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Putnam County economic development office reports 18 active business leads, cites infrastructure as growth bottleneck
Summary
Putnam County economic development officials told commissioners the county has 18 active business prospects for attraction, relocation or expansion in Q1 2025 and flagged water and sewer infrastructure limits as the primary constraint to landing larger projects.
Putnam County economic development officials reported to the Board of County Commissioners that the office worked 18 active clients on attraction, relocation or expansion in the first quarter of 2025.
Mark Litton, vice president of economic development, told commissioners “we're currently working with 18 clients interested in either attraction, relocation, or expanding existing operations here in Putnam County.” He said five of the leads were confidential referral leads from state and regional partners and 10 were “organic attraction leads” that came directly to the office. Litton said three leads were local industries considering expansion.
The presentation emphasized regional partnerships. Litton listed Florida Commerce, JAX USA, NFEDP, Florida Power & Light, Clay Electric, Seminole Electric, the Florida Economic Development Council and the International Economic Development Council among regular partners helping recruit projects to the county.
Commissioners pressed the limits that infrastructure places on recruitment. Chair Leota Wilkinson and Commissioner Alexander both stressed the need to extend Palatka’s water and sewer service “past the city limits and out into the area” toward the Rice Creek Bridge without annexation; Wilkinson said solving that problem would allow Putnam to “grow.” Commissioner Harvey warned that asking a rural county to invest millions locally is difficult and urged continued pursuit of state and federal grants.
Litton also cited statewide data: a Florida Commerce/Florida Chamber ranking that put Putnam County first in job-growth rate for 2024 with a 2.4% increase in primary jobs, and said the office relaunched a workforce development task force with the Putnam County School District, St. Johns River State College, JAX USA and CareerSource.
The presentation closed with a request to better promote positive metrics: Litton said the county and chamber would share the job-growth flyer on social media and the county website to “tell the good stories.”
Ending: Commissioners did not take formal action on the presentation. They directed continued coordination with the city of Palatka on utility extension and reiterated pursuit of grant funding as the primary strategy to address infrastructure shortfalls.
