The Mayor & The Manager
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The Mayor & The Manager
The EDC (feat. Skip Alford) - #009
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The Economic Development Council (EDC) is responsible for attracting businesses to Lake Wales in an effort to help Lake Wales citizens get higher paying jobs closer to home. This allows for Lake Wales to reap the benefits of the growth we're seeing in Polk County by keeping more revenue in Lake Wales rather than in our neighboring cities.
Skip Alford joins us to talk about how Lake Wales is trying to capitalize on the growth we've been seeing in the last five years and how we can help attract more visitors to Lake Wales to support our small businesses.
Hey, Lake Wales, welcome to uh episode number nine of the Mayor and the Manager. This is a podcast that has been created by Providence Voice, which is a ministry of High Point Church. And we created this for you, the citizens of Lake Wales, as a way for you to get to know the people that you elect and pay to lead the city. We're happy to do it, and we've been enjoying it so much. And you are on episode number nine. And today we have a special guest here with us. Our city manager is not with us again, so we found somebody better looking than him, and that is Skip Alford. Skip Alford is the current president of the Chamber of Commerce here in Lake Wales, as well as the director of the EDC in Lake Wales. Skip, thanks for being with us today.
SPEAKER_00Believe me, it's my pleasure, sir.
SPEAKER_01Well, I appreciate that. Will you take a minute, Skip, and just introduce yourself to our listeners and kind of tell your story along with uh how you came to Lake Wales?
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Well, originally I'm from Clinton, Mississippi. Oh my. That's where I grew up and was ready.
SPEAKER_01Is that smaller than Lake Wales?
SPEAKER_00Uh it is smaller. At least it was when I was there. Okay. But it uh, you know, it was it was a great place to grow up. Okay. It was uh it was fun, and I had a lot of great friends. The the people were were wonderful to grow up with, but I was a little rambunctious. I wasn't ready to settle down and and go to college. So uh back then the the recruiters, the military recruiters would start contacting us early, you know, in our in our later years in high school. So I'd already decided that I was gonna go into the U.S. Air Force after graduating. That was called delayed enlistment. So about you know, over half of my senior year, I was actually already enlisted in the Air Force, like a bunch of the guys I went to school with. So for the next 20 years of my life, from the time I was 18 to 38, I was in the United States military. And uh that was a good stretch for me, though. Okay. It gave me a great sense of service. And uh if anybody out there is a veteran or you know, currently in the military, you know what I'm talking about. You're kind of taught in your discipline that service above self is everything. And it um after I retired from the Air Force, uh I we uh rate my wife and I raised our family in Panama City Beach, Florida, because I retired at Tyndall Air Force Base up in the Panhandle. So I've been a resident of Florida since the 80s. I'm almost a native, but almost.
SPEAKER_01It takes a while.
SPEAKER_00Right. We had three sons, and of the three sons, which are all veterans themselves, uh, one of them was born in uh the Panhandle in Panama City. So he's the only member of our family that's actually a native major Florida anchor baby. Yes, he's he always reminds us that he's uh the only real Floridian in the family. Anyway, after that, after that though, after the Air Force, I had uh gotten into a couple of jobs, and some were good fits, and you know, another one wasn't. And you know, it just it was that kind of time after you retire where you're looking to kind of find what you want to do in life. And I'd gotten my degrees and things done while I was in the military and uh got a master's in human resource management. So uh I was felt like I was well prepared. Ironically, though, I found my path was different. You know, the uh I kept I kept thinking that there was something bigger and better out there. So my wife one day said, uh, listen, I was kind of in between jobs and and trying to find what to do with my life, and she goes, What would you think of this? And she held up this this newspaper article that said concierge needed. And I didn't wasn't sure what a concierge was at that point, but then after some uh discussion and some ex explanation from my wife, it sounded like something that would be a lot of fun. And uh it didn't look like it would be all all that overwhelming as far as pay, but at this point, I would just wanted to start my life uh fresh and do something that I would really enjoy. So I went down and applied for it and got hired at the Holiday and Sunspree Resort in Panama City Beach and uh eventually went up through the ranks of the hotel industry and uh became a sales manager and did group sales and also did a stint with Marriott and uh in the same thing, corporate uh group sales and association sales. So it was a it was fun because all of the hospitality industry lines up really well with military experience because it's all about service. Okay, it's all about doing what's needed to make sure somebody else is having an amazing time.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00So it was a good fit for me. And uh in the meantime, uh the Chamber of Commerce up there uh became an option for me to join the team of the Chamber of Commerce, and this was back in the early 2000s. And come to find out, obviously, the Chamber of Commerce, along with the you know, the hospitality industry and along with the military, is all about service. Okay, and uh that I think that's why I enjoy it so much. Is uh one for one thing, there's never a day that's the same in the Chamber of Commerce world. Yeah, it's like going to Disney World and having 365 different roller coasters. Yeah, you know, there's not a one the same, and they all have their own uh curves and and banks and scary days, and you know what I mean? That it's like every ride is different. That's like a every day in the Chamber of Commerce is always something interesting and fun. But you know, that's what makes it so interesting for Lake Wales. If uh if you're if you're thinking about a roller coaster, it's the kind of roller coaster that's exciting that you can't you want to ride again every day uh because there's so much potential. And uh if if the roller coaster was just straight and flat, like a railroad track, it wouldn't be any fun. It wouldn't bring that excitement, that energy. So I look at every day here in Lake Wales like that. It's every day is a new, fresh, fun ride to see, you know, what's gonna happen at the by the end of the day. And of course, my days, uh, you know, they kind of just go right into the next day. Yeah, you know, uh, I still have that sense of I'm kind of on duty 24-7, but uh the Chamber of Commerce demands a lot of you, but it all it but it also rewards you personally, spiritually, in so many ways because it's all about people, relationships, and a belief in the the the positive aspects of our community and what it can become. And getting behind that is just like I said, it's so much fun every day.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So when did you come to Lake Wales?
