Front and Center

>>Don Root loves that he can easily walk to the Port Charlotte Town Center mall from his office in Murdock, but not because he craves gyros at lunch or enjoys browsing the suit racks at Dillard’s. As executive director of the Charlotte County Economic Development Office, he sees the mall as a selling point for the county—one more perk to persuade businesses to move there.

Root lobbied hard for a new, more accessible mall in St. Lucie County, where he spent nearly five years as director of economic development. Not only is that mall being developed, but Root also helped bring 1,700 jobs and $193 million in capital investment to the county before leaving in 2006 to work as an independent consultant in business development. Months later, a recruiter hired by the Charlotte EDO tapped him to replace longtime director Betty Williams. Root, who missed working with the public and on a team, took the job in October 2007.

But career opportunity wasn’t the only appeal.

Before the recruiter called, Root had never set foot in the area. On a fact-finding visit to Charlotte, he was so taken with the sight of the joggers and walkers on the Peace River Bridge that he parked his car and joined them. "That was a really cool thing," recalls Root, 57. "It’s not something you see on the East Coast. I don’t know where else you can do that."

Now, a central part of his job is getting out-of-town businesses as excited about Charlotte County as he is. He says the key is to look at each company as an individual. "You have to zero in on why they are looking to move," he says. "Then you present your county as the solution to their problem."

Depending on a company’s needs, he’ll highlight the Charlotte County Airport, the 4,300-acre Enterprise Charlotte Airport Park Overlay District, Charlotte Harbor and, yes, Town Center mall.

Going for Growth