GOVERNMENT

Enterprise Florida officially picks new president

Arek Sarkissian, arek.sarkissian@naplesnews.com; 850-559-7620

The Enterprise Florida Board of Directors chose Chris Hart IV on Wednesday to be the next CEO of the public-private economic development partnership, concluding a candidate search that yielded more than 100 applicants.

Hart, 48, is currently the CEO of CareerSource Florida and he will start with Enterprise Florida on Jan. 3.

“Although I’ll add, I expect him, and we all expect him, to hit the ground running in the next 15 minutes,” said Stan Connally, who led the search committee assembled to find a new CEO.

Hart received unanimous approval from the Enterprise Florida board during its quarterly meeting, which was held at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort and Spa. The former state House representative had already received approval Tuesday from the Enterprise Florida executive committee.

“Also as a recovering politician, thank you for your vote,” Hart told the board after he was elected.

In a short speech Hart gave to the board, he already indicated signs of a new approach to Enterprise Florida. He heard during talks with the agency’s employees they were dedicated to making the best use of the public money provided by the Legislature.

“Here’s where I knew I was talking to stewards – true stewards – of the state of Florida,” Hart said. “When we talked about who the shareholders are, we talked about who the shareholders are, every single one of you realized that we were predominately using public funds from what we do about making Florida more prosperous.

“We talked about the taxpayer being the shareholder.”

Enterprise Florida was created in 1996 under a plan that called for equal financial support from state taxpayer dollars and contributions from private corporations. That ratio was never achieved. This year, the agency is supported by $23.5 million from the state budget, and $1.7 million in private funds.

The agency is now at odds with some state lawmakers who question its use of tax and cash incentives. In a stunning move in the last week of this year’s session, House and Senate budget leaders rejected a priority request from Gov. Rick Scott for $250 million in taxpayer dollars. Scott wanted to use the cash to lure companies to the state. Then-House Budget Committee Chairman Richard Corcoran referred to the money as corporate welfare.

Now the House Speaker, Corcoran had said he will refuse any request from Enterprise Florida linked to corporate incentives.

Scott had said he plans to ask the Legislature to provide $85 million for cash incentives. After the Enterprise Florida meeting, he said Hart would help create “the right incentive projects.”

“Chris will explain that to everybody,” Scott said of the incentive projects. “The point is we’re trying to helping the most disadvantaged person in our state and making sure they can get a job.”

Hart worked as a senior legislative analyst in the Florida House of Representatives for four years until he was elected to a House seat as a Republican in 1998. He completed two House terms before becoming a lobbyist. He was hired in 2004 as an Enterprise Florida senior vice president of external affairs.

Hart was hired as CEO of CareerSource Florida in 2007. His current salary is $265,000, which is more than the $200,000 to $175,000 offered by his Enterprise Florida job. 

Hart replaces Bill Johnson, who left Enterprise Florida in June after a slew of disagreements with lawmakers during the legislative session. He also faced reports of misspending and creating top executive positions for friends.