Leon County Administrator Vince Long and Tallahassee City Manager Rick Fernandez have created a plan to make the Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency the area’s designated economic development organization, replacing the now-dissolved Economic Development Council of Tallahassee/Leon County.
Under the plan, the IA — which is made up of the city and county commissions — would be the final decider on economic development projects and initiatives.
The “keystone” entity of the plan would be the new Tallahassee/Leon County Office of Economic Vitality, the consolidation of the city and county’s economic development departments into a central economic development hub.
It would be a one-stop shop to coordinate economic development efforts among community partners, implement the strategic plan and oversee what Long said are some of the basic “blocking and tackling” functions of an EDO, such as assisting businesses with applying for incentive programs. The new office would be housed in the joint city-county Department of Planning, Land Management and Community Enhancement (PLACE), which is led by new director Ben Pingree, the former executive director of the EDC.