The Hispanic Council has been an active participant, since its inception, of "Naples Opportunity" a community initiative led by the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce, aimed to foster the economy of Collier County. For a better understanding of this project, below you will find:
NAPLES OPPORTUNITY: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Collier County must diversify its economy to create thousands of good jobs, flatten economic downturns, strengthen the middle class and expand tax revenues in order to enhance its quality of life without raising tax rates.
Opportunity Naples began as a three-year initiative to fully implement a strategic, working partnership between the private sector and the local government with widespread community engagement and input in order to create a sustainable culture for job creation.
1. Why did The Partnership for Collier’s Future Economy and the County create Opportunity Naples?
The Opportunity Naples initiative will strengthen the economic health of the community, with a blueprint to foster sustained growth by retaining and expanding existing businesses, spawning business startups and attracting new businesses to the region.
The Opportunity Naples plan took shape over nine months, leveraging the thoughts and opinions of Collier County residents and leaders. Public input and stakeholder perspectives, along with a thorough analysis of the community’s competitive position, fed the planning process.
The Result was a best-in-class strategic plan comprised of actionable and measurable goals set in a collaborative framework to ensure that Collier County thrives for decades to come.
2. What is Opportunity Naples vision?
To advance economic opportunities, attract and retain the next generation of talent, achieve excellence in education and nurture a higher quality of life for working families in the region.
3. How will Collier County benefit from Opportunity Naples?
A more diversified local economy will result in stronger existing businesses, an optimized K-20 education/training pipeline, a positive business climate and a competitive location for relocating businesses. Benefits:
- Attract new businesses to Collier County, with the likelihood of a more diversified and thus less cyclical economic base;
- Strengthen existing businesses and improve their service to the consumer;
- Increase opportunities for new and existing members of the workforce;
- Expand educational offerings required to meet the needs of a growing and diverse economy;
- Expand the variety of goods and service options for consumers;
- Reduce dependence on residential taxpayers who now pay 90% of property taxes.
4. What is the significance of the timing of Opportunity Naples?
The majority of Collier County’s post-recession recovery has been dominated by jobs in sectors that pay less than the county’s average annual pay of $41,778. Collier County also lost 13.2% of its workforce during the recession due to the cyclical nature of its industries. The lack of economic diversity was cited as the greatest threat to the local economy by the 1,149 respondents to the Opportunity Naples survey. The critical conclusion: We must diversify our economy and create a culture for creating jobs in sectors beyond our legacy industries of tourism, construction and agriculture. The goal is for the county to better weather any economic downturn and emerge with a stronger and more stable economy.
5. Who oversees Opportunity Naples?
The Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce created an Opportunity Naples board of directors. That board oversees the Opportunity Naples Implementation Committee composed of area governmental, business, civic and nonprofit leaders. The Implementation Committee in turn has created three key work groups: 1.) Communications/Marketing; 2.) Community Investment, and 3.) Business Development. The three groups will work to ensure that all key stakeholder groups critical to effective strategic implementation are represented along the way.
6. How will the success of Opportunity Naples be measured over time?
The Opportunity Naples board and staff will monitor and assess progress in achieving the objectives and strategic actions detailed in the implementation plan. Metrics have been established to guide stakeholders and implementers in their efforts. These will be reported to the community.
Leadership Advocacy
- Statement of commitment signatories
- Community forums
- Opportunity Naples social media followers
Competitive Position
- Business retention and expansion calls
- Necessary software purchased and implemented
- Development of www.Naplesworks.com and site visit metrics developed
Economic Diversification
- Verified sites available to site selection consultants, Enterprise Florida:
- Enterprise Florida Marketing Trip participation
- Regional (SWFLEDA) Marketing Trip participation.
7. How can I learn more about Opportunity Naples?
Visit www.opportunitynaples.com or contact Opportunity Naples Vice President Kristi Bartlett at Kristi@napleschamber.org.