Site selector: Sarasota made 'big mistake'

One of Florida's leading site selection executives — a former state official who oversaw the deal that brought the Hertz corporate headquarters to Lee County — has harsh words for Sarasota.

The executive, Rob Sitterley, specifically says county commissioners made “a big mistake” when it rejected a proposal to use $720,000 in public funds to help lure a national roofing company headquarters to town. The commission voted 4-1 May 24 to turn down the proposal, under the codename Project Mulligan. If approved, the company, unnamed in public documents, would have been eligible for more than $1.5 million in state and local subsidies in return for 180 jobs over six years.

Commissioners were partially swayed by a vocal group of builders, contractors and roofers who opposed the project. That side's position: Using public money to woo a business in an industry that already struggles to find employees would be a bigger mistake than missing a corporate headquarters opportunity.