TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Tallahassee’s Office of Economic Vitality has a new leader who is no stranger to business development in the Big Bend.
Keith Bowers is well-acquainted with Florida’s Capital City. “I had worked in economic development in a previous role at the Small Business Development Center at FAMU,” Bowers said.
Now, he is taking the skills and contacts cultivated through that position and taking the helm at the Office of Economic Vitality. The role had been held by Cristina Paredas. She stepped down in July of 2022. Bowers took over in September of 2022.
“We are working on about 14 active projects. All of them are pretty much confidential projects, but those 14 projects will probably net somewhere close to 1,500 jobs in our community. That is huge,” Bowers added. “Most of them are in the research and some manufacturing. They are skilled positions.”
As projects progress in Innovation Park, Danfoss Turborcor is expanding their footprint with their new manufacturing facility. They make oil-free compressors for use in the HVAC industry. We first told you about the idea in 2021. Danfoss President, Ricardo Schneider, said the project will bring more than 200 jobs to the area once complete.
“That is going to have a huge economic impact when we’re talking about really high skilled jobs,” Bowers said.
Right next door, North Florida Innovation Labs is climbing into the sky. They broke ground in May of 2022 on a 40,000 square foot building that will sustain over 600 full time, permanent, high-quality jobs.
“We’re the best educated city in the state of Florida,” Bowers said. “That makes us very attractive, especially when companies are looking for skilled labor.”
When asked what he will do to fill that job market, Bowers said, “we support workforce development. We work closely with CareerSource Capital Region. We work closely with the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce. Their initiative is Talent Pipeline Management.”
Bowers said he is also working to develop connections with FSU, FAMU, TCC and Lively Tech. He said he is also, “even drilling down further at the local school district level even having conversations with the school superintendent about how curricula may be adjusted to fit those needs.”
As Tallahassee attracts more jobs in the tech field, getting people to and from the capital city is also on his radar. One complaint from travelers is the lack of options when it comes to direct flights in and out of the city. Bowers said, “we are working with the airport right now.”
“Our intention is to surpass one million total passengers by 2024,” explained David Pollard, Director of Aviation at Tallahassee International Airport. As more international business comes online with a new processing facility here, leaders expect passenger traffic to follow.
