Backroom Briefing: Turn out the lights on Connecticut company

By JIM TURNER AND BRANDON LARRABEE
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, September 17, 2015.......... Florida has failed to land a "significant" Connecticut-based company, one of "America's oldest and largest," according to Florida's top business recruiter.

Yet while Florida has been actively pursuing the headquarters of the Connecticut-based conglomerate General Electric in recent months, no one will identify the whale of a company that doesn't want to move south of the Georgia-Florida line.

Senate Rules Chairman David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, acknowledged Thursday that he recently traveled with Enterprise Florida staff and House Speaker Steve Crisafulli to Connecticut to give a two-hour presentation to some unspecified corporate officials.

Simmons declined to discuss further aspects of the pitch, noting he signed a confidentiality agreement. Crisafulli also signed such an agreement, according to the speaker's office.

"I'd be happy to disclose everything, but that's all I can say to you," Simmons said.

GE has been on the relocation market since June 4, a day after Connecticut's budget was approved. The company told employees an "exploratory team" had been assembled to look at relocating the headquarters "to another state with a more pro-business environment."

Enterprise Florida President and CEO Bill Johnson, addressing the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee on Wednesday, said executive leaders at the unidentified company have advised Florida they don't want to go south of the Georgia-Florida border.

"I think that's insane, because what's the distance," Johnson said. "But it was their call."

The Atlanta Journal-Constitutional has reported that Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal was among people reaching out to GE after hearing the company was seeking a more business-friendly environment.

Johnson, who referred to the unidentified company as one of "America's oldest and largest," said at least 12 states are bidding for the company. He said the firm inquired about the number of patents issued in Florida, along with asking about the state's investment in K-12 and university-level education.

Bloomberg reported in late August that GE removed the Dallas area as a potential relocation destination because of opposition by some Texas lawmakers to the U.S. Export-Import Bank, which Congress let expire at the end of June. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported this week that Ohio had been eliminated from the running for the same reason.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott sent a letter to Congress urging the reauthorization of the bank, as it "will allow Florida companies to continue to expand their international trade activities."

Scott spokeswoman Jackie Schutz said Thursday any News Service of Florida inquiry regarding GE should be directed to the company.

Dominic McMullan, GE's senior manager of public relations, said in an email that GE's standard response on the matter is: "We have formed an exploratory team to assess the company's options to relocate corporate headquarters. The team is currently engaged in the process and is taking many factors into consideration. When there is a final decision on relocation, we will communicate it publicly."

Scott, who has declined to say if GE officials were among the corporate leaders he visited during a business-recruitment trip to the Nutmeg State in June, said on Sept. 10 that it would be a "big opportunity" to land GE. But he added that he is calling "all the companies" from Connecticut that are interested in relocating.

General Electric, founded in 1892 by a group that included inventor Thomas Edison, employs about 5,700 people in Connecticut. Other large corporations in Connecticut that reportedly could also be on Scott's radar include Aetna Inc. and Travelers Cos Inc., as they have also been critical of the state's new budget.

WHERE'S MASHBURN HALL?

Near the end of a speech Wednesday marking his official designation to be the next House speaker, Rep. Richard Corcoran recognized a former legislator named Jack Mashburn. Corcoron, R-Land O' Lakes, was trying to punctuate a point about pushing for reform and decided to use Mashburn's decision to fight segregation on a Gulf of Mexico beach to make his point.

Mashburn, who was 22 when he was elected in 1952, won his fight. But he served only one term before the integration issue led to him being voted out of office. Corcoran told reporters afterward that he found out about the incident while going to a family reunion with Corcoran's wife, who is distantly related to Mashburn. The two legislators spoke for a few minutes, and Corcoran had lunch with him again a few weeks ago.

"I left that reunion and I said to my wife, 'I want that guy to come to my designation. That's one of the best stories I've ever heard,' " Corcoran said after the designation ceremony.

It will be harder for Mashburn's story to get lost to history again if the future speaker gets his way --- which, given the nature of the Florida House, is likely to happen.

"I've got to get the support of my colleagues, but one of the first things we do (after taking office): We will name a committee room after Jack Mashburn," Corcoran told reporters. "We will have Mashburn Hall in the Florida House of Representatives."

TWEET OF THE WEEK: "Have you ever noticed many of the politicians in Tally & DC thank everyone but their Constituents, the people who put them in office" --- Pasco County Tax Collector and former state lawmaker Mike Fasano (@fasanomike) on Thursday.