University forms partnership

FORT MYERS — Florida Gulf Coast University has formed a partnership with two economic development groups in Lee and Collier counties to help recruit companies to the region.

The partnership of FGCU with the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce in Collier County and the Horizon Council in Lee County will explore ways to create a regional economic-development entity to attract businesses to the region and develop ways to fund such efforts.

“We have always been big believers in regionalism and, in Southwest Florida, you cannot have a regional effort without Lee and Collier coming together,” Fort Myers Regional Partnership Executive Director Jim Moore says in a statement. “When site selectors or business executives are looking for a place to do business, political boundaries don't matter. They look at resources on a regional basis.”

The three entities will share information and resources to gather data that will help site selectors. FGCU's Regional Economic Research Institute will have the primary role of collecting and disseminating the information. The institute already publishes monthly reports on the regional economy and surveys business executives in Lee County on a quarterly basis.

Click here to visit the Regional Economic Research Institute website.