Keep on keeping on

Mark Huey, the executive in charge of the Sarasota organization responsible for recruiting and retaining businesses, has often told people “someday we are going to get our Hertz.”

The president and CEO of the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County, Huey is referring to the car rental giant, which moved its corporate headquarters from New Jersey to Lee County in 2013. The then Fortune 300 company's relocation, to Estero, was considered a major economic development coup for the region and the state — and it came with 700 promised jobs. The move included more than $15 million in state and Lee County incentives, in addition to a commitment from Hertz to invest nearly $70 million in a new facility.

Huey and other economic development organization officials in the region lament that now, with Enterprise Florida's budget slashed, landing a Hertz goes from a long shot to an impossible dream. Enterprise Florida, the agency that woos businesses to the state, is primed to get no more than $16 million in the 2017-2018 state budget, a significant drop from past years. And just as important as the decrease in funds, adds Huey, is site location officials nationwide know Florida is pretty much out of the equation now for big-time corporate relocations.