Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/247585
Sarasota News Leader January 24, 2014 as the 2017 World Rowing Championships, is difficult to estimate. The events are "so big" that outcomes are tough to gauge at this point, Blackketter said. "They bring in television. They bring in world athletes." One key to success Blackketter laid out was the need for Suncoast Aquatics to grow events. How can the organization nurture a medium-sized competition to help it become larger as the years go on? Blackketter said the group was dedicated to working with organizers to grow their programs from year to year. Then talk turned to money. Blackketter was adamant that Suncoast Aquatics would not be coming back to Sarasota County — which has already chipped in $19.5 million for park improvements — for additional funds. "We will not be asking for capital from Sarasota County," he said, telling the Council he is "very confident" that Suncoast Aquatics can raise the rest of the money needed to get the park up and running. How much are we talking? $22 million. Blackketter said Randy Benderson, president of the company that bears his family's name, would personally chair the foundation charged with rounding up all that dough. Blackketter said he has spoken with several fundraisers to ask them if the $22 million goal is doable, and they've assured him it is. "If there's any project out there today, this is certainly one you can raise the money for," Blackketter said he has heard. Caragiulo complimented Blackketter on the amount of detail in the business plan, but said the group needed to develop a simpler message for the public. "Public-private Page 29 partnerships can be very dicey," Caragiulo pointed out. "There's a perception that there's no scrutiny put to them, that they're a form of welfare." "Where's our talking points?" he asked. Blackketter referred the Council to one particular slide in his presentation, the one that showed an $8.5 million economic impact this year leaping up to a $56.1 million impact in 2020. One major concern discussed during Blackketter's meeting with the County Commission in December was the state's insistence that the county repay half of the state's $10 million investment in the rowing park if the facility fails to generate $25 million in sales taxes by the end of 2018. But Blackketter said Wednesday that debate may be moot. He has spoken to Enterprise Florida, the public-private entity that oversees economic development projects for the state, and asked its staff to gut the so-called "clawback" provision in its deal with Sarasota County. He expects to have amendments to that contract within a few weeks, he said. Patterson called the Council a "tough crowd"; Blackketter will face another tough crowd Tuesday, Jan. 28, when he delivers the Suncoast Aquatics plan to the County Commission. In December, the board asked critical questions about why the business plan had been delayed for so long. "We've had the business plan discussion for a long time," Blackketter acknowledged Wednesday. With such a significant investment of taxpayer dollars on the line, don't expect that discussion to end soon. %