Polk County Industrial Development Authority
Polk County’s Industrial Development Authority was created by a special act of the Florida Legislature to finance, by the issuance and sale of revenue bonds, the cost of capital projects conferred on counties, municipalities, special districts and other local governmental bodies by the Florida Industrial Development Financing Act, Chapter 159, Part II, Florida Statutes, and to act in any manner that an industrial development authority created pursuant to Florida Statutes Section 159.45 may act. Under Section 159.46 of Florida Statutes, industrial development authorities are created for the purpose of financing and refinancing projects for the public purposes described in the act and by Sections 159.44 to 159.53, Florida Statutes, for the purpose of fostering the economic development of a county.
Jim DeGennaro
Jim DeGennaro retired in August, 2015 as the Community Development Manager for Polk County. In this role, Jim promoted commercial and retail development in small to mid-sized cities and unincorporated communities throughout the county. He spent 35 years with Polk County, most of his time with the Central Florida Development Council. Jim is a graduate of the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma at Norman and is a Certified Public Manager. He was honored as Florida’s 1995 Economic Development Professional of the Year by the Florida Economic Development Council. Jim serves as a volunteer on the board of directors for Florida First Capital Finance Corporation (since 1984) and is on the advisory boards of Bartow Regional Medical Center and the Stavros Center at the University of South Florida in Tampa. He is also on the board of the Polk County Industrial Development Authority. In October, 2014, the Central Florida Development Council honored Jim with its first Lifetime Achievement Award.
