UPDATE: Florida Secretary of Commerce Gray Swoope issued a strongly-worded rebuttal to Integrity Florida’s report, condemning the group’s findings and accusing Integrity Florida executive director Dan Krassner of “misleading Florida’s citizens by disseminating misinformation and misrepresentations of our organization, our mission and our work each day.”

Swoope said he met with Krassner before the report was released but Krassner’s analysis failed to reflect Swoope’s clarifications. Instead, Swoope accused Krassner of “releasing half-truths to inflame emotions. Read Swoope’s full statement after the jump.

Do Enterprise Florida’s corporate board members have a conflict of interest in awarding themselves tax breaks or other economic development aid? And should one of the recipients of Enterprise Florida grants be trusted with figuring out whether the agency is getting a good return on its investments?

Those are some of the questions Integrity Florida, a new government watchdog organization, raised in a report released Wednesday that found, among other things, that millions of dollars in grants went to corporations who paid to be on the public-private partnership’s board of directors.

Board members Publix, Embraer Aircraft and Lockheed Martin board all received tax breaks or incentive awards ranging from $150,000 to $570,000 over the past two years, the report found.

Ernst & Young found that the public-private partnership’s investments were good for Florida’s economy, generating $2.66 for every economic development dollar. But the accounting firm also received a $96,000 incentives grant last year, according to the report.

“Should a recipient of Enterprise Florida incentives also be responsible for calculating return on investment
benefits of incentives?” the report, written by Integrity Florida executive director Dan Krassner and research director Ben Wilcox, the former head of Common Cause of Florida.

The report also found Enterprise Florida did not give publicly notice all of its meetings and did not make the meeting materials easily available to the public.

Last year, one of Gov. Rick Scott’s former agency heads – Doug Darling – revealed that Florida had id tens of millions of dollars to lure companies to the state for jobs that were never created. Darling, the former head of the Department of Economic Opportunity, quickly backed away from his critique of the jobs return on the tax breaks, saying the situation wasn’t as bad as it first appeared.

But Integrity Florida also questioned whether the state is doing a good enough job keeping track of the number, duration and types of jobs the tax breaks create or whether it should change its analysis “to help ensure high wage criteria is being reached in an appropriate manner rather than by a few larger salaries skewing averages.”

Florida Department of Commerce Secretary Gray Swoope issued a lengthy rebuttal to Integrity Florida’s report, including a point-by-point clarification of the highlighted issues. Read it after the jump.
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Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll will lead a “Team Florida” trade mission to South Africa in the fall, part of a global effort by Gov. Rick Scott’s administration to lure companies to the Sunshine State.

Carroll, a former state representative from Jacksonville, and the public-private Enterprise Florida economic development agency are hoping to expand the state’s exports during the nine-day junket that kicks off on Nov. 4.

The items the state sells to South Africa include airplane parts, machines, earth-movers, “coin,” and water, according to an Enterprise Florida press release announcing the trade mission.

Scott has traveled to Panama and Canada on similar missions and is headed to Brazil in the fall.

Gov. Rick Scott signed into law Tuesday legislation that reshuffles the state’s economic development agencies, while eliminating Florida’s lead growth management department.

Scott signed SB 2156 into law while meeting with Enterprise Florida business leaders in Orlando. The head of the public-private Enterprise Florida, Gray Swoope, who Scott recruited from a similar post in Mississippi, becomes Florida’s secretary of commerce, under the legislation.

The legislation also consolidates much of the state’s economic development efforts under a new Department of Economic Opportunity.

“In today’s globally competitive marketplace, Florida must be able to respond quickly and decisively when business opportunities come our way,” Scott said. “The bill I signed today provides us flexibility to seize opportunities created by developing markets and effectively respond to the changing needs of the businesses that grow our economy.”

Scott wanted to command the state’s job recruitment efforts from his office, and be given virtual complete control over millions of dollars in incentive money formerly steered by the state’s Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development.

The legislation eliminates OTTED. But lawmakers were reluctant to give Scott all the authority he wanted. Instead, Scott was given the go-ahead to approve incentive awards of less than $2 million without legislative approval, while a simple notice to legislative leaders is needed when the governor puts as much as $5 million on the table for any company or industry eyeing Florida.

Awards topping $5 million require approval from the 14-member Legislative Budget Commission.

Scott campaigned for governor with the pledge that he would create 700,000 jobs in seven years. He has touted his efforts as helping reduce the state’s unemployment to 10.8 percent, still among the highest rates in the nation.

Environmentalists had urged Scott to veto the legislation, since it abolishes the Department of Community Affairs, which they say threatens future state oversight of development projects.

