Manatee County Commissioners extended County Administrator Ed Hunzeker's contract until January 2020. Commissioners voiced unanimous support for Hunzeker and voted to approve a one-year extension to his current contract, which was to end Jan. 29, 2019.  Last year, Hunzeker's vision to redevelop and revitalize urban areas of the county took form, as the new Redevelopment and Economic Opportunity Department developed a strategic work plan for the Southwest District. Using funding collected in the new district, the County completed its first public-private redevelopment project at the Parkwood Professional Center on 26th Street West. Early in his tenure as Manatee County Administrator, Hunzeker won Commission approval for a new economic development incentive package for  businesses that promised to provide new performance-based jobs that paid above the county average. Commissioners have since approved nearly $11.5 million in economic development-related incentives to create or retain more nearly 5,200 local jobs here through 2021. The companies who have received local incentives have invested more than $648 million in capital improvements resulting in a more than $330 million in property tax revenues and $2 billion in local wages over the next decade.

Manatee County