DevelopLee: Pushing Lehigh into forefront

By Staff | Sep 21, 2016

Rachel Busch

A group of Lehigh movers and shakers about 15 of them met last week to come up with ways to pump life into Lehigh Acres under the auspices of Lee County Economic Development and the Horizon Council. While there