Scott’s early efforts at luring companies to Florida also have proved uneven, according to many analysts.

Last week, Scott used a trade mission to Canada to announce the decision by Garda Worldwide Security to relocate its U.S. headquarters to Boca Raton from California, bringing with it 1oo jobs. Palm Beach County officials said the move was agreed to months ago, clouding Scott’s role in the development.

Meanwhile, Scott signed a $69.1 billion state budget last month that is spawning thousands of job cuts in school boards, health and social service providers, and in many state government agencies. 

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Gov. Rick Scott erased some of the last vestiges of his predecessor on the board of  Enterprise Florida, removing a pair of former Gov. Charlie Crist’s big fund-raisers and replacing them with two advisers of his own.

Gone are Marty Fiorentino, a Jacksonville fund-raiser, and Scott Peelen, a financial manager from Winter Park, who was among the few Republican rainmakers who stuck by Crist during his failed, independent run for U.S. Senate.

Fiorentino and Peelen were both appointed from the Crist bunker to Enterprise Florida, being named to three-year terms only eight days before Scott was sworn in.

Replacing them are Chris Kise, a lawyer who worked for Crist, but who lately helped direct Scott’s transition team. Joining Kise on those directing the public-private agency charged with selling Florida to national and world business leaders is Adam Hollingsworth, chief-of-staff to outgoing Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton.

Kise and Hollingsworth were named to the unpaid posts for terms that expire July 1, 2014.

A month after firing his predecessor, Gov. Rick Scott on Monday named a Mississippi economic development executive to lead the public-private partnership, Enterprise Florida.

“Bringing new energy and expertise to Florida’s economic development activities is an ideal task for which Gray Swoope is well suited,” Scott said.  “I am excited to have him leading the job creation and economic development mission in Florida.”

Scott last month abruptly fired Enterprise Florida’s CEO, John Adams, shortly after concluding the agency’s annual meeting. Scott gave no reason publicly. But the new governor clearly has ideas about how the state’s job recruitment should be conducted — beginning with his proposal to establish an economic development agency controlled by his office.

How Swoope figures in those plans wasn’t clear from Scott’s announcement Monday. But Scott may have hinted he plans to maintain a commanding role in bringing industries to Florida when he concluded that Swoope “will be a tremendous complement to my efforts as governor.”

In Mississippi, Swoope worked for Gov. Haley Barbour, and is credited with having helped woo such manufacturers as Toyota and GE Aviation to the state. Swoope also was part of a redesign of Mississippi’s package of economic incentives and help cut the workforce and budget of the Mississippi Development Authority, sure to draw raves from his new Florida boss.

After chairing the Enterprise Florida board meeting in downtown Tallahassee this morning, Gov. Rick Scott quietly fired the public-private economic development agency’s president John Adams, the governor’s office confirmed.

Adams, who earned $293,400 last year, was hand-picked for the job five years ago by then-Gov. Jeb Bush.

Scott’s move, which will require some action by the board but which his office will take effect immediately, took Enterprise Florida Board member Hal Valeche by surprise.

“I’m shocked. That’s just completely out of the blue,” said Valeche, president of York Street Capital Advisers, who served on Scott’s economic development transition team. “Wow. Boy. When I left the hotel, he was still there. I said goodbye to him and nothing had happened.”

Valeche said severing Adams’ contract was not discussed during the board meeting.

“It just seems very odd,” he said.

Florida TaxWatch CEO Dominic Calabro was also unaware of Adams’ firing, but it would not be an unusual move for the new governor.

“He’s going to be the chief economic officer. So it stands to reason that he should feel comfortable with the CEO of Enterprise Florida or whoever’s going to serve in a similar capacity,” Calabro said. “I’m not saying I agree with it. I don’t know enough. I think John’s served well in the area of economic development for the past four years.”

Gov. Rick Scott proposes the creation of a new Department of Commerce coordinate the state’s economic development efforts, the new governor told a meeting of the public-private Enterprise Florida this morning.

Scott was skimpy on details but said that the economic development czar would work in his executive office.

The new department would be a combination of the Agency for Workforce Innovation, Enterprise Florida and the governor’s Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development, Scott said.

Scott’s indicated he’s intent on shrinking state government, proposing to slash the state’s workforce by 5 percent and combine or do away with certain agencies altogether.

A Commerce Department isn’t a new idea. Back in 1996, the legislature canned the department and merged it into Enterprise Florida. Jeb Bush once led that agency under former Gov. Bob Martinez.

Unlike some previous governors, Scott stayed at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Tallahassee for the duration of the three-hour meeting, drawing kudos from the crowd.

Read Aaron Deslatte’s Orlando Sentinel blog for more on Scott’s proposal.