Transcript October 24, 2011 Florida Energy and Aerospace Technology Park Leesburg, Florida A Proposed Development Master Plan for Highest and Best Use and Jobs Creation Jay Evans, City Manager J.

October 24, 2011
Florida Energy and Aerospace Technology Park
Leesburg, Florida
A Proposed
Development Master Plan
for
Highest and Best Use
and
Jobs Creation
Jay Evans, City Manager
J. Douglas Drymon, Deputy City Manager
Jerry Bond, Project Manager
Why Leesburg?
What makes Leesburg different from any other city in Florida or the
United States? Are land and climate enough?
Why did the City of Leesburg develop the Leesburg Energy and
Aerospace Program (LEAP)?
•
•
For the past 3 years the City of Leesburg has
experienced stagnant or declining revenues as
a result of the collapse of the housing market
and the “Great Recession.”
The City believes that it needs to diversify its
economy and develop new sources of revenue
to fund public services and maintain the
community’s quality of life.
Ad Valorem Revenues
$7,000,000
$6,000,000
$5,000,000
$4,000,000
$3,000,000
$2,000,000
•
The creation of new jobs will benefit those who
are currently unemployed as well as provide
opportunities for the youth of the community
who will be entering the workforce in the
future.
$1,000,000
$0
07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11 11-12
Why did the City of Leesburg develop the Leesburg Energy and
Aerospace Program (LEAP)?
(Continued from previous slide)
•
The City believes the CR 470 property can be put to more productive use
as a Technology Park than in its current form.
•
Development of a Technology Park is a logical extension of the City’s
investment in Smart Grid Technology.
•
Although the Leesburg International Airport is a valuable community asset,
it has a very limited amount of vacant land on which to expand.
•
Energy and Aerospace are considered product exporter industries that
have the potential to bring new money into the local economy.
In 2010 a Vision and Strategic Planning Session was conducted by ERAU with
community leaders and local stakeholders. Eight Critical Factors were identified as
being the “keys” to successfully expanding and diversifying Leesburg’s economy:
Workforce Development/Skilled Labor Pool
Partnerships/Alliances
Aggressive Solicitation
Streamline Approval Process
Airport Improvements
Stakeholder Commitment
Jumpstart to Shovel Ready Properties
Branding
0
2
Votes
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Who do we partner with to developed a
skilled workforce?
Lake County School Board / Leesburg High School
Lake-Sumter Community College
Lake Tech
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
University of Central Florida
Center for Advanced Turbines and Energy Research (CATER)
Local businesses (providing internships and job shadowing
opportunities)
• Others not identified (USF, UF?)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Leesburg High School
Construction and
Energy Technology
- Energy Technician
Program
Leesburg’s Power
Academy will help train
tomorrow’s SMART Grid
workforce
(Excerpt)
GRANVILLE, Ohio — Speaking to a classroom of
seventh and eighth graders at the middle school
here, Lisa Magnuson shared a popular dictum from
the power industry: if Alexander Graham Bell, the
inventor of the telephone, could see how his
technology had evolved over the last century, how
would he react?
“He’d be amazed,” offered one student,
mentioning that his cellphone can play music,
display movies and send text messages.
And if Thomas Edison, the pioneer of power
distribution, were to return?
“He’d probably go, ‘Wow, everything is still the
same,’ ” said Ms. Magnuson, the director of
marketing for Silver Spring Networks, which
produces hardware and software to make the
electric grid as smart as the phone network.
To pull off the modernization, Ms. Magnuson and
others are trying to persuade this generation of
fidgety teenagers to put their creativity to work in
the power industry once they graduate. “We want
to help make utilities cool again,” she said.
The power companies desperately need a jolt of
youthful energy. The industry and the creaky
distribution system it manages are on the cusp of a
major technological overhaul just as about half of
electric utility employees are expected to retire in
the next 5 to 10 years.
Other educational &
workforce training partners
in this project include…
Leesburg is also working to formalize
partnerships with UCF and CATER
Now comes our prime asset…3,300 acres of land
12
Sprayfields
Residuals
Conservation
Unencumbered
Sprayfields
The Strategy: Bring together our three biggest assets
Energy, Aerospace, and Land!
Leesburg
Smart
Grid
Initiative
Leesburg
Int'l
Airport
3,300 acre
Cityowned
parcel at
Florida's
Turnpike
Creating
the…
Energy Strategy:
Aviation/Aerospace
Strategy:
Promote the $20 million
