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About the EDC

The primary mission of the Economic Development Council (EDC) has varied only slightly over the 25 years since the EDC’s inception, and those changes have been in response to business climate shifts. Essentially, the EDC works to improve the economic health of the community by attracting and retaining companies, which bring increased capital investments and high-paying jobs to Manatee County, resulting in improved quality of life for the entire region.  We focus our efforts on targeted business sectors, which generate revenues from sources primarily outside the region and that pay salaries at or above the average annual wage in Manatee County. The EDC, which is a separately funded division of the Manatee Chamber of Commerce, derives most of its funding from public partners and private investor firms. 

The EDC recognizes the importance of not only attracting companies from other locations, but retaining existing businesses by assisting with facility expansions, workforce issues, connections to grants, incentives and information resources, international trade and much more. The EDC’s ongoing relationship with its public partners -- the cities of Bradenton and Palmetto, Port Manatee, the Suncoast Workforce Board and Manatee County – is essential to this endeavor.  A prime example of this cooperative partnership is the Rapid Response Team, which works to expedite permitting and provide knowledgeable support for qualified expansion projects. This program has been a tremendous asset to the local business community for over two decades.

Between 1995 and 2008, the EDC successfully assisted 171 businesses, including local companies that were expanding, startup companies, or those relocating to our area.  These combined projects contributed over $600 million in capital investment; occupied approximately 6,500,000 million square feet of office / industrial space; and created almost 400 new jobs. 

 


A few highlights from the past decade:

  • In 2002, the EDC and Rapid Response Team assisted Beall’s Inc. with a 150,000-square-foot expansion of the retailer’s distribution center, resulting in $25 million in capital investment and 200 new jobs. This project followed a long history of expansion assistance for Beall’s, a Manatee County institution since its beginnings in 1915. In January 2007, Beall’s expanded again by purchasing a 149,000-square-foot building to house 300 employees.

  • The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine chose Manatee County in 2003 for a new medical school after working with the EDC and Rapid Response Team.  The project brought to the community a new, 95,000-square-foot building and $15 million in capital investment along with 80 new jobs and an exciting new educational opportunity.  LECOM Bradenton graduated its first class of osteopathic physicians in 2008.

  • In 2005, GE Security selected Manatee County for the relocation of its world headquarters.  GE Security occupies a 20,000-square-foot building, made a $6 million capital investment and created 70 new jobs.
 

The economic slowdown of 2008 and 2009, precipitated locally by shocks to the real estate market, caused the EDC to work even more closely with local governments to develop policies and incentives to stimulate the local economy. Despite the global economic downturn, many Manatee County businesses continued to expand through technological innovation and diverse markets.

The EDC maintains strong relationships with regional partners such as the Tampa Bay Partnership, The Tampa Bay Technology Forum and the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County, to name just a few.  This cooperation leverages marketing dollars to effectively and efficiently promote the entire region, while providing a platform to constructively address mutual challenges.

Another essential role for the EDC is supporting fostering an environment that enriches the workforce available to local employers.  This involves facilitating connections between employers and educational institutions, as well as linkages to training and recruiting resources. Over the past 8 years, the EDC assisted Manatee County companies in obtaining more than $437,000 in grants for employee training. The JobFocus.com website, sponsored by the EDCs in Manatee and Sarasota counties to link local job-seekers with employers, generates an average of 25-30,000 visits per month, with over 137,000 pages viewed.