Florida region’s ‘digital ecosystem’ looks to help it compete in economic development
Alex Potemkin via Getty Images
By
Chris Teale
Tallahassee has struggled in recent times to tell its story, the head of its chamber of commerce said, and various online portals will help it seize control of the narrative.
Earlier this year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posted on X, formerly Twitter, that he was “game” to have a Tesla manufacturing facility in the state.
The massive vehicle manufacturing plants known as Gigafactories already exist in several states, including Texas and Nevada, and DeSantis noted in subsequent X posts that Florida has “never had auto manufacturing,” but that North Florida “would be the spot.”
The online back-and-forth caught the attention of the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce, which quickly produced a website talking up the region as a Gigafactory’s next home. It’s part of an aggressive strategy by the chamber to market the Tallahassee area and talk up its potential as a new business hub in Florida. And Eddie Gonzalez Loumiet, with just months left in his term as chair, said he wants to use technology to better market the region.
“One of the things that I promised the board was I was going to use technology and innovation to modernize not only the chamber, but to modernize our digital footprint, or what I call the operating system for the region,” said Loumiet, who is also the CEO of healthcare data technology company Ruvos. “Some people raised their heads and said, ‘Hey, shouldn't the city and county be doing this?’ And I said, ‘Sure, they can, but I'm not going to wait for that. I think the private sector has an opportunity to showcase all the amazing assets we have.’”
Doing so is not easy, however, even though Tallahassee houses Florida’s state government, three nationally ranked higher education institutions — Florida State University, Florida A&M University and Tallahassee State College — and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, the world’s largest and highest-powered magnet lab. It’s also surrounded by rural areas ripe for development.
But the city’s population growth has stagnated, and Loumiet said it has not had a big economic development “win” like a major company relocating there in around a decade. The region needs to tell its story better, Loumiet added, so it can stand out in a crowded marketplace.
“For me, while we have a good small business community, in terms of new organizations coming here and visiting and working, we're not getting [major companies],” he said. “Then when I see the rest of Florida, I say, ‘What is the issue? What is the problem?’ We have amazing assets, but the scoreboard, unfortunately, is zero.”
In a bid to overcome some of those challenges, Loumiet and the chamber introduced what he called a “digital ecosystem” to highlight the region’s assets and to try to encourage more economic development.
One portal, known as Capital Region Business Concierge, provides a digital front door for businesses, entrepreneurs and investors to connect potential businesses with information on the area, available resources, talent and contacts like site readiness experts economic development officials and the Small Business Administration.
Another portal, TLH NavCare, maps all the region’s health care assets and publishes them in a way to not only connect patients with the right care, but also health care providers with information about what is available to work in. And TLH Vision provides residents, businesses and others the chance to participate directly in shaping the region’s future.
All those portals are connected through a centralized site, too, with more tools planned in the future. Loumiet said that while local governments are crucial for encouraging new businesses and residents, there is also a responsibility for its existing businesses to step up and help.
“People are realizing that, while government plays a big role, it's really on the private sector to go sell our community and to do the best that we can to lead, to be the quarterback,” Loumiet said. “We want the chamber to be the quarterback of the business community. What I mean by that analogy in football is, while someone may come to me as the chamber and say, ‘I want to open up a shop,’ I may not have all the answers, but I'm going to hand that football off to a group that's going to have the answer.”
Loumiet said the new websites have already generated interest and web traffic from countries across the world. But he said he also hopes that it will encourage existing residents to look closer to home and appreciate existing assets.
“While we want people to choose Tallahassee, I believe these assets, and being able to see it and being able to touch it and feel it, is getting our community to choose Tallahassee,” Loumiet said. “[It's] partially also unifying our community.”