Firm failed on jobs promise, owes county $200K

Government subsidies in exchange for jobs — in this case there weren't nearly enough jobs — is back in the news, again, in Sarasota County.

The latest company under scrutiny is Sarasota Medical Products. The firm, which manufactures medical devices for wound care and infections, was a sought after startup in 2010. Pinellas and Sarasota counties were among the governments that wooed the company, founded by Walter Leise III, a onetime U.S. Army attack helicopter crew chief with a Ph.D. in molecular biology and biochemistry.

The company chose Sarasota, and the county opened up the economic development incentives checkbook: It gave Sarasota Medical $360,000 in September 2010 in return for a promise to hire and maintain 61 fulltime jobs by September 2015. The company, a year later, obtained an SBA loan for $1.6 million and another $1.6 million from a private equity firm.