Chamber of commerce drops the ball on BP gift cards to bring tourists back

http://www.pnj.com/article/20130308/NEWS01/130308007/Pensacola-Chamber-OKs-full-audit-after-gift-card-irregularities-found

Look at the board member's faces in the photo.....it tells the whole story. How can any good be done by these economic development agencies when they are simply self serving. The BP money should have gone into capital projects and land acquisition of waterfront access which allowed the public and tourists to have more access to the blackwater, the beaches, and other natural resources.......instead it is just rotten to the core self serving folks.

Remember the COC guy from Okaloosa that bought a yacht and big house on the water with BP money? He was getting ready to go to prison before he offed himself.

Anyone stealing BP money should do serious prison time.

I had almost forgotten this. Guess what was the first job offer I received right after moving here...when I had little to no knowledge of the area and could barely get around town? Keeping minutes for the Tourist Bureau. Wonder why they wanted someone from out of town? I turned that job down...for one thing, the salary was incredibly low, even for Pensacola. But, as I was told, the job had "prestige"...prestige doesn't pay the bills, Grasshopper. Of course, that was 33 years ago, but "the more things change, the more they stay the same."

PACEDOG#1 wrote:Remember the COC guy from Okaloosa that bought a yacht and big house on the water with BP money? He was getting ready to go to prison before he offed himself.

Anyone stealing BP money should do serious prison time.

Just to clarify, the guy in Okaloosa county did not work for the Chamber of Commerce. He worked for the Tourism Development Council which falls under the control of the county commissioners.

Just to clarify, the guy in Okaloosa county did not work for the Chamber of Commerce. He worked for the Tourism Development Council which falls under the control of the county commissioners.



The problem I have had consistently with local economic development attempts are that they are short sighted, and often enrich those in the local business community rather than the creation of manufacturing jobs. The State and the Federal Government must not be absent in Economic Development, and regional approaches are far more efficient and meaningful to communities. Yes, it may have been a good idea to give $100 to a tourists after has stayed in the area.....there is a high probability he will return........but when folks from Pensacola are walking in and redeeming gift cards.......what has been accomplished in the program.....just more of the same.

bizguy wrote:

PACEDOG#1 wrote:Remember the COC guy from Okaloosa that bought a yacht and big house on the water with BP money? He was getting ready to go to prison before he offed himself.

Anyone stealing BP money should do serious prison time.

Just to clarify, the guy in Okaloosa county did not work for the Chamber of Commerce. He worked for the Tourism Development Council which falls under the control of the county commissioners.

Either way, he STOLE BP money.

PACEDOG#1 wrote:

bizguy wrote:

PACEDOG#1 wrote:Remember the COC guy from Okaloosa that bought a yacht and big house on the water with BP money? He was getting ready to go to prison before he offed himself.

Anyone stealing BP money should do serious prison time.

Just to clarify, the guy in Okaloosa county did not work for the Chamber of Commerce. He worked for the Tourism Development Council which falls under the control of the county commissioners.

Either way, he STOLE BP money.

No doubt. Then he took the cowards way out and left his family to deal with the aftermath.

2seaoat wrote:Just to clarify, the guy in Okaloosa county did not work for the Chamber of Commerce. He worked for the Tourism Development Council which falls under the control of the county commissioners.



The problem I have had consistently with local economic development attempts are that they are short sighted, and often enrich those in the local business community rather than the creation of manufacturing jobs. The State and the Federal Government must not be absent in Economic Development, and regional approaches are far more efficient and meaningful to communities. Yes, it may have been a good idea to give $100 to a tourists after has stayed in the area.....there is a high probability he will return........but when folks from Pensacola are walking in and redeeming gift cards.......what has been accomplished in the program.....just more of the same.

If a comprehensive audit shows that the gift cards were in fact misused that will negatively impact this regions economic development effort for a long time to come. If true, let's hope that this was the doing of a lower level employee within the Pensacola Chamber and not deliberate attempt at fraud and or theft at top.

We are starting to see some real progress towards bringing manufacturing and distribution jobs to the area...mainly Santa Rosa county. We are seeing success because local chambers of commerce, large corporations like Gulf Power, county governments and the state of Florida are working together to identify and provide incentives to companies that pay higher than average wages. As for your comment about enriching those in the local business community rather than creating manufacturing jobs, these are not mutually exclusive. It's a win, win, win if a new manufacturer locates in the area and uses local companies as part of its supply chain and creates high paying jobs for the local community.

We are seeing success because local chambers of commerce, large corporations like Gulf Power, county governments and the state of Florida are working together to identify and provide incentives to companies that pay higher than average wages.

Most large manufacturers do not even look at local incentives.....they are peanuts......it is the state level which brings success......Alabama is a prime example.

2seaoat wrote:We are seeing success because local chambers of commerce, large corporations like Gulf Power, county governments and the state of Florida are working together to identify and provide incentives to companies that pay higher than average wages.

Most large manufacturers do not even look at local incentives.....they are peanuts......it is the state level which brings success......Alabama is a prime example.

Depends on what you mean by large. A manufacturing company bringing 200 jobs to Santa Rosa county is large to this area and they certainly do look at local and state incentives. We are working on a mfg company that falls into this category and they were very interested in local incentives. As an area, we have much work to do before we can attract the major manufacturing companies in the automotive and aerospace industries. For one, we don't have the inventory of suitable construction sites. However, we are making progress in attracting smaller mfg and distribution companies as well as high tech firms.