SPEAKER_00I have but let's see, I'm going on about five years now. Okay. Started around April, September, uh, five years ago. So I've been here going on five years.
SPEAKER_01And it's gonna say we met just shortly after I won my first election this year.
SPEAKER_00You sure did, and and had a chance to meet and share vision. And I'm like, well, I'm gonna enjoy him, you know, him and hit in leadership because I like the way you thought and I enjoyed the vision, and uh I've I've always felt like we've had a good relationship and believe in Lake Wales and where it's going.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so really I know this can't be done quickly, but do the best you can. What does, because you serve a hybrid role here in Lake Wales, you're you're not only the director of the uh chamber of commerce, but you're the director of the Economic Development Council. So why don't you try and summarize for a listener what do those two entities do for the city of Lake Wales?
SPEAKER_00All right. Well, first of all, the Chamber of Commerce in a basic nutshell is about local business strength and relationship.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00Because we all know that business, especially small business, drives the health and wealth and stamina of any community. So the Chamber of Commerce is in is in motion, is is here. Its purpose is to drive community stability, economic stability through local business relationships and support. Uh that support could be in local workforce development, uh getting businesses, venues to where they can meet, discuss each other's uh professions. In other words, we want a strong business community because the stronger the business community is, the more inner revenue we have flowing, the more jobs we can create right here in Lake Wales, and we can help develop our businesses, you know, here locally. So the chamber's purpose is exactly that to develop strong local business relationships and support those businesses through advocacy and any other means necessary, exposure. Now, of course, now with technology, we can give our chamber partners. I like we used to call them members, but I would think that the more appropriate term is chamber partners because you know you're a member of a gym. You're a member, but when when it comes to a business family, an organization that's about business, you're a partner in that organization. So I look at my investors as partners because they each are benefiting from each other's investment. That's the whole beauty of a chamber of commerce is that the dues uh partners pay and the you know and the events we have that generate the revenue, I get to re-in-invest that revenue into resources and venues to help local businesses prosper and get stronger.
SPEAKER_01So now talk to me about the EDC. You had a more of a chamber background when you came, and now you're running the EDC here in Lake Wales.
SPEAKER_00The best way I can describe the difference between the Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Council is this the Chamber of Commerce is almost like a speedboat.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00Okay, if you can just imagine a speed boat with your friends, you're you're yanking and banking, you're pulling skiers behind you, and at the end of the day, you know, you go and you eat a good dinner and you relax, and then you get up and you do it again, or you go do something else. But anyway, the Chamber of Commerce is kind of like a speedboat. You have an annual budget, you have scheduled events, you have businesses joining, you have a lot of fast energy on a yearly basis, and then you measure how well you've you know done by at the end of that year. And economic development is is more like a barge.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00If you could just imagine a barge on the Mississippi River, I grew up not far from the Mississippi, and I had you know relatives that lived uh in Vicksburg and you know, so I was very familiar with the Mississippi River, and I would watch barges and I was thinking, God, they move slow. Yeah. And to start, you know, to make a turn later down the river, let's say that they could actually see, well, they had to start the turn now in order to make that turn later. Right. So that's economic development. You have to think long term. So the difference is really more of a function. Economic development is a long-term approach, steady, methodical approach to bringing industry, manufacturing, commercial businesses. In other words, the the manufacturing in the industry a town needs to have jobs available for its workforce and for its young people that we're putting through schools. And that that manufacturing industry, commercial businesses is what will bring us an ability to raise our revenues, to raise our household incomes, disposable income, which is going to be amazing because with James Slayton, our city manager, you know, getting the grants and getting the momentum behind downtown uh rejuvenation and and and advancement and redevelopment, you know, when we if we work all of this in tandem, if we have a beautiful downtown, because you know as well as I do, if if your heart is strong and vibrant, well, that your the whole rest of your body is strong. Right. And so if we have a beautiful downtown, well, then I'm obligated to, well, let's bring some industry and manufacturing in to bring our workforce together and help uh you know all of our local businesses prosper. Sure. You know, if you open a restaurant downtown or, you know, any other entity, a coffee shop, well, the more people we have with the income that we'll come down and shop and enjoy what we're developing, what we're doing, well, the whole town's gonna rise. Sure.
