Mission Statement: The purpose of the Walton County Economic Development Council is to enhance the quality of life for residents of Walton County by raising the economic standard of living. We pursue this purpose in three major ways:

1. We help existing businesses thrive and grow.

2. We seek out and encourage appropriate new businesses to open in Walton County.

3. We encourage and support improvements in transportation, public schools, and affordable housing that would make Walton County a better place to live and do business.

The EDC raised private money to buy the Industrial Park at Freeport and to help provide the infrastructure. We use our resources to manage and market this property and provide incentives to promote industrial growth in Walton County. Each new job creates on average another .43 jobs by induced effects.

Encouraging existing companies to expand and recruiting new companies to locate adds value. A small company adding or creating 20 new jobs averaging $25,000 a year that exports goods or services outside Walton County adds a half million dollars to the local economy.

We strive to diversify the economy and increase the tax base for all parts of the county, thus spreading the tax burden evenly.

The EDC hosts this website to supply information about existing industrial sites, demographic data, and Enterprise Zone data and to provide marketing exposure to Walton County.

We assist existing industries and businesses with expansion plans by identifying and facilitating state tax incentives, new job training, and enhanced training for current employees. 80% of new jobs are created through existing industry.

Our goal is to improve the quality of life by advocating high wage/high skill jobs. We are a member of Florida's Great Northwest, which has a strategic plan that identifies and markets Walton County to these job sectors.

©2008 Walton County Economic Development Council