Business plan: End east-west divide

DELAND -- East-west bickering has cost Volusia County jobs, and the time has come to set aside the differences and present a united front in economic development.

That message was the overriding theme Monday night during a presentation to elected officials and members of the public by members of the Business Development Partnership, a public-private that's an arm of the Daytona Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.

A handful of West Volusia residents at the presentation said they distrust East Volusia leaders and want to be sure their community get its "fair share" of opportunities.

But Jim McGraw of KMK Consulting Co. Of Cincinnati said the current atmosphere is debilitating for countywide economic development.

Bob Williams, vice president of economic development at Daytona State College, said that "while we are bickering, companies are choosing other communities."

The Monday night meeting at Stetson University was called to inform the public of the plan to form a new economic development organization for Volusia County and to answer questions about it.

The roughly 100 people attending seemed to favor the plan, with some revisions, including more emphasis on education.

But the longstanding rift, often called the Palmetto Curtain, arose again.

Robert Desmond, a candidate for Deltona mayor, said he wants that city to go after jobs without regard to other efforts.

McGraw said that approach would do more harm than good.

The proposal outlined Monday calls for a $2 million annual budget for a traditional economic development approach, with 60 percent of that coming from the private sector.

The plan would keep in place the county's Economic Development Department and work with the cities and the chambers of commerce. It would replace the Business Development Partnership.

The second part of the plan is creation of a CEO Cabinet in which each members pays $100,000 a year for three years. That money would be used to fund CEO to CEO meetings to recruit high-paying companies.

Hyatt Brown, founder of Brown & Brown Insurance Co., said he has three people ready to kick in that money -- what he called "ass on the line money" -- and two or three others also may join.

Ted Doran, chairman of the Daytona Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, asked what those in West Volusia are afraid this new group would do to hurt them.

DeLand Mayor Bob Apgar said many residents have a bad taste lingering from instances from the past in which people perceived the East Side received favorable treatment.

Bill McMunn, CEO of Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co., assured Apgar and the other West Volusia residents that everyone will be treated fairly. And he urged the elected officials to try the plan for a year.

Williams encouraged the officials to discuss the matter at their next meeting and join the new group, tentatively called Metro Daytona Economic Development Corp., Team Volusia.

McGraw and Williams said they hope to have all members in place and the organization operating in four to six months.

jim.witters@news-jrnl.com

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