SPEAKER_01So, you know, and I and any summary statement's always gonna have some inexactness to it. But just so to help people understand, you gave us a great analogy. The Chamber of Commerce is a speed boat, the EDC is a barge. Or we might even say the Chamber of Commerce focuses a lot more on small business, local business. Um, you describe that you um getting these folks to uh interact with one another, you help them with marketing, you you get resources, workforce development, that sort of thing. Uh whereas EDC is we're trying to recruit the big guys to come in, the big uh the big manufacturers, and that sort of thing. And so both of those things vital, uh, the interplay between them is vital. It's almost like a chicken and an egg argument, isn't it? Which comes first when you talk about. So for instance, and and we've talked, uh, the city manager and I have discussed this on earlier episodes, the investments that have been made by the city of Lake Wales in our downtown, we call it the Lake Wales Renaissance. Tell me how important that sort of thing is when it comes both to both to small business and to large business recruitment.
SPEAKER_00Well, quality of life. Okay, when I was just talking about economic development. If that if that barge is on that river and knows that it has to start the turn now, because if it doesn't start now, it could run aground. It could it could damage, it could have damage, it might have to stop. In other words, all of those things are delays. Those are things that prevent the town from prospering. So, yes, that's exactly right. Both are designed for economic well-being, but the chamber of commerce is more concerned about local business, bringing local businesses together, whereas economic development is obviously bringing the bigger industries and manufacturing in to be able to supply our local, you know, young people jobs, a future.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00And uh right now, Lake Wales is is not really behind the curve, I would say, but with the decline of citrus and some other natural catastrophes, we're pretty much having to rethink, which under Lake Wales Envision and some of the other other plans that we have in motion, we're we need to have another industry or manufacturing aspect of our community with the loss of citrus and the decline of citrus to replace what used to probably be over$20 million of annual revenue flowing through the town. Yeah, I actually heard the number 30 maybe not long ago. That that could be. I tend to be a little conservative on the numbers myself. Right. But both are critical to the future. And I don't know if you would agree with this, but the Chamber of Commerce is now more important to local business than ever before because the lack of communication with the loss of things like newspapers. Right. And the, you know, with social media happening and so many people being part of it and so many not, there's there's an aspect of the community, every community that is uh often a little uninformed about the current situation of their economy. And what used to just be gatherings where people came and talked, or you could pick up a newspaper and see what was happening. A lot of that's been altered over the last several years. So the mission of the Chamber of Commerce is a constant, steady foundation where businesses can come together, trust good information, get the right data to help their business grow. In other words, get the most accurate, uh, positive help that they need to have a good, strong business here in Lake Wales.
SPEAKER_01Well, and the success of both of them are dependent on one another. So, for instance, you mentioned the investment in our downtown, which makes Lake Wales more attractive to larger industry. Um, but also having those larger industries creates the disposable income that the small businesses are reliant on around here.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely, it's paramount. And that's the relationship that we're, you know, we're the exact relationship we're talking about. They work in tandem. And that's that's the beauty of if you go to a city that has a strong vibrant economy, most of the time you'll see a strong local business community as well as good manufacturing industry and commercial businesses that really give the town that economic ecosystem that is so important for all around 100% strength. It'd be like if you're making an apple pie and you neglect to put the apples in, the pie. You can't really call it an apple pie, or if you forget to put some sugar or crust, you can't just have a gob of apple goo. See, it takes an entire economic ecosystem to have the most perfect economic pie. And that's why the tandem relationship between economic development and local economic strength that the chamber promotes, that's so important to the future of the town. And like I said before, if your heart's strong, well, if your heart is strong, it pumps better blood. It pumps more blood, it's stronger, it keeps your whole body, which is our whole town. So a strong downtown is one of the most important aspects of the quality of life that manufacturers, industry, even regular folks moving into our area, they want a high quality of life. And that includes uh being in a safe community where there's health care available, where people are spending money freely to support local business. And it's a it's safe. It has, in other words, it has the whole pie. Once again, it has all the ingredients of a town where everybody would want to live and help, you know, build and be prosperous.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and in Lake Wales, we all know that historically the feeder, the main feeder of that has been the citrus industry. It's been the backbone of Central Florida for generations. And now in the last generation, unfortunately, terrible things have happened to it. It's declined. Um, so what we had here in Lake Wales and have had for a long time is a pretty strong small business community, but one that was very reliant on the feeder of that big, big uh citrus industry. And now uh we, like a lot of Central Florida communities, are groping for who will be the next big industry that will serve as kind of the anchor and feeder for us around here. Um so talk about that. Um, you know, we we seem to have a fairly active, still active and vibrant chamber of commerce. Let's talk more about the um the EDC side of things. Tell me what the the biggest um challenges are as a city like Lake Wales is making that transition.
