Officials reserve $100,123 to fund a consultant’s plan for revitalizing sluggish economy

via the Clearwater Beacon by LESTER R. DAILEY

CLEARWATER – In October of last year, Clearwater officials hired the Texas-based consulting firm TIP Strategies Inc. to prepare what they called “a blueprint for positioning Clearwater for sustainable economic growth and prosperity in the future.”

At the Aug. 1 Clearwater City Council meeting, TIP executives Jon Roberts and Alex Cooke spent two and a half hours explaining the details of their plan to the council. And at the Nov. 15 council meeting, the council set aside $100,123 to fund the implementation of that plan.

But the council members let Geri Campos Lopez, the city’s director of economic development and housing, know that for that kind of money they expect good results.

“I expect a lot and we’re going to be watching this very closely,” said Councilman Bill Jonson.

A full-time economic development specialist will be hired, at a cost of $52,746, to conduct research and to generate and analyze data, support business retention and expansion efforts, and implement other aspects of the TIP plan. Lopez said that applicants with business experience are currently being interviewed for the job.

The salary of the assistant director of economic development and housing, which had been entirely paid from a federal grant to the housing division, will now be paid half from housing and half from economic development, at an estimated cost of $47,359.

The downtown manager, who is paid by the Community Redevelopment Agency to promote retail businesses, will now spend half of his or her time implementing a technology district downtown, an arrangement that must be approved by the CRA Board of Directors.

Lopez said that other aspects of the plan can be accomplished with the current staff and funding.

The TIP plan envisions an employment center overlay district, a technology district in the Cleveland Street corridor and a medical overlay district near Morton Plant Hospital.

TIP believes that the goals of its plan can be accomplished through business-friendly initiatives, a formal incentives policy, and a business retention and expansion program, as well as by leveraging tourism marketing for economic development.

The council members liked the idea of using tourism marketing to create other business opportunities.

“We can’t continue to live off the beach,” said Councilman Paul Gibson, who sells beach real estate for a living. “It’s time we develop all of Clearwater.”

“We need to think about diversifying the economy, and this is a good step,” Vice Mayor George Cretekos agreed. “Go for it.”

A first-quarter budget amendment will make $100,123 of general fund money available to fund the first year of the TIP plan. Lopez said that officials will have to decide what to eliminate from next year’s budget to fund the plan for another year, but that didn’t bother Mayor Frank Hibbard.

“I support (the TIP plan) because I think we can get a return on investment that far outweighs the cost,” Hibbard said as he joined his colleagues in casting his vote to approve the plan.

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