Jim Rosica
Enterprise Florida is finally hanging up the tie.
The state’s public-private economic development organization raised hackles a couple of years ago when it debuted a new logo that used a tie in place of the “i” in Florida.
A slew of commenters took to the agency’s Facebook page to lambaste the logo as sexist.
“I think this logo sends the wrong message, it seems to scream ‘we don’t hire women,’ ” one woman wrote. “Maybe that was not the intention, but that is the message.”
But echoing similar remarks, another woman commented, “Tie = long-standing symbol of professional business … women that have a problem with that need to just move on.”
Now, an eagle-eyed reader of FloridaPolitics.com noted that Enterprise Florida tweaked the logo. An advertisement in the latest edition of a national business magazine shows an agency logo — with no tie.
“The tie logo from 2013 is being phased out,” agency spokesman Stephen Lawson confirmed on Monday. “With new leadership comes new ideas for marketing Florida as the best state for business.”
But the logo doesn’t really look “new;” it’s just missing a tie.
It was part of the organization’s “Perfect Climate for Business” brand campaign. Marketing consultants have long suggested that every brand needs a freshening or even a full revamp now and then.
The agency stood by its tie when first criticized for it.
Melissa Medley, chief marketing officer for Enterprise Florida, told ABC News in 2013 that when “you see tie, you think business … There’s nothing sinister here.”
“I recognize some people might look at that and connect to a man’s article of clothing,” she said. “Most people do so because they haven’t seen the rest of the campaign. I respect peoples’ opinions and we would never do anything to offend anyone.”
Bill Johnson, Enterprise Florida’s president and CEO, has been in a tiff with lawmakers over funding the state’s business incentive programs.
Earlier this year, Johnson asked for $85 million in incentive funding, saying “there’s no need for (Enterprise Florida) to exist if we cannot garner the support of our Florida Legislature.”
Florida Senate President Andy Gardiner, in a memo released Monday, said the agency was simply asking for more money than it was likely to dole out in incentives.
