Story of Place
A holistic-values-driven enterprise will naturally seek to honor the community and place in which it operates. For First Green Bank, that community and that place is Central Florida’s Lake County, and its near environs. First Green Bank hopes to play a regenerative role in the economic transition of this once rural county now vulnerable to extractive development. Over the course of the coming year, The Year in the Life project will be engaging with knowledgeable local leaders who offer their diverse perspectives on the challenges ahead for Lake County. First Green Bank CEO Ken LaRoe frames our discussion in the video below:
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Lake County Commissioner Welton Cadwell Reflects on an Economy in Transition
To begin our Lake County “story of place” we speak with Welton Cadwell, a 23-year veteran of the Lake County Board of Commissioners. Today, as Florida’s real estate market reheats and memories of a pre-recession era of unchecked development remain fresh, thoughtful Lake County community leaders like Cadwell are hoping to chart a balanced, managed growth course for the county that ensures that it adapts to systemic challenges in a way that secures its long-term health and well-being.
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An Organic Farmer Tells His Cautionary Tale of Lake County
Hugh Kent, owner of King Grove Organic Farm, says that he is deeply troubled by changes in the political and economic landscape in Lake County and Central Florida that are reversing the innovative land-use codes that so many local advocates worked so hard to put in place. “We were able to do some really good things with zoning before the recession,” he reports. “But at the beginning of the economic downturn, when people stopped hearing backup signals on earth moving equipment, they just forgot about what the rampant development was doing to the land around here."
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US Green Chamber CEO Michelle Thatcher Crafts a Careful Outreach to Local Business
Michelle Thatcher, CEO and co-founder of the over 1000 member U.S. Green Chamber of Commerce grew up in one of the “greenest” communities in Washington State. Now based in the very different social and political climate of Central Florida, she has crafted an outreach program for the Green Chamber that is carefully tailored to a business community that may not always be initially receptive to its message.
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Economic Growth Director Robert Chandler’s Diversification StrategyRobert Chandler was the person who was going to leave Lake County where he grew up and never come back. In March 2015 was named the county’s first ever Director of Economic Growth. "The things that make Lake County a special place to live— whether it is its natural resources or its small town character—can be at odds with unplanned growth,” Robert admits. “This is my home, so every decision I make is meaningful to me.”
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