Leesburg Smart Grid,
Bio-energy Development and
the Leesburg Energy and Aerospace
Program.
Promote a strategic partnership with
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
which will assist Leesburg in recruiting
aviation/aerospace manufacturers and
service providers.
Provide a full array of public utilities
including electric, natural gas, high
speed fiber-optic communications,
water, waste water and reuse for
irrigation.
Provide partnering
opportunities with Lake
County Schools (Leesburg
High School Power Academy),
Lake-Sumter Community College
and UCF, USF and/or UF.
Aerospace
Provide a platform of space, machinery,
tools and equipment for use by
entrepreneurs, small businesses and
established corporations that wish to
explore new technologies in
flight and aerospace.
Provide land and floor space for short
term rental within the Incubator and
long-term space for ongoing
manufacturing operations within the
Technology Park.
Energy
NOT simply an industrial park, but a technology
park designed to create and support a synergy
between companies in the fields of alternative
energy and aviation/aerospace.
Light Sport Aircraft
Energy & Aerospace Manufacturing Incubator
The Bond Organization | 13811 Victor Avenue | Hudson, Florida
The Bond Organization | 13811 Victor Avenue | Hudson, Florida
The Bond Organization | 13811 Victor Avenue | Hudson, Florida
Light Sport Aircraft Manufacturing Facility
The Bond Organization | 13811 Victor Avenue | Hudson, Florida
Light Sport Aircraft Manufacturing Facility
The Bond Organization | 13811 Victor Avenue | Hudson, Florida
How do we prepare for the development of the Park?
By producing and implementing “The Development Master Plan”.
• Business Plan.
• Marketing Plan.
• Operations Plan.
• Finance Plan.
• Citizens Participation Process.
• Letters of Intent and Move-in Agreements.
The Marketing Plan.
• Identify the growth businesses within the Energy and Aerospace
industries.
• Prepare and execute a marketing strategy for media advertising.
• Develop and maintain a dedicated, interactive website.
• Establish a social media presence on Twitter, FaceBook, Linkedin and
other social media.
• Be visible in strategic meetings, conferences and conventions.
• Involve the community in making the “Invite” to prospective tenants.
A new web page highlighting
the assets and benefits of the
Florida Energy and Aerospace
Technology Park has been
designed and is just a few
days from roll-out. This web
page will showcase not only
the FEAT Park, but the City of
Leesburg and Leesburg
International Airport as well.
The Marketing Plan.
• Identify the growth businesses within the Energy and Aerospace
industries.
• Prepare and execute a marketing strategy for media advertising.
• Develop and maintain a dedicated, interactive website.
• Establish a social media presence on Twitter, FaceBook, Linkedin and
other social media.
• Be visible in strategic meetings, conferences and conventions.
• Involve the community in making the “Invite” to prospective tenants.
The Operations Plan.
• Involve local public officials and employees in the on-going
operations planning and implementation process.
• Communicate with local, state and federal agencies and officials
for the review and approval of operations plans.
• Inform local businesses, educators and civic organizations, and
solicit their participation.
• Put in motion operational policies and procedures relating to the
development and ongoing operation of the Park.
The Finance Plan.
• Identify public sources of Public Funding at the local, state and
federal levels.
• Identify private sources of Public Funding such as the “Access to
Capital Program”.
• Identify sources of private funding through local banks and
lending institutions.
• Identify sources of private funding through institutional investors,
venture capital and angel investor funding sources.
• Match tenant funding requirements with funding sources.
The Citizen Participation Process.
• Inform local decision-makers and community leaders to the
opportunities and issues relating to the planning and development
of the Park.
• Establish lines of communications among the City Manager,
decision-makers, businesses and residents.
• Provide opportunities for businesses and citizens to become
involved in the planning and development process.
• Encourage the community to promote the project via personal
contacts, business relationships and social media.


Determine level of support for Energy and
Aerospace (Light Sport Aviation) as industries
to pursue.
Determine the next steps that staff will be
authorized to perform in pursuit of the project.

Funding opportunities/preliminary
engineering/marketing within industries/timber
harvest/parcel identification (on-site
marketing)/phasing (grass strip first?)/academic
partnerships/etc.
Why Leesburg?