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Economic Summit Looks To Future

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com

Published: March 12, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY - If you have any ideas about how to change Pasco County's economic trajectory, Greg Armstrong wants to hear them.

Armstrong, president of the West Pasco Board of Realtors, is co-hosting, along with the Pasco Council of Chambers, a summit Friday morning to brainstorm ways to change the county's economic future. The meeting of the minds will include a host of high-profile county residents and the president of the Florida Association of Realtors.

The public also is invited.

The meeting starts at 8:30 a.m. at the West Pasco Board of Realtors' office, 5409 Sunset Road, New Port Richey.

"I want to see some ideas that can go forward," Armstrong said this week.

A new president has brought new economic priorities to the country, Armstrong said. But even with millions in federal stimulus funds heading to Florida, Pasco needs to find its own way out of the current economic mess, he added.

"The government may come with money to build a road," Armstrong said. "The state may build a sewer line, but that's not going to make us whole."

The now-busted building boom helped turn large parts of Pasco into bedroom communities for jobs in Tampa and northern Pinellas County. For years, county boosters have seen those thousands of commuters as a ready-made work force for any employers that can be recruited to the county.

"As a result of all that building, we have a work force here," Armstrong said. "We need to get them jobs here and off the road."

County officials have spent the past few years setting aside land for employment centers and pitching Pasco as a great place to do business. The junction of State Road 54 and the Suncoast Parkway has emerged as one place county boosters see as the key to enticing high-end jobs.

Several years after one high-end employer - flight simulator-maker Opinicus - took root at that junction, another - the planned Ashley Glen office park - has fallen into foreclosure and financial hardship.

To register for the summit, send an e-mail to Armstrong at greg@figrey .com. For information, call Armstrong at (727) 495-2424.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201.

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