North Port EDC seeks investors

NORTH PORT — In an effort to spur economic growth from the private sector, the North Port Economic Development Corp. will begin an Investor Challenge Campaign July 9.

The challenge is the beginning of a four-week campaign during which the private, nonprofit organization will ask individuals and businesses in the area for funding and increased involvement in its activities, according to Suzette Jones, a marketing and economic development consultant working with the EDC.

Launched in October, the North Port EDC seeks to increase economic activity in its area of Sarasota County through the private sector. “[The EDC] is rather unique in that it's the only one in the area not going after public money,” Jones told the Business Review. She says during the North Port EDC's investor campaign, it will meet with individuals and companies who want to get involved either by serving on committees, task forces or contributing funding.

The North Port EDC's priority is to create more business for existing companies in the area rather than trying to use funding primarily to attract outside companies, Jones says.

Since its founding, the North Port EDC, which coins itself as an “entrepreneurial think tank,” has attracted more than 35 investors and has identified projects with the potential to create more than 260 jobs. Click here to read a Business Review story on the new EDC.