Agenda 03/24/2015 Item #16H5 3/24/2015 16.H.5.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Recommendation to approve a Resolution for the Collier County Board of County Commissioners
to request that the Florida Legislature support the funding request for the University Of Florida
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension Services and Research and Education Centers,
in support of local, regional, and statewide economic development and agribusiness industry, and
to deliver the resolution to the Collier County Legislative Delegation and other elected state
officials.
OBJECTIVE: To support the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
(UF/IFAS) overall budget funding request., in light of the expanding relationships and cooperation
between the University of Florida, the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center, and Collier
County.
CONSIDERATIONS:
Investments in OF/IFAS Research and Extension programs return $10 in benefits for every $1
invested. Research, education, and extension activities at OF/IFAS and SWFREC supporting southwest
Florida agricultural interests, including cattle, citrus,vegetables, sugarcane, and ornamental crops,
collectively generate $1 billion in sales annually, and are the core of an agribusiness and natural resource
economy in southwest Florida that contributes $6 Billion of compound economic activity statewide, and
continue to be a critical economic engine for Collier County, the region and the state.
The OF/IFAS and SWFREC is a valuable portal to both the University of Florida and the wider
national Land Grant university system, providing education, science, and technology applicable to the
management of water, environmental issues, and natural resources critical to the region, state, and nation.
Recently, the OF/IFAS and SWFREC have expanded their commitment and cooperative
initiatives in Collier County in support of our local agribusiness industry,the Collier County Economic
Business Accelerator, and Water Resource Management. This supplementary Resolution will reinforce
our support for OF/IFAS funding and will recognize the newly developing partnerships between
UF/IFAS, private industry, and Collier County government related to Agricultural Research, Food
Science/Food Service and other Business Accelerators, and Water Resource Management, that will drive
economic development locally, regionally, and statewide.
Funding for SWFREC facility expansion and recurring funding for additional faculty and staff are
imbedded in the UF/IFAS general budget request.
The proposed Resolution will memorialize the Collier County Board of County Commissioners'
support for the expanding research and economic development partnerships with OF/IFAS which are
critical to the local economy and requests the Florida Legislature to support the requested capital and
recurring funding of the statewide OF/IFAS Extension Offices and Research Centers.
LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS: The proposed Resolution is legally sufficient and requires majority
support for Board approval. -JAK
FISCAL IMPACT: None.
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3/24/2015 16.H.5.
GROWTH MANAGEMENT IMPACT: None.
RECOMMENDATION: To support the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural
Sciences (UF/IFAS) overall budget funding request, in light of the expanding relationships and
cooperation between the University of Florida, the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center, and
Collier County. Upon approval by the Board of County Commissioners and subsequent execution, the
Resolution will be distributed to:
Florida Gov. Rick Scott
Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam
Florida Senate President Andy Gardiner
Florida House Speaker Steve Crisafulli
Collier County Legislative Delegation members, including:
Senator Garrett Richter, Senate President Pro Tempore
Senator Dwight Bullard
Representative Matt Hudson, House Speaker Pro Tempore and Collier Delegation Chair
Representative Kathleen Passidomo
Representative Carlos Trujillo
The Resolution will also be transmitted to other members of the Florida Legislature, elected state
officials,the Florida Association of Counties and the Florida League of Cities.
PREPARED BY: Tim Nance, County Commissioner, District 5
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3/24/2015 16.H.5.
COLLIER COUNTY
Board of County Commissioners
Item Number: 16.16.H.16.H.5.
Item Summary: Recommendation to approve a Resolution for the Collier County Board of
County Commissioners to request that the Florida Legislature support the funding request for
the University Of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension Services and
Research and Education Centers, in support of local, regional, and statewide economic
development and agribusiness industry, and to deliver the resolution to the Collier County
Legislative Delegation and other elected state officials.
Meeting Date: 3/24/2015
Prepared By
Name: FlanaganJim
Title: Executive Coordinator to Commissioner,
3/18/2015 12:46:31 PM
Submitted by
Title: Executive Coordinator to Commissioner,
Name: FlanaganJim
3/18/2015 12:46:33 PM
Approved By
Name: Ochs Leo
Title: County Manager, County Managers Office
Date: 3/18/2015 1:10:06 PM
Name: OchsLeo
Title: County Manager, County Managers Office
Date: 3/18/2015 3:15:54 PM
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3/24/2015 16.H.5.
