From Voter:
I attended the candidate forum last night (July 21) and as a small business owner living in Avalon Park I was interested in your answers to several questions.
Specifically I am glad to hear you are committed to job creation as a primary goal. Can you give three examples of what you will do in your role at Commissioner to facilitate private sector job creation?
You discussed the need for finding an additional location for the UCF Research Park last night so I am interested in hearing some additional concrete actions you will take.
You also mentioned you assisted the establishment of 100 companies–can you tell me a little more about your role in that process?
Thanks for your participation last night. I’m glad to see that East Orlando has a serious candidate in the race.
From Thompson:
Thank you for your email. I’m thrilled that you attended the forum and that you are taking the time to ask real questions.
Regarding job creation, I am a believer that it is not the role of government to create jobs, but rather to create a business-friendly environment that is predictable and fair. With that said, here are three examples of what I will do to promote private sector job creation:
1-Eliminate government red tape. I do not know what type of business you are in or if you have ever opened a storefront or built out a commercial space, etc. but I have worked with many small business owners over the years and the stories I hear are the same across the board. It is expensive and unpredictable in Orange County to open and run a business. For example, I recently spent some time with a gentleman who purchased a dilapidated 10,000 square foot restaurant on S. OBT that was being occupied by squatters. The property was near his home and in an area where he and his family have lived or years. It took him 18 months to get through all the government red tape just to get his business open; all the while he was paying the mortgage and the taxes on the property. He has since opened his business and has redeveloped the property to house multiple new businesses, including a law firm, an air conditioning company, a screen printer, bail bondsman, a call center and more. I estimate that this redevelopment project that nearly bankrupted this small business owner has since brought in 30-50 new jobs to District 4 and Orange County.
2-Establish an Innovation Fund. You may or may not be aware, but the overall concept of ‘Innovation Way’ is to create a ‘high tech corridor that spans from the University of Central Florida on the North to the nearly developed International Corporate Park on the South and onto the Orlando International Airport” as stated in the 2003 East Orlando Visioning Study, which I co-led and co-authored. It is my opinion that as this concept takes shape, the County needs to establish an Innovation Fund with the purpose of nurturing middle stage companies and attracting new anchor industries (like medical modeling and simulation, clean technology and a photonics clusters) into the region. This Innovation Fund should be funded in part by private land owners and potentially a small fee on new construction within the designated corridor.
I believe that Orange County missed out on the opportunity to get started on this with the recent denial of Innovation Way East (IWE). It is my opinion that restrictions should have been placed on future housing permits that would have prevented any new homes prematurely and that a compromise should have been reached to preserve environmentally sensitive lands. Had IWE been approved, they would have immediately funded their portion of the interchange at Innovation Way and the Beachline as well as placed $15 million into the start of an ‘Innovation Fund’. The request by IWE was for a land use change and not to build 6,000 homes tomorrow.
3- Become a champion. This may sound cliche, but it is absolutely necessary. General Tom Baptiste, president of the National Center for Simulation, told me recently that we are on the cusp of establishing potentially the world’s largest cluster of medical modeling and simulation companies in the world and that we are competing worldwide for this opportunity. He said all that is truly missing are elected officials to help champion this effort. I plan to immediately begin bringing together a team of private business leaders and any elected representative that is willing and to make sure that Orange County is the one to bring home this industry. The modeling and simulation defense industry in the Central Florida Research Park at UCF is a $5 Billion industry to the State and provides over 9,000 direct jobs to our community. If we can create even half of that, it’s a home run in my book.
Regarding the expansion of the Central Florida Research Park, there is currently a letter of intent signed to expand future operations, essentially Research Park 2, into International Corporate Park. Points 1, 2 and 3 above are necessary to make this a reality. Additionally, Joe Wallace, Executive Director for the Central Florida Research Park has told the County time and time again, that he cannot build another Research Park without strong transportation planning and at least a limited number of executive homes within the Park. I would go a step further that a real focus also needs to be placed on Education as these types of industries will not establish a presence in a community with anything less than a remarkable education system for both their children and their future workforce.
Finally, as to my role in helping companies within District 4. For the most part I have spent my entire adult career in District 4 helping business. In my role as the director of marketing at Waterford Lakes Town Center for nearly six years, I was directly responsible for helping stores get opened, attain customers and get involved in their community. I came onboard at Waterford during the Phase 2 construction, which is everything North of the Super Target (over 100 stores). Additionally, I volunteered as President of the East Orlando Chamber of Commerce for nearly four years. The role of the Chamber is to help small businesses. While I was at the Chamber, we grew from approximately 200 members to over 800 members. I cannot count the number of conversations I have had with small business owners and new chamber members or the number of ribbon cuttings I have attended. For nearly the last four years, I have hosted a small business networking/mentoring group called Coffee Club. We have welcomed over 3,500 people to our free group and have made countless connections that have led to increased business for folks. Just this week, I received an email from one of our Coffee Club regulars thanking my husband and I for making a connection that has led to her largest account to date. This account will allow her to add employees and start focusing on growing her small business.
I hope I have answered your questions effectively. Sorry for being so long winded, but this is one of those areas where I am extremely passionate. I hope I can count on your vote.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Thompson
321-228-9686