2017 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITY STATEMENT LOCAL ISSUES ( CONTINUED ) K-12 EDUCATION
The Chamber supports Polk County Public Schools on the following legislative priorities :
The authorization of a state funded study examining the causes of the inequity in school district funding , and ; An increase in the compression supplement for school districts who generate less funding per pupil than the state average from 100 % of the average to 105 %.
HIGHER EDUCATION
Polk State College The Chamber supports Polk State College ' s two ( 2 ) PECO funding requests :
$ 16,272,759 in PECO funds to complete the second phase of renovations to Building 4 , a 67,000 -square-foot classroom facility on the Winter Haven campus . Requested funds would address renovations and safety improvements to a nearly 50-year-old facility that also houses a digital photography lab , rehearsal rooms for music students , studios for visual arts students , and faculty offices , and ; $ 2.5 million to eliminate the debt incurred from replacing the chiller equipment at Polk State Winter Haven . The 26-year-old campus chiller system replacement has been on the PECO list since 2005 .
Lakeland Chamber of Commerce 35 Lake Morton Drive , Lakeland , FL 33801 P . O . Box 3607 , Lakeland , FL 33802 ( 863 ) 688-8551 LakelandChamber . com
HIGHER EDUCATION ( CONTINUED )
Florida Polytechnic University The Chamber supports Florida Polytechnic University ' s requests for :
$ 25,338,230 in PECO funds to build the Applied Research Center to accommodate applied research laboratories , entrepreneurship center , growing faculty and student population , industry research groups and national and international meetings and events , $ 5 million in recurring funds to support the Institute for Technology Entrepreneurship to support students in developing STEM-related start-up businesses , increase the number of patents issued and other research commercialization activities , and ; $ 5.5 million in recurring funds to support the recruitment and hiring of faculty that will grow the research enterprise and prepare students to directly enter the STEM workforce in Florida .
CHAMBER ADVOCACY COMMITTEE
Vice Chair , Advocacy Shane Kunze - Publix Super Markets , Inc .
Rich Berg - MaxPak Mike Bradley - Valencia Hills Tony Delgado - City of Lakeland Wendy Dodge - PCPS Peter Elliott - Polk State College Mike Hickman - Hickman Homes Valeria Jorn - Tri-County Human Services Erin Killebrew - Citrus Connection John Lancaster - CCLM Will Link - Reed , Mawhinney & Link Patti Loftin - Regions Bank
Committee Members
Maria Mahoney - The Mahoney Group Matt Mucci - AT & T Trista Otto - Saddle Creek David Robinson - DSM Cindy Rodriguez - SFWMD Laura Rodriguez - Lakeland Vision William Roll - Kimley-Horn Sandy Sheets - GrayRobinson Michael Spake - LRH Julie Townsend - LDDA Ashley Troutman - Northwestern Mutual
President Cory Skeates - Lakeland Chamber of Commerce