OKEECHOBEE- The Okeechobee County Economic Development Corporation (OCEDC) presented its quarterly report to the Okeechobee County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) on March 12.
OCEDC president Kaylee King presented the Board with both the 2025 fourth quarter and 2026 first quarter report. The report presented to Board Members showed 27 active projects with a combined capital investment value of $61.8 million and a projected estimate of 395 jobs.
While those job numbers are only projected, a funding request letter to the Board of County Commissioners from OCEDC chairman Jeff Sumner gives more detail on jobs that have already been finalized through new businesses from the previous fiscal year. According to Sumner, WSF GAS, Landmark Precast, Advanced Medical Sanitation, Southeast Ready‑Mix Concrete, Alaris Aero, and 7 Brew have committed more than $17 million in private capital in Okeechobee. And that those projects have already produced 36 new local jobs, with another 76 positions anticipated for 2026–2027 as facilities build out.
Sumner claims that the county's $150,000 FY2024-25 allocation was tied to more than $38 million in secured private capital, a leverage ratio of more than $253 in private investment per county dollar.
That funding request letter went on to request $90,000 from the Board of County Commissioners for OCEDC.
One of the biggest potential projects is IRSC’s Okee-One data center project planned at the old School for Boys campus in Okeechobee.
IRSC ultimately acquired the Boys School property with OCEDC assistance, and at the February 26, 2026, Okeechobee County Commission meeting, IRSC Associate Vice President Andrew Treadwell announced that demolition of the Boys School would begin in March, with the first phase clearing cottages along US Highway 441. The plan calls for the site to house a 9-to-10-megawatt data center.
The project received a $1.5 million Rural Infrastructure Fund grant from Governor Ron DeSantis in December 2024, though Treadwell acknowledged more funding will be needed. The political environment around data centers has grown complicated since that initial funding grant. Gov. DeSantis has raised concerns about their effect on electricity rates, though IRSC maintains the Okeechobee project falls far short of the hyperscale facilities drawing the most criticism.
The Board of County Commissioners has contributed over $1 million to the OCEDC, made through a series of annual grants since the organization's founding in 2018. The OCEDC got its start after a report on the condition of the economy in Okeechobee by POLICOM Corp.
In May 2018, the Okeechobee County Board of Commissioners conducted a workshop to evaluate the county’s approach to growth and development. After deliberation, the Board voted to seek professional counsel from Bill Fruth with the POLICOM Corp., a firm in Martin County that specializes in the analysis of local economies to determine whether they are growing or declining.
After several months of conducting research, Mr. Fruth presented his findings in the “Economic Development Plan for Okeechobee County”. The report highlighted stagnant population growth in Okeechobee, low-wage jobs, poor community aesthetics, lack of new-home construction and declining public-school enrollment. It also called for county leaders to create and fund a professionally managed economic development organization.
Later that year, the OCEDC was incorporated as a 501(c)(6), with its board drawn from the BOCC, the City of Okeechobee, Indian River State College, the Chamber of Commerce, Florida Power and Light, and several private businesses.
In its first two full fiscal years, FY2018-19 and FY2019-20, the OCEDC received a combined $777,168 in total revenue. The BOCC was by far the largest single contributor, providing $250,000 each year for a two-year total of $500,000, representing roughly 64 percent of all funding. The City of Okeechobee contributed $25,000 in the first year and $50,000 in the second. Seven private investors contributed $70,000 per year. A PPP loan of $16,145 helped the organization navigate the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The OCECD's largest single expense category is salaries and wages, which was $95,205 in FY2025.
