Chamber chipping in cash for CFIC

ORLANDO -- The Central Florida Innovation Corp. is picking up $150,000 -- in undisclosed terms -- from the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce.

"This is only a temporary situation," says Ed Timberlake, CFIC's board chairman and last year's Orlando chamber chairman. "We're not going to be asking the community for support forever."

The high-tech nonprofit business incubator has helped nurture more than 1,000 businesses since its inception in 1995.

That year, the city of Orlando and Orange County government agreed to help finance CFIC for five years. The state also kicked in money; however, this past legislative session, Tallahassee cut off funding. And the original deal with the city and county called for CFIC not to request funding from either after the year 2000.

That prompted a scramble for cash. Both the chamber and the Economic Development Commission of Mid-Florida offered $150,000 each. However, the EDC also gets funding from the county and city, and money from the EDC might indirectly violate the 1995 agreement, says Timberlake.

"We didn't want to get our friends at the Economic Development Commission in hot water," he says. The Commission's offer of an interest-bearing loan is now off the table.

However, the chamber came through with its $150,000. Chamber President Jacob Stuart declined to reveal specific terms of the funding. CFIC President Richard Fox is equally tightlipped about terms, noting that legal documents do not permit him to discuss the details.

Not everyone applauds the move. "It just seems too obviously inappropriate," says one critic and longtime chamber member, arguing that the chamber is a service organization, not a lender.

Stuart, though, defends the decision, pointing out that the chamber has helped specific business interests in the past. "The chamber is delighted to support CFIC, as CFIC is supporting the chamber."

And Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood agrees. "The chamber has done the right thing," she says.