Resolution 2015-062 RESOLUTION NO. 2015 - 62
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 OF/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 OF/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 OF/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 OF/IFAS Research and Extension programs returns $10 in benefits
for every $1 invested. Research, education, and extension activities at OF/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 he a critical economic engine for the region and the state; and
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WHEREAS, the OF/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 OF/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; ,; ; `t':> BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
DW1CI T E. BROCK, Clerk COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA
By: ____ 6 By: I 4,aeofe-e--
Attest aS to Chaiiiai'sI?Pputy Cl: k TIM NANCE, CHAIRMAN
sianature on3
pprove as t rm and leg's Ity:
Jeffrey A 1. z
County to i;ey
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