Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Economic Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Advisory board narrows target industries to advanced manufacturing, tech/robotics and workforce training
Summary
After debate and individual rankings, the advisory board coalesced around three priorities for outreach and implementation: advanced manufacturing, technology/robotics/AI, and education/workforce training; staff was directed to drill down.
Members of the Fort Myers Economic Development Advisory Board spent the bulk of their meeting reviewing an eight-item industry list and selecting priority sectors for the city's economic-development focus.
Dwayne summarized the group's task as selecting three focus industries and said the consultant could later validate the board's choices. Board members each named their top three; several members advocated prioritizing sectors that pay higher wages and can retain local workers.
"If you go after jobs that are below $50,000, you statistically bring down your economy," one board member said during the discussion of pay scales across sectors. After discussion and cross-checking, the chair summarized the group's consensus: advanced manufacturing (2), technology/robotics/AI (6), and education/workforce training (7).
The board directed Dwayne to produce an initial research pass on those three industries by the end of the following week to outline implementation options and costs, and to prepare materials the board can bring to a council workshop. The board emphasized that workforce-training programs should be embedded in any industry approach.