SPEAKER_00Well, for years, for years and years, once again, we've already discussed the fact that citrus, you know, really helped this town be be strong. It helped uh helped everything move along economically as things were being able to be produced. Right. And one of the important things about Lake Wales is when it came to citrus, you know, the area was producing. Now with the decline of that, we're not producing as much as we should because production of a product is what's going to generate wealth and income. Right. So this is kind of a two-front battle that I fight. Uh, one of those is to lure the major manufacturers industry that are clean, that would promote, you know, the wellness quality of life for Lake Wales, as well as a strong local business community. They actually have to work in tandem, but the Economic Development Council at this point is focusing on getting our land ready. Okay, let's talk about that. Okay, but and you know, because most of our land was covered with with citrus. Right. And a lot of folks don't realize this, but you know, this ridge that we live on is mostly sand. Right. There was enough organic material on this sand dune to for something to grow for a while and be resilient. And they found out the Spanish missionaries brought seeds over and the soldiers brought seeds, you know, oranges over here. They're not oranges aren't native to Florida, they're from Spain. So they found out these would grow really good here. But you know, I don't know if Spain has hurricanes. I don't know if Spain has freezes in the regions they grow their oranges, but we do here. So the soil was perfect for them. The sandy soil, the roots of the oranges, from what I understand, love the sunshine and they love the fact that the sandy soil was perfect for the amount of water they needed. So as a result of that, oranges were just amazing in Florida. But then the freezes of the late 80s hit, which decimated the majority of the groves. And then with a parasite, I think it's from China, from what I've heard, is called greening. And that infected the remainder of the trees or the majority of them and has put a horrendous, terrible dent into the industry as well. So uh they went from what I was told yesterday, you know, uh but basically packing 220 to 240 million boxes of oranges annually to down to eight. Wow. So it's this is an enormous, enormous, terrible thing that's happened to the industry. Well, with that, you have to have something to replace it. And the best way to do that is to take the land that you have available and section some of it off, in other words, annex it and get it zoned properly, get the infrastructure it needs ready to bring the clean industry and manufacturing to Lake Wales to replace what we've lost as far as a revenue generator that would produce. Uh, you know, Florida in general is an overwhelmingly consumer state. Yeah. And but you have to produce something. You have to produce things to in order to get to get that wealth and that revenue generator for your community. So the Economic Development Council now is focusing more on luring the manufacturing industry to Lake Wales because mainly of its available land, it's inexpensive land, it's right in the middle of the peninsula of Florida, perfect, amazing location at the crossroads of two major highways. It's wonderful climate. The ground is high. We're on the high ground of Florida, so we have unbelievable advantages here. But industry, manufacturing, and commercial entities across America are looking for land and structure. They're looking for who's ready because they translate who's ready into dollars. The more ready you are, the more apt they are to find your location attractive for what they're wanting to produce and set up. So the most important thing the Economic Development Council is doing right now is helping to ensure that uh local officials understand that, that they understand the economics of the area, our situation. I provide data to support that. We don't do any of this. Economic development isn't done on emotion and whim. It's done on here's what's needed facts, data, what's going to be best for our future. And a lot of people, I tell you need to think generationally, because like we were talking about the chambers of year to year that may impact for year to years, but economic development, I've been working on projects and trying to lure things here for years.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_00So economic development is it'd be like it's if you take a piece of coal and you hit it with a hammer, it shatters. Can't do economic development like that. It takes slow, steady pressure on that piece of coal, and it eventually turns into a diamond, a gem. And so it's constant pressure. It's it's like I said, it's annexation, it's zoning, it's uh basically making the right deals for the future of the city that uh everybody you know will agree to. And will some people agree to everything? I think we already know that no, we we're always gonna have some folks that have different opinions, different visions, different things like that. But economic development tends to be very methodical, data-based, fact-based, and uh on what is gonna be best for Lake Wales to produce in the future to give our future workforce a chance to have a life. Sure.
