrer. The purpose of the reviews is to determine the level of return on investment Florida taxpayers get in exchange for funding projects through the entities, which don’t have the same broad open-government laws by which purely public agencies must abide. The move comes amid scrutiny of both ventures, instigated most recently by the Sentinel, which has…

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Jobs chief: Florida could lose out on thousands of jobs

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The head of Florida’s economic development agency is warning that the state could lose out on 50,000 jobs due to the Legislature. Bill Johnson, the president and CEO of Enterprise Florida, made that prediction in an email he sent Saturday to business partners statewide. Legislative leaders late Friday announced they were rejecting Gov. Rick Scott‘s proposal to set aside $250 million to lure new businesses to Florida. Johnson said that without the money, Florida would lose out on 277 projects…

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Enterprise Florida’s Bill Johnson unloads on AFP-Florida over anti-incentives ads

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Americans for Prosperity-Florida, a Koch brothers-affiliated group, has at times gotten under the nerves of Florida Republicans with their intense advocacy on issues. It’s taken a tight bead on Gov. Rick Scott‘s $250 million request for Enterprise Florida. Scott claims the agency is underfunded, making it unable to compete with Florida’s strongest competitors for job growth and company relocation. AFP-Florida raised the stakes Monday with a Web ad that calls Floridians to direct their lawmakers to oppose such economic incentive packages. The 30-second spot…

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