FORT PIERCE — Faced with double-digit unemployment and one of the highest rates of foreclosure in the country, St. Lucie County commissioners created a “local stimulus program” to speed up construction projects and create jobs in an economy desperate for them.

The plan included an ordinance to give local companies an edge in the bidding process and ensure that most workers involved in county projects live in St. Lucie.

But six months into the program, it’s hard to define how successful it’s been.
Economic change comes slowly, and even “fast-tracked” projects can take months to go through the design, bidding and building process. County officials, however, say their efforts have improved St. Lucie’s dire economic situation without raising taxes or increasing long-term debt.

“It’s incremental, but any jobs that we can add to the local economy absolutely has to help,” said Faye Outlaw, the county administrator.

Officials point to these milestones: (more…)