SPEAKER_01So um, yes, one of the things I guess that you would want people to be aware of is that you mentioned it that uh the citrus industry began to die off. We had a lot of large tracts of cheap land. And the first um the first land rush that we've experienced in lake in um Florida, all of Central Florida was for housing development. And we've seen an you know, especially since 2020, just a huge uptick in development, and that's you know, that's created a lot of traffic and those sort of things. Um but what we have not seen as much of, we're beginning to see here in Polk County is the economic parts of it. Again, because it seems to be a lot easier to get the zoning, a lot quicker market turnaround for the housing, a lot bigger demand. But eventually you have to, the question comes up, well, where are these people working? And for unfortunately, if local communities like Lake Wales do not develop a strong economic base at close to home jobs, close to home employment, then we one of the lines I use often is good city leadership is about helping your people reap the benefits of growth while minimizing the impacts. If you don't have strong local employment, then you get all of the impacts of growth and none of the benefits.
SPEAKER_00Exactly right.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so for instance, all the housing is coming here, all the traffic is here, but they're driving through Lake Wales to Winter Haven, to Lakeland, to Orlando for the work that they have to do. So what we're trying to do, working hard to do, is take some of that land that's still here. Lake Wales still has a great inventory of land and make sure it gets used for stuff for the kind of um employment where people can live and work here, and we have a lot less of that drive-through traffic. Plus, we're reaping the tax benefits.
SPEAKER_00That's exactly right. Folks, uh, a lot of folks don't realize that if we were to become what we call a bedroom community, yeah, well, you get a little abalorum tax that helps the city coffers a little bit. But once again, we're thinking about revenue flowing throughout our community. And that that's not just meant to be able to tax. We want families to do exactly that. Live, work, play here. In other words, eat here, shop here, get their groceries there. Their daily activities need to be done in Lake Wales. See, when somebody leaves Lake Wales in the morning and drives to another town, and right now, 50% of all the people that work, that are workable age in Polk County, 50% of those people leave the county every day. To go to work. To go to work. So that means that those people are spending money somewhere else during that eight to ten hours a day.
SPEAKER_01Well, not only that, but they're driving up highway 27. I mean, you and I both know that most of what uh the great number of um complaints that we hear about this growth is how congested it's made the highways. Well, think about it. If if there's even a hundred less cars making that commute every day.
SPEAKER_00Go ahead, I interrupted you, but no, that's that's a good, that's a great point.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And sometimes folks here are saying, wow, it seems like a lot of traffic. You have to consider the growth that's happened around Lake Wales as well. In other words, people say traffic on 60's really gotten bad, or Thompson Nursery Road is bad, or 27 is bad. But when you go look at the amount of housing that Winterhaven, our next door neighbor, and people think that Winterhaven's not miles away. Right. Winterhaven's right next door to us. In fact, half of Lake Ashton is Winterhaven. So they're right against us, and they have built vast, vast neighborhoods of housing. So a lot of the traffic Lake Wales are experiencing is because of the growth around us as well as modest growth within our town. And I let me re-emphasize that our growth in Lake Wales is very modest. Yes. And people will see a neighborhood that they pass every day being built, and it gets, they get it in their in their mind that, oh my gosh, look at all these neighborhoods. But I think uh last time I checked with James Slayton, there's only been, I think, maybe 2,500 housing permits pulled in Lake Wales in the last five years. Five years. So it's once again, our growth is modest, and that's gonna happen. Once again, the if we bring citizens here, uh what we're trying to do is get them to work here.
SPEAKER_01So let's just, and I'm just to try and help, because you know, I wasn't involved deeply in politics or in local politics up until just a few years ago myself. And most a lot of people, it's you know, I understand the aggravation, but some of it just comes from a lack of understanding. So for instance, um there's if there's a person who lives in Lake Wales because the cost of living is good, or because they were born here, or because they just like Lake Wales, but they have a they're making a six-figure income being the plant manager for um uh advanced drainage systems in Sebring. And and all of a sudden advanced drainage systems relocates to Lake Wales, Florida. Now that person, rather than driving 40 minutes to Sebring, is driving 10 minutes to their job here in Lake Wales. So their quality of life automatically goes up. They're saving tons of money, spending more time at home. But then on top of that, there's one less car on the road, there's a one one less person gumming up your commute to work. That's that's I think what people sometimes the personal level that they don't understand. And and that kind of thing happens in a town like Lake Wales when the Economic Development Council has the forethought along with city leadership to zone land and get it ready so that those kind of employers can come to our community.
