Scott’s KY Trip Could Mean More Pizza For Florida

September 25, 2015

Gov. Rick Scott and Enterprise Florida typically keep hush-hush the names of businesses the governor and his entourage have met privately on domestic-recruiting trips launched in Democratic-run states.

But on Wednesday, the governor’s office wasted little time in revising Scott’s daily calendar to highlight in red that he had just spent an hour in Louisville, Ky., with his old pal John Schnatter, the founder and CEO of Papa John’s pizza.

Scott spokeswoman Jackie Schutz said the one hour meeting, which included a brief tour of the company’s headquarters, was simply posted so people could see that the tete-a-tete had occurred.

“Obviously they’re very successful in Florida, and he wanted to talk about how they’re doing in Florida and about continuing to grow and have success in the state,” Schutz said.

The three-decade-old chain has more than 4,700 locations in 37 countries, including about 260 locations in Florida.

Schnatter told WLKY in Louisville that he understands the appeal of Florida, but that he wasn’t moving the company headquarters.

“When it comes to business in Kentucky, Florida is definitely much more pro-business, but we got an election coming up and hopefully we will rectify that,” Schnatter told WLKY, referring to a Kentucky gubernatorial election this fall.

Scott heard a similar reply when he went to Philadelphia in February.

Wawa convenience stores Chief Executive Officer Chris Gheysens told reporters that expansion in Florida was ahead of schedule but that he rebuffed efforts by Scott to move the company headquarters to Florida.

“It wasn’t about … tax breaks and things like that, it’s what’s best for our associates,” Gheysens said at the time.

Scott did get to conduct a little end-zone dance in downtown Lexington on Tuesday, rolling out a Northern Kentucky company, 1st Choice Aerospace, which had months earlier announced that it would expand its South Florida operations.

While Scott’s office highlighted the WLKY coverage of Wednesday’s visit to Papa John’s, the press release omitted a less-than-flattering quote from Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer. Fischer hit on the lingering resentment over Scott’s decision, as the then-CEO of Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp., to relocate the company’s headquarters from Louisville to Nashville, Tenn.

“In 1995, Rick Scott left town in the middle of the night, breaking dozens of commitments he’d made here. Within two years, his Columbia/HCA pleaded guilty in one the largest Medicare fraud cases in U.S. history,” Fischer said. “The company paid an historic $1.7 billion fine, and Scott was forced to resign. And now, this guy is coming to Kentucky and saying, ‘Trust me?’ I don’t think so.”

by Dara Kam and Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida

Comments

7 Responses to “Scott’s KY Trip Could Mean More Pizza For Florida”

  1. Mark T on September 26th, 2015 6:52 am

    I still can’t believe Rick Scott got elected, TWICE.. We are truly Floriduh..!!

  2. Sedition on September 25th, 2015 5:53 pm

    The dork should be rounding up GOOD PAYING CAREERS instead of these little tourist service jobs. Many in the high tech industry would LOVE to live along the Gulf Coast if there were only decent paying jobs to be had. Higher paying jobs would also bring with it more in tax revenue instead of robbing from the pockets of those barely able to scrape by.

  3. Lone Chief on September 25th, 2015 5:01 pm

    We need to get some clean industry here (all over the country in fact. I’ve taken several road-trips and the number of abandoned factories is devastating). We put way too much stock into our fickle tourist trade, serviced oriented, addiction driven economy. Let’s just all play the Lottery and hope for the best. Speaking of that, isn’t 1/2 suppose to go to education? That ain’t happening. Those jackasses who sent all our production to other countries should be tried for TREASON. What, just to save nickel? Now most of our products are made by a sworn enemy country/government. (I love Chinese people, I just hate communism). Don’t even get me going on small business eating, crap-selling Walmart (read the devil). We have become a nation of mindless sheep. Bring back OUR production, provide training and good paying jobs here. I’ll gladly pay the extra nickel.

  4. JJ on September 25th, 2015 3:14 pm

    Yes, Rufus, you are right; that is NOT creating jobs, that’s stealing them. But, he’s used to stealing. It’s what he knows :(

  5. Gop on September 25th, 2015 2:36 pm

    Scott can’t even deliver minimum wage pizza jobs to Fl.

  6. Rufus Logun on September 25th, 2015 11:59 am

    While I’m favor of more jobs in northwest Florida as a general rule, poaching jobs from another state is not creating jobs, it’s just moving them from one place to another to pad your stats.

  7. bill m on September 25th, 2015 7:59 am

    Great quote by the Louisville Mayor!

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News