Staff Reports
Gov. Rick Scott made two appointments and one reappointment last week to the board of Enterprise Florida, the state’s public-private economic development organization.
Sonya Deen Hartley, 45, of Fort Lauderdale, was appointed for a three-year term running from now until September 2019. She takes the place of Christopher Kise.
Hartley, a vice president with JM Family Enterprises, also sits on the board of governors of the Florida Chamber of Commerce and is an executive board member of Associated Industries of Florida.
Ambassador John Rood, 61, of Jacksonville, also was appointed for a three-year term running from now until September 2019. He succeeds Hayden Dempsey.
Rood, chairman of the Vestcor Companies, previously was the U.S. Ambassador to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas in 2004-07.
He also was a member of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and of the Board of Governors of the State University System.
Belinda Keiser, 58, of Parkland, is reappointed for a three-year term running from now until September 2019.
Keiser, vice chancellor of Keiser University, also is on the 17th Judicial Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission. She has been a member of the Government Efficiency Task Force and chaired the CareerSource Florida board of directors.
In related news, the Naples Daily News reported Sunday that 92 people already have applied for the open position of Enterprise Florida president.
They include Enterprise Florida Chief Marketing Officer Joe Hice (blog here) and former Florida Department of Transportation Assistant Secretary Richard M. Biter (story here), the story said.
The board hopes to make a hire at its Sept. 28-29 meeting in Orlando.
Bill Johnson, the agency’s immediate past leader, had taken hits over his people skills as the agency’s proposed $250 million incentives fund crashed and burned during the 2016 Legislative Session.
Johnson also was questioned over his hiring and expenses. He left the organization late June.
