• Industries Of The Mind
• Smart Growth & Transportation
• International Investment
• Quality Of Place
• Agribusiness, Equestrian And Food
• Total Education
• Housing

What will Palm Beach County look like 25 years from now? Will we be the equestrian capital of the world? Will we be a major grower of agri-bio "food pharming?" Will the county become a magnet for biotechnical companies following Scripps' arrival?

These and many other questions were asked and discussed Wednesday and Thursday at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach. It was all part of the 2005 Economic Summit; the first such gathering hosted by Palm Beach County in a decade. Some 400 county officials, planning experts and business leaders attended the summit.

Palm Beach County Commission Chairman Tony Masilotti opened the summit by dispensing with his prepared remarks and declaring that attendees should get down to the business of "planning our community like your children's lives depend on it."

Masilotti urged the group to "talk about what is important, not political."

"What we do here in the next 48 hours will affect our children and grandchildren," he said. "We're not here to talk about what we've done in the past, but what we do tomorrow. How do we make our community better and stronger?"

In an apparent reference to a court decision due soon about whether the Scripps Biotechnical Research Center will be allowed at Mecca Farms, Masilotti declared, "we deserve to have Scripps in our community, and we're going to fight to make sure we do."

Masilotti told the Town-Crier that he believes the 2005 Economic Summit will help the county create a vision for the future of Palm Beach County.

Following an hour-long welcoming ceremony by Masilotti, Palm Beach County League of Cities President and Boca Raton City Commissioner Susan Haynie, Business Development Board Chairman Charlie Rutherford and Economic Development Research Institute Executive Director Greta Von Unruh, attendees broke out into work sessions on several topics.

Topics included Industries of the Mind (Scripps and other technical research); Agribusiness, Equestrian & Food (equestrian tourism and agricultural economics concepts); Smart Growth and Transportation (traditional and strategic growth concepts for economic development).