BROOKSVILLE — For Len Sossamon, the pace each and every day is a sprint.
5 Months Ago
7 Months Ago
5 Months Ago
That’s due to the fact Sossamon is wearing two really demanding hats — 1 as county administrator and the other as Hernando’s financial development director.
When he requires a breather to feel about what is in shop for the county in 2015, as he did not too long ago with the Instances, it is no surprise that he has not just a single, but two lengthy lists of tasks.
Sossamon’s initial list reflects his favourite duties.
quotRecruit jobs. Recruit jobs. Recruit jobs,quot he mentioned, noting that he and the county’s financial development supervisor, Valerie Pianta, are presently working with 20 to 24 active prospects for new or expanding organizations, in addition to following up on leads from a quantity of organizations.
On the list of active prospects is a craft beer manufacturer. But Sossamon knows that the enterprise is weighing its options, and Hernando County’s competition is Asheville, N.C., a community that has some attributes going for it that Hernando does not. One particular of those is a technical school that presents a certification and degree system for brewing craft beer.
That is why Sossamon is often exploring strategies to make the incentive packages for businesses interested in Hernando County as appealing as probable.
Other kinds of businesses on the active prospect list contain high-technology organizations and several study and improvement shops, as effectively as makers of such goods as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and prosthetics.
quotWe’ve created them proposals, and they just have to say yes,quot Sossamon mentioned.
In addition to regular economic improvement activities, he is continuing to appear for a tourism venue for Hernando County. As the county has worked via obtaining a home for the proposed Nature Coast Education and Tourism Center, all eyes have been on that project to fulfill the need. It could possibly, Sossamon mentioned. But there may possibly be anything else in the functions, as properly.
The County Commission has settled on a web site in the Weekiwachee Preserve for the education center, but is awaiting input from the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which owns the website, just before beginning the design and style operate. Sossamon stated he hopes to get an extension from the state for spending the $3 million in state dollars that will support fund the project, which he anticipates could be completed inside 18 months.
Other concepts for the tourism venue are also in discussion, like functioning toward some classic ecotourism alternatives, as effectively some much more active rather than passive types of tourist activities. A further possibility is the development of a sports complicated.
In the new year, the county will continue to participate in the multicounty German manufacturing apprenticeship system that is set to be headquartered at Brooksville-Tampa Bay Regional Airport and Technologies Center. That could be open by March, Sossamon stated, and classes for adults could begin by May or June, and by the start out of the college year for younger students.
Function also continues with the college district and airport interests on creating an aviation academy.
Micro Matic USA, which makes beer-dispensing gear, has broken ground on its new 73,000-square-foot dwelling, visible from the Suncoast Parkway. A ribbon could be cut for that facility by late June. Sossamon mentioned several county departments have come together to make that project take place as smoothly and effectively as achievable.
One more key push in 2015 will be to finalize the list of projects the county hopes to have funded via the Restore Act, which is the oil spill settlement fund from BP. The county has a list of projects, but has also solicited ideas from outdoors groups and men and women.
Development of a snorkel trail along a portion of the Hernando County coast may well be a single of the projects. Yet another possibility is identifying the worst infestations of invasive plants along the coast and starting to get them below manage. As portion of that discussion, Sossamon said, he also would like to update the county’s ordinance on Brazilian peppers to contain other plant invaders.
quotIt’s on the coast. It protects the environment. It’s enhancing the environment,quot Sossamon stated. Those are among the criteria that projects should meet to qualify for Restore Act funds.
Other leading projects on the list for the coming year consist of taking a look at the providers ranked by county commissioners that present nonlandfill alternatives for receiving rid of strong waste, stormwater-manage projects and the continuation of lime rock road paving projects.
Sossamon mentioned he is seeking forward to continuing the effort to diversify the county’s tax base and to the influence that the opening of the new Cortez Commons purchasing center and other new commercial buildings will have on the local economy in the coming months.
quot2014 was a very good year,” he stated, quotbut I think 2015 will be even far better.quot
Speak to Barbara Behrendt at bbehrendt@tampabay.com or (352) 848-1434.
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