Born 2011: Florida Department of Economic Opportunity

Gov. Rick Scott signed into law Tuesday legislation that reshuffles the state’s economic development agencies, while eliminating Florida’s lead growth management department. Scott signed SB 2156 into law while meeting with Enterprise Florida business leaders in Orlando. The head of the public-private Enterprise Florida, Gray Swoope, who Scott recruited from a similar post in Mississippi, becomes Florida’s secretary of commerce, under the legislation. The legislation also consolidates much of the state’s economic development efforts under a new Department of Economic Opportunity.