RESOLUTION NO. 2015 -
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF
COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, IN SUPPORT OF THE LEGISLATURE TO
GRANT THE FUNDING REQUEST FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES (UF/IFAS)
EXTENSION SERVICE, RESEARCH CENTERS AND PROGRAMS IN COLLIER
COUNTY, THE REGION AND THE STATE;
RECOGNIZING OF/IFAS AND THEIR LOCAL EFFORTS HAVING HAD GREAT POSITIVE
ECONOMIC IMPACT, POTENTIAL AND SUCCESS IN COLLIER COUNTY, IN THE
REGION, AND IN THE STATE; TO ENCOURAGE THE LEGISLATURE TO PROVIDE
FUNDING FOR CONTINUED AND EXPANDED UF/IFAS STAFF AND PROGRAMMING
EFFORTS RELATIVE TO AG INDUSTRY RESEARCH, CITRUS INDUSTRY DISEASE
ERADICATION, FOOD SCIENCE AND SAFETY, WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
AND OTHER RESEARCH PROGRAMS WHICH SUPPORT THE INDUSTRIES CRITICAL
TO THE SUCCESS OF LOCAL AND REGIONAL ECONOMIES; AND RECOGNIZE THE
UF/IFAS - INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPS AND ENSURE THEIR CONTINUED
AVAILABILITY AND EXPANSION OF SERVICES THAT BRING POSITIVE ECONOMIC
IMPACT TO COLLIER COUNTY, THE REGION AND THE STATE.
WHEREAS, the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is a
part of the nation's land grant university system, a system of public institutions established by the
Congress of the U.S. Congress through the Morrill Act of 1862 to provide higher education to citizens of
average needs; and
WHEREAS, The land grant mission was later expanded through federal legislation that created
and helps fund the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station for the purpose of conducting research, and
the Florida Cooperative Extension Service which brings information and technology gained through
research to the public; and,
WHEREAS, The OF/IFAS has had a long and distinguished presence in Collier County through
the UF/IFAS Extension Service and the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center(SWFREC),
WHEREAS, the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center (SWFREC), part of
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), was established as a OF
support facility in 1958 and became a OF/IFAS research and education center in 1986 after the
agricultural industry in southwest Florida convinced the state that the region needed its own center to
serve the region's unique agricultural and natural resource needs; and
WHEREAS, investments in UF/IFAS Research and Extension programs returns $10 in benefits
for every $1 invested. Research, education, and extension activities at UF/IFAS and SWFREC supporting
southwest Florida agricultural interests, including cattle ranches, citrus, vegetables, sugarcane, and
ornamental crops, collectively generate $1 billion in sales annually, and are the core of an agribusiness
and natural resource economy in southwest Florida that contributes $6 Billion of compound economic
activity statewide, and continue to be a critical economic engine for the region and the state; and
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3/24/2015 16.H.5.
WHEREAS, the UF/IFAS and SWFREC is a valuable educational portal to both the University of
Florida and the wider national Land Grant university system, providing science and technology applicable
to the management of water, environmental issues, and natural resources critical to the region, state, and
nation; and
WHEREAS, the OF/IFAS and SWFREC have expanded their commitment and cooperative
initiatives in Ag Sciences, Food Safety, the Collier County Economic Business Accelerator and Water
Resource Management,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, that Collier County Board of County Commissioners supports
research and economic development partnerships of UF/IFAS which are critical to the local economy and
requests the Florida Legislature to grant the funding request for the University of Florida Institute of Food
and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Extension Service, Research Centers, and programs in Collier
County, the region and the State.
THIS RESOLUTION ADOPTED after motion, second and majority (unanimous) vote on this
the 24th day of March, 2015.
ATTEST: BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
DWIGHT E. BROCK, Clerk COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA
By: By:
, Deputy Clerk TIM NANCE, CHAIRMAN
Approved as to form and legality:
Jeffrey A. Klatzkow
County Attorney
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