Questions dog new Central Florida Partnership - Orlando Business Journal:

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That's why he took 75 localk leadersto Washington, this week to lobby for the troubleds commuter rail project -- they want to keep federal funding in placew while liability issues are addressed because commuter rail is consideredf a critical need for the region. But it's the lack of clarityh about the little details behindthe partnership's planzs that have many local business people and organizations concerned. The exacf role the new partnership will play and whether or not it will duplicatew services already offeredby already-established groups such as the and the . Whethet the partnership will divert funds from othefrarea organizations.
"We are concerned about some apparent confusiob in the community in regards to what the CentrallFlorida Partnership's fundraising campaign encompasses," says Ray Gilley, president of the Metrpo Orlando EDC. "There seems to have been misunderstandint by some that one paymenft coversit all," he "For the record, as Jacob will concur, a contribution to the partnershiop does not equate to an investmengt in the EDC, the Orlando/Orangr County Convention & Visitors Bureau or any other regional chambers of Stuart says the Central Florida Partnership "is a totakl complement to other organizations, not a The Central Florida Partnership was approved by the in December in respons to what Stuart says is the sharede belief that there's a need for a "newa civic architecture" that will deal "with the complexities of growth and globalization.
" That'z why the seven-county organization will tackle issues such as the completionh of the Wekiva Parkway, diminishing water supplies, air qualityu and access to healthn care, among other In practical terms, the partnership essentially will be the chie lobbyist and head cheerleader for the region concerning qualituy of life and business vitality. To accomplish the partnership will act as the umbrell organization forfour subsidiaries: the Orlando , Leadership Orlando and . The chambe r will handle regional entrepreneurship; myregion.
org will do regionap research; Leadership Orlando will develop regional while BusinessForce will conduct regional public policy including selecting and backing candidates for localp andstate office. And that's where some confusiobn surfaces as to what role the partnershiop will play versus organizations such as the MetroOrlandl EDC, local chambers and the Disney Entrepreneur Adding to the confusion is the fact that not all of thei r roles have been precisely defined yet, particularly the Orlando chamber's. The chamber will move in a new and, as yet, undefineds direction. The partnership will have veto power over itspolicy decisions.
That in part, will be determined by the outcome of a surveh of small businesses and businesz organizations currentlybeing conducted. The results are expected by Until then, "We're waiting for the chamber to define its role and to seewhere [it] fits in the region' ecosystem," says Jerry Ross, director of the Disneuy Entrepreneur Center and a membet of the partnership's governing board of Another area of concern is how much money the partnership is tryingf to raise -- and how that will affect other regional The partnership is being funded through a 10-tiered, "faitr share" system of contributions by including some of the biggest players in the such as , Lockheed Martin, Darden Restaurants and The "fairt share" principle is based on the size of the and contributions range from $2,500 per year to Investors are being asked to pledge theird commitment for three yearsd so the partnership will have the financiap strength to handle long-term However, investors h ave the opportunity to opt out afted the first year if they don't think the partnershi is making progress on its Heath Ritenour, incoming chief executive office r for , says he made it cleard to Stuart that his $10,000-a-year commitment hinges on progress being "I want a report card with concrete details," Ritenour says.
Patricia Engfer, generap manager of the at the and one ofthe partnership'w founding directors, also wants to see results, but is less dogmaticx about how they are calculated. "o can't say a specific thing will determines whether we will continue ourpledge -- it will be a variet of reasons," says Engfer, who declined to disclose the hotel's investment. "I think progress is beingg made now." The partnershi aims to have 350 investors anda three-yeaf commitment total of $6.5 milliomn by October. So far, investorws have agreed to about $1.
4 million a year for the next three years, says Stuart, who declines to reveal his annual salary at the new He earned about $355,000 annually heading up the Orlandk chamber, according to public records. The Centralk Florida Partnership's money will be divided among its four lines of with 40 percentto myregion.org, 28 percent to BusinessForce, 23 percent to the Orlando Regionalp Chamber and 9 percent to Leadership Orlando. Whilew none of the partnership investors contacted say they will lessebn their financial commitment toother organizations, Stuart says selectingh which organizations to support is somethingf investors do every day.
"The American way is the best team expandsz at the right he says. "The competition isn't for money, but for