- December 13, 2025
Flagler County, in an effort to further economic development, is going to explore potentially creating a new intergovernmental agency.
The idea comes from Leon County, Florida and Tallahassee's Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency, County Administrator Heidi Petito said at the Dec. 1 Flagler County Commission meeting. The agency operates under a board of directors from city and county commissions to implement major infrastructure projects across the community, according to the agency website.
Petito said she was looking for permission from the Flagler County Commission to begin discussions with the municipalities on creating a similar model agency in Flagler County and what that might look like. From an economic standpoint, she said, jurisdictional fragmentation in planning can slow progress.
“What we are bringing back to you is a potential opportunity that may provide the framework for better coordination and for more effective planning,” she said.
The Flagler County Commission was overall supportive of beginning the process, at least to get a better understanding of what such an agency could do in Flagler County. Commissioner Andy Dance said if there are efficiencies in creating such an agency, the county should at least explore the option.
“I don't know that we can take the exact model,” Dance said, “but scaled down versions of some of the better parts of what Tallahassee and Leon [County] have done.”
Commissioner Pam Richardson said she was not against it but did have some reservations about who would end up included in the project over others.
“We haven't had cohesiveness with this type of thing,” Richardson said. “If we don't have all the partners in, then it's, again, a divided county.”
Petito said the invitation is open to anyone who wants to be a part of it, but when it comes to considering areas available for growth, Bunnell and Palm Coast have more opportunities available.
“When you look at the makeup of the community, and you look at areas of opportunity, just based on size,” she said, “I think it is probably more than likely the growth that you would see are probably either in unincorporated, Palm Coast or the city of Bunnell, just looking at land mass.”
The initiative is a part of Flagler County’s economic development goals and initiatives. Flagler County’s Economic Development Manager Tywan Arrington said job creation is accomplished through three points: job creation, job retention and quality of life.
“Economic development is live, learn, work and play,” Arrington said. “The government cannot create jobs, but the government can create the conditions for job creation.”
Those conditions are created through things like commercial revitalization support, grants, and other infrastructure. Flagler County has already begun that process with the creation of its Industrial Development Authority.
The next step with the IDA, Arrington said, is to conduct a SWOT analysis for Flagler County to see if it is prepared for successful economic development. Arrington will return with the results of the SWOT analysis in February.
According to Arrington and Petito's presentation on Dec. 1, Flagler County’s four pillars for success include effective government and growth and infrastructure. Tourism is still a major driver for Flagler County’s economic growth, but, Petito said, they have also received a lot of interest from the technology and aviation and aerospace industries.
Flagler County received 53 requests for information from potential businesses in the last fiscal year, but in only 12 of those cases did the county respond with information. That is because, Tourism Development Director Amy Lukasik said, Flagler did not meet the minimum requirements in the other 41 cases.
“Nine times out of 10, it’s at the sites and the building, the infrastructure that’s already there,” she said.
That is a fixable problem, with the right partners, Petito said.
But the county faces other barriers, too, some of which are being felt across the state, like a lack of affordable housing for the labor force and a growing unemployment rate, as well as community resistance to growth and a lack of diversification across industries.
“Flagler County is at a turning point where growth is happening,” Petito said. “But we're not reaching our full potential.”
