County rehabs its business image

County rehabs its business image

Manatee County economic development officials have been spending the past few years year taking small steps to change the county's image seen in some quarters as unfriendly to businesses.

Its most recent step in that regard was with DemanData Systems, a Bradenton-based firm with a niche in developing supply chain software for health care companies. DemanData, with 40 local employees and another 60 employees outside Florida, had outgrown its office space and was seeking a new headquarters.

The county, through its rapid response permitting program, assisted DemanData with moving its corporate headquarters to a renovated building in the Gulf Coast Corporate Park of Palmetto in northern Manatee County. Economic development officials helped the company navigate the county's internal bureaucracy to secure permits and approvals in a few months.

Maureen Donovan, DemanData's vice president of marketing, says the county served as a good partner in the move. “The relationship between DemanData Systems and the rapid response permitting team in Manatee County is a great example of how a vision can be turned into reality, quickly and efficiently,” says Donovan.