Polk votes down $2.5 million request for biz incubators. Will cities pitch in more?

The man who's leading the charge to scatter five new business incubators across Polk County wasted no time finding another solution.

Even before the Polk County Commission on Tuesday unanimously rejected his $2.5 million budget request to help fund the project — a decision that "disappointed" some city leaders — Marshall Goodman was already busy making phone calls, scheduling meetings.

He intends to ask the cities that have already invested into his $40 million plan — Lake Wales, Haines City, Auburndale — to pitch in more money. 

"When one door closes, another one opens," Goodman told The Ledger a day following the county vote. "It's a 'let’s go back to the drawing board' type of reaction. No one has come back and said forget about it. There’s nobody saying that, let’s sit down and get the pens and pencils out and find a solution."

'We've already given a lot.' 

Absent a county budgetary commitment, some city officials say they're willing to dedicate more tax dollars if it means getting this initiative across the finish line. 

Others aren't sure how much more they can contribute  since their budgets are considerably tighter than the county's and cities are limited into how much CRA money - intended to address blight - can go toward this one project. 

Lake Wales City Commissioner Robin Gibson said that the city has already committed $900,000 over three years in CRA money to a future business incubator in its historic downtown area. The city has also committed another $300,000 to secure the land where the three-story, 20,000 square-foot space would go. 

"We are already in this for more than $1 million," Gibson said "The way this was pitched to us is that it would be an inspiration for other (government bodies) to participate. We bought in. We will always listen to any proposals, but we’ve got to be very careful. We've already given a lot."

Catch up on issue with initial story:Who will pay for a $40 million plan to bring business incubators to four Polk cities?

Read the latest:Polk County Commission to vote Tuesday on $2.5 million business incubator request

Haines City and Auburndale have also committed $300,000 a year for three years to the incubator proposal using CRA funds. 

Haines City's incubator concept would be focused on food and culinary arts. Commissioner Jayne Hall said she supports the project, believing it could transform a downtown locale with a lot of empty storefronts into a gathering space dotted with restaurants and bars.  

Asked about the county commission's decision to not allocate an additional $2.5 million, Hall said, "I'm a little disappointed."

"But that's OK," she added. "We just have to take a different road."

Will Haines City pay more?

"I think it’s worth pursuing," Hall said. "It's something we definitely need to look at. The whole thing is a wonderful program and we are in a great area for it. I say go ahead and let’s look at it."

County Commission voices support for projects, cites other budgetary needs

Goodman, CEO of the Lake Wales based nonprofit Central Florida Incubator, LLC, has requested $4 million from the state and plans to apply for federal grant funding. While arranging private investments, he's also awaiting a funding commitment from the city of Winter Haven for an incubator there. 

Business incubators are designed to help entrepreneurs with their business start-ups and 43 of them can be found in Orange, Osceola and Hillsborough Counties. Polk has one - the privately-funded Catapult in downtown Lakeland.

Lakeland’s incubator, launched in 2014, has resulted in more than 150 start-up businesses, according to its website. 

Goodman's proposal is to bring incubators to Lake Wales, Haines City, Auburndale and Winter Haven that would combine co-working space, a large culinary kitchen, classrooms, conference rooms, and residential studios on the second floor.

Lakeland Linder International Airport would also get an incubator focused on aviation and aerospace. 

The county commission has dispensed $600,000 in federal COVID money for the airport arm of the incubator. Yet on Tuesday, they denied a funding request from Goodman that would help the cities' operations.

Their refusal was based on the fact that the cities are using CRA money to pay for their share of the funding — and the county already pays into that revenue stream each year. 

In the most recent year, the county contributed $22 million toward 22 CRAs.

Commissioner George Lindsey said that a budget allocation would be like the county paying for this project twice at a time when there are too many other funding priorities within the county's $2.1 billion budget. 

"I wish the Central Florida Incubator folks well. It's a very viable project, a very important project," he said. "However, I see our long list of capital needs ahead of us."

He noted that there are new fire stations under construction, with more than a dozen others in the pipeline. He said the county jail is overcrowded, and there's a need to add capacity. 

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Commissioner Neil Combee agreed, saying that the CRA program, not the county's budget, is the best option for funding the incubator

"Incubators should be synonymous with CRAs," Combee said. "The whole idea behind a CRA is to take downtown areas and to try and revitalize those. And that's exactly what you are doing with incubators."

In voting no, commissioners expressed support for the incubator endeavor. 

"I liked this project in the beginning, I like it now," said Commissioner Billl Braswell. "I think it's a good project."

If cities want to push more CRA money toward this project, that's not a simple option.

 "To pull funds from an existing budget or workplan is not that simple," said Jane Waters, Haines City's CRA manager. "The funds are allocated for approved projects, that have direct community impact, and cannot be derailed."

Auburndale City Commissioner Jack Myers said he was hopeful the county would give more from its budget. While he understands that some of the CRA money comes from the county, he notes that some of the county's budget comes from city residents.

"This is about economic development," he said. "I thought it was a good idea that everyone share in the cost."

A South Carolina native, Dustin covers Polk County government and county-wide issues.  He can be reached at dwyatt@gannett.com or on Twitter @LLDustin_Wyatt.