SOME INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS work hard in planning for economic development. Other organizations boost the economy and provide the foundation for economic development just in their day-to-day work activities.

The Lakeland Economic Development Council falls into the former category. Tucker Paving, Inc., falls into the latter category. Combine the two, even in a loose and friendly professional association, and you have the makings of something that can lead to big things for the Polk County economy.

We use the term “loose association” here because while Tucker Paving is not an official member of the Lakeland EDC, we do support the organization, its work, and its goals, and we provide a link to the EDC’s website (www.lakelandedc.com) on the Resources page of our website at www.tuckerpaving.com/links/resources. On the same page, we also have links to the websites for the Winter Haven Economic Development Council (www.whedc.com) and the Haines City Economic Development Council (hainescityedc.com).

A Tucker Paving crew often can be found on the job at a project site in greater Lakeland, where construction seems to be going on everywhere. That’s a positive testimonial to the proactive and productive work of the Lakeland EDC, which is being very ably led by President Steve Scruggs (he’s been with the EDC for more than 29 years!), his staff, and the EDC’s board of directors, which currently has lawyer David Hallock as its chairman.

You can learn a lot about the Lakeland EDC by clicking over to its well-designed, well-organized, and information-rich website. One of the most interesting sections of the website, at least from our construction-based point of view, is the section labeled “Historical Development Activity.” This section features lists of major economic development activity in and around Lakeland from 1999 up through the present.

The website also includes a section devoted to economic development success stories — and there are many of those in Lakeland. For example, the Lakeland EDC reports that Publix Supermarkets, Amazon, Rooms To Go, Saddle Creek Corp., and Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits of America each have a Lakeland distribution center encompassing 1 million square feet.

That’s a lot of space. That’s a lot of stuff for storage. That’s a lot of staffing to move stuff in and out. That’s a lot of business — long-lasting business — for Lakeland and Polk County.