SPEAKER_00Exactly right. And I want folks to understand that if you have, let's just say an example. Just for example, a company comes in and has a hundred employees, and those hundred employees get paid good salaries. Let's just say sixty thousand dollars, you know, right? You know, something around that. Well, you have to look at the compounded aspect of the revenue spending that takes place within the community. In other words, when though those salaries are now spent, they're invested, they're they're reinvested in our community, that's what gets people's incomes to rise. That's what that blesses and helps the whole local community prosper. And when I was talking about if let's say Seabring, if they have to drive to another town for their job, well then they where do they get their lunch? Yes. Where do they get their cleaning? Oh, while they're down there, let's shop.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, not we'll just stop at that grocery store on the way home. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00Rather than or let's get gas here. Or see, that's what I mean. Their spending is happening somewhere else. That I mean, look at how many how many people do you think go to eat dinner in Winterhaven on their anniversary? Yeah. Or, you know, we we spend millions of dollars in our next door neighborhoods because here we don't have those venues that people would really like to have. And people go, well, why don't we have that? Well, once again, it's economics. Yeah. And here, if, and this is fact, this is data, I don't usually present anything unless I can kind of back back it up with data, but Lake Wales, disposable income, and those things types of things, household incomes, median incomes are a little lower than the county averages. Right. So if people have a little less to spend, they're gonna be more apt to stay at home. Yeah. And that's what we don't want. That's why we're, you know, uh Joy at Main Street's just doing an amazing job, and and all the city staff having more events downtown that bring people downtown and getting them to see what could happen downtown and shop and do things within Lake Wales. So we have that momentum going and they're doing a great job. Still, though, the economics, it's simple math. The more people have that they can spend, the more app they will spend it. That's our nature is if we have some extra money that we let's well, let's we if we have a little extra money, let's just spend it here. We want that spent locally. Right. So the Economic Development Council has that in the forefront of their thinking. What can we do to bring business, big business here and keep the spending and the investing in Lake Wales? So my big pitch to companies is exactly what we talked about. We might not be uh right on I-4, but we're close and we're we're perfectly positioned. I could sit here and talk about how we're within three hours of many major seaports. Right. Uh we're within an hour drive of two major airports. Right. We have our own small commercial airport that we've extended runways for cargo. But we're in a great spot to be near what, two and a half, three hours to Miami, which is now the gateway to all of Latin America. So we are in a perfect position with inexpensive, high ground. And right now, as we get this land annexed and get it prepared, once again, readiness. Yeah. If we get our land ready, we will not we're already attractive. I've already had leads come in, but because we our land was covered with citrus, we don't have a lot of structure. And one of the things that you need these days is structure because people, like I said, companies are looking for where they can move into and get operating. Yeah. That's like with advanced drainage systems. We're still hopeful that that will move forward. A lot of those larger, major companies like that, economies, market swings, there's a lot of factors that go into the decisions they make. So we're still hopeful for that. And when we, you know, when they do come in on board, we'll be able to provide so many jobs to the local young people that need, you know, good paying jobs. So that's going to be a real boost. And a lot of people were in kind of fear of you know it you know creating a lot of pollution. And in fact, ADS is really the opposite of that. They produce a product, a hollow plastic pipe, harmless, that actually helps you prevent things like sinkholes, actually helps you retain your fresh water. In other words, everything good that we want. And what you said earlier, some people just may not have a genuine understanding or you know, or knowledge of what the processes are, especially if folks have lived in their town for their whole lives and have seen these terrible things happen with the environment. Sure. The loss of growth, the loss of things like this. Keep in mind, though, that the landowners around town are good men and women. Their families have farmed that land for generations and they love the town and want to provide a land for future business to come to Lake Wales. They they I've talked to them and they have a genuine interest in doing that. That's why we're getting that land prepared as quick as we can. Because a lot of folks don't realize this, but you know, a 60-acre orange grove that's dead isn't producing anything. Right. And yet, you know, the owners still have to pay taxes, it's still zoned agriculture. So they're they're operating at a huge loss. Yeah. So if we can get that land prepared for great industry and business and manufacturing that's going to bring jobs, my goodness, that's that's exactly what we need to focus on and do. And the thing is we have the power, strength, and location to be choosy. Sure. And, you know, and I could say, well, you we're cuter than most people. We're cuter than than Bartow, you know. But you know, all silliness aside, we have a resilient workforce that we're trying to make sure that they're ready and disciplined. So you have people here that are, I don't know if I mentioned this, but most people that live live in Lake Wales, the overwhelming majority are educated. They have at least a high school diploma or GD. And a lot of them have college masters. So you have folks in Lake Wales that are not only resilient but are ready to get after it.
SPEAKER_01So I don't think that I want to, you know, just reiterate uh a number that you threw out there that would be stunning or should be stunning. 50%, more than 50% of the people that live in Polk County commute to another county to work.
SPEAKER_00That is the statistic I was informed of, yeah.
SPEAKER_01So and I will and so that's very important. It's it's very important not only to their quality of life, but also to what we're able to do here. Now you had mentioned that, uh, and we've mentioned ADS. I only use them as an example um of how that could change one life or how it can impact a community. But it does bring up another issue in that we are we're very confident that that ADS is going to you know come online. And but part of the, you know, what they're up against there is they're building their buildings from scratch. We did all the legwork of getting the land zoned and getting them ready and they're excited, and they're going to be a wonderful part of our community. But the time for them is a big challenge. And what you're hearing now from big um, I call them anchor tenant kind of employees, is they need the buildings now. They're looking for places that are developing for them to help them come. Now we're working in the commission, we're doing all kinds of things to incentivize those kind of people to come. Land zoning, we've just set aside another 173 acres over on Hunt Brothers Road. But talk about because sometimes folks will see us building empty buildings and you know, what are they doing that for? So talk about that. Why is that important?
