By DANA DOUGHERTYDEBARY, Fla. -- Recently Stafford Jones spoke to the Republican Club of Southwest Volusia regarding the debates over Enterprise Florida and Visit Florida.
Jones served as chairman of the Alachua County Republican Executive Committee for 12 years. He also served on the Executive Board of the Republican Party of Florida for six years. He currently serves as the senior advisor to the Florida Federation of Teenage Republicans, for which he served the last three years and he continues to serve the Republican Party of Florida as a governor’s appointee. Stafford is married and has three children and he provides political committee consulting and management services.
Stafford Jones served as chairman of the Alachua County Republican Executive Committee for 12 years. He also served on the Executive Board of the Republican Party of Florida for six years. He currently serves as the senior advisor to the Florida Federation of Teenage Republicans, for which he served the last three years and he continues to serve the Republican Party of Florida as a governor’s appointee. Stafford is married and has three children and he provides political committee consulting and management services.
At the meeting Stafford provided insight on the Enterprise Florida and Visit Florida state programs that I wanted to share below:
• The ROI on Enterprise Florida’s QTI program is 4.4, according to a report by the Legislatures own economist. That means for every dollar it spends on tax rebates to businesses that move here, it returns $4.4 in revenue. In order for the first break-even dollar to occur, that break-even dollar must circulate through the economy about 16.7 times-that, again, according to the Legislature’s economist.
• For Visit Florida, the ROI is 3.2. Again, before the first break-even dollar. That dollar must circulate through the economy. That is money in the hands of small businesses and families.
• Let’s look at Enterprise Florida’s Quick Action Closing Fund. That was a $2 million fund that the governor has available to him to take quick action to lure businesses. The ROI on the QACF is .6. That means for every dollars it spends, its returning 60 cents. The untold story of that , though, is that the Legislature’s economist have said that the numbers would look much different if the funds stayed in the State’s possession instead of being put in an escrow account. You see, once the money is put into an escrow account the state counts them as spent, even though they aren’t. So, even the QACF would have a +1 ROI, or better, if the State held the funds instead of putting it in a separate escrow account.
From the insights provided by Stafford, the governor has been doing a great job bringing business and jobs to Florida.