SPEAKER_00As far as just building structure.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, just building the kind of structure that a a major manufacturer or warehouser would be looking for.
SPEAKER_00The old adage that we heard from Field of Dreams, building and they will come. Yeah. That is absolutely true when it comes to luring manufacturing and industry. If you don't believe me, you can go to my counterpart in Winterhaven and you can go over to the intermodal right now, and he has about 1.4 million square feet of structure. And he's got top companies in America moving in to use as logistics centers, supply centers, and it is amazing.
SPEAKER_01And the west side of Lake Wales is less than three miles from that intermodal system. Exactly right. Our airport, just a few miles away from that.
SPEAKER_00Right. And, you know, we have to control our own destiny. So annexing our land and getting it zoned properly, actually, you know, the one of the things one of uh the city commissioners mentioned to me when I first started was the one thing that he and many locals didn't want was urban sprawl. And uh looking at what I had available as far as industrially zoned land was other than our industrial park, which most folks don't realize is very small. Very small. That that's dealing in you know, maybe 20 acres. And a lot of the leads I get won't a hundred acres. Right. That's just one manufacturer or one industry. So our industrial park is very small. So in order to contain sprawl, but in order to provide the business campuses that we need, we you know chose you know, with the cooperation of the owners, the Hunt Brothers Corridor, to do a Duke Energy study and use that corridor as our buffer to prevent sprawl and to also provide the job centers for the folks, our workforce. So down south, that kind of prevents the sprawl from you know moving any farther south while doing exactly, in fact, it's an it falls right in line with our Lake Wheels Envision plan, which is to ultimately, like you said before, everybody can live, work, and play right here. So now with the addition of the Hump Brothers corridor and all those 173 acres that we're getting now rezoned and annexed, and and all of that's underway. And uh, I'm pretty sure we're gonna have infrastructure laid down with the new fire department. Yes. So now with Stone Ridge going out west of the airport and across the highway to the north, uh, Lake Wheels Commons, we now have those amazing areas that will not only buffer sprawl, but provide amazing mixed-use job centers and places for people to live, work, and play. They'll literally be Lake Wheels Commons will be almost like its own little town. Right. But that's the beauty of it. They don't have to be on the road. Like you said, they, you know, what uh some folks call the carbon footprint, uh, you know, and and all of that, you know. Well, that's reduced. If we do this ourselves and keep our town contained with our own job centers and our own wonderful, wonderful ecosystem, nobody's gonna have to leave the town. And we can keep our revenue here and reinvest in our schools, reinvest in our own infrastructure. That's how this works.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah, very good. So talk to me real quickly. You've been here about five years now. What would you say have been some of the biz biggest successes we've experienced, the most important wins that we've had in the last five years?
SPEAKER_00Well, uh other than ADS, which is huge because that's, you know, intended to be one of their Starship Enterprise facilities, state of the art. And that right now that's on hold, but we're still believing that that's gonna move forward. But I would say one of the biggest, most effective, important things we've done is annex land. That way we can control it, we can reap the benefits of that land, and we can determine and decide what's gonna be best for the town, what's gonna be best for the local population as they grow generationally. And I tell people, you have to think about these wins like Lake Wales Commons, like the Hunt Brothers Corridor. You have to think about annexation and zoning is planning for the future generations to have opportunity here. So I think projects like that are just a huge win. Huge, huge, huge. The the adaptation of the local Lake Wales Connected. Once again, you know, we're building our hotel, we're rebuilding our hotel. Well, my question, uh, I please don't take this the wrong way, but you know, my thinking as soon as that was, oh, it's great news. But what am I gonna do as the president and CEO of economic development to fill that hotel? What are we gonna have here that is going to get people lured to Lake Wales to stay there overnight or maybe for a week? Yeah. You know, what are we gonna provide? So now the aspect of tourism comes into play. Right. Folks don't realize this, but over 40% of all the tourism that takes takes place in Florida happens in the landlocked counties around us because of Disney and all the theme parks. So a lot of people are coming in, and of course, we have Legoland right around the corner. Bock Tower. Right. Yeah, but you know, people don't a lot of people don't realize that, you know, when when you look think of Bock Tower, you think of Legoland. Well, none of those are inside of the city of Lake Wales. No. So we need to have our own aspect of tourism that generates revenue for us here. And some of the top generators of tourism revenue are things that we're getting prepared for through Lake Wales Connected, like ecotourism. That is so big now. People want to come and see the beauty of a town and what it has to offer. So if we connect Lake Wells with Bach Tower through a system of trails and bike trips and, you know, tourism, that's going to help us put people in the hotel.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And I I've spent four, three or four years in the hotel industry. So I know how a hotel generates its revenue, you know, to help prosper its team and its staff and its owners. You have to have heads in the beds, you have to have people staying in it for it to be prosperous. So now I have the additional responsibility of coming up with some ways to get people to come to Lake Wales and enjoy it. One great plus, and I, you know, I've talked to people, like I said, that have lived here for years and years, but the town designed was designed to be a city and a garden. Yes. It's designed, it's tailor-made for people to walk through and enjoy the beauty of what we have. And I think that's huge. So that's gonna be big. The one of the biggest wins, I think, was finally making a decision on it. Yeah, you know, let's just have the guts to move forward and make this happen because it's gonna be a generator of jobs, of revenue for our town. And that's big. That's a good thing. And right now, if I, you know, uh, if I need, if I want to bring a conference to us, if I want to have a small, you know, some things like that for people to come to Lake Wales like we do in in the rest of the state. Well, we need a place to have some meetings for people to stay and come down and enjoy and have meetings, and that's gonna bring visitors. The statistics and the data shows that when people visit a town they love, they come back. Yeah, they come back and spend more. And in fact, a certain amount of them buy property. Yeah. So the the more what you were saying earlier, the more vibrant and strong and beautiful our town. There's nothing, there's not one single negative about that when it comes to quality of life, having a beautiful downtown that everybody can come down and enjoy. Yeah. And I know some people will gripe about things, but you have to have things in place that are gonna help future generations prosper and have opportunity. We can't short circuit the future over things that you know aren't worthy of promoting a strong economy. And once again, you know, the children deserve that. Our kids deserve that because we know as well as anybody else, especially you, that you know, we're here for a while. And we have a responsibility to be good stewards of what we have so that future generations can enjoy it as well. Sure. So that's that's the most important victories, I think, that we've done is we've we've had good uh zoning, good annexation. We have great projects in store through the Lake West Commons, Stone Ridge, and the Hunt Brothers Corridor. We're gonna be able to compete for those uh manufacturers and industries that want to come here. And let me say this most of the leads I get that I accept are for good industry, yeah, clean industry, industry that is willing to help fuel the community with amazing revenue and job opportunity. You know, we've had I've had so many leads that I've had to decline because of what we just said. We Don't we're not structurally ready and don't have the infrastructure needed. But that's coming. Yeah. And once again, we have to you know understand that Lake Wales has suffered um you know some catastrophes when it comes to the environmental problems we discussed. So modest growth is just what what it takes right now, but it is moving forward. And that's a great thing because uh we're gonna be more attractive to the businesses that we want to bring here. And that's what everybody's wanting deep down, is they want to have a say on what comes here. Well, then let's attract the best. Let's get ready to attract the businesses that are gonna help us be all we can be. Yeah, yeah. I think we're laying the tracks. Oh, absolutely. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Well, Skip, I have certainly enjoyed having you here. Um I wanted our folks to be able to meet you and see what you do, and I appreciate you giving us the time. It's obvious that you've got a great passion for what you do and love the city of Lake Wales. So thank you for coming in and spending the time with us.
SPEAKER_00It has been a pleasure. And one thing I'd like to leave you with, and when they had a gentleman, Victor Dover, come in and talk about Lake Wales and talked about these things, I put him aside one day and I said, Growth for Lake Wales is almost going to be like pregnancy. It's almost going to be like giving birth. And he looked at me and he kind of, you know, he kind of nodded. He said, Skip, it's gonna be, it's gonna be challenging, it's gonna be painful. This is how it works. This is what comes out of struggle, discussion, uh, attentiveness, understanding, compromise, all of those things are are it's resistance. But resistance, as you and I both know, resistance builds strength. So if people just look at, hey, we're we're yeah, we're we're facing some challenges, but it's making us stronger. We're actually going to be better for it. Uh, I think Mr. Dover was trying to tell us that. If we approach it this way, we're gonna be strong.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, I believe it's becoming, it's always been a wonderful community. Yes. I know it's becoming a better community, and because of the leadership of folks like you and Chief Velazquez and our city manager. And so, folks, I thank you again for listening to this episode of the Mayor and the Manager. Again, we always want to remind you if you have questions, send them our way. Our city manager will be back with us at the next episode, and we'll take the time to answer those that you have mailed in. And again, we appreciate it. We hope you all have a great day. Thank you, Skip.
SPEAKER_00You're more than welcome.
SPEAKER_01Thanks for listening to this episode of The Mayor and the Manager. The goal of this podcast is to keep you up to date on all that is happening in the great city of Lake Wales. To that end, we would love to take questions from you and take the time to answer them. So if you have any questions, just click on submit a question in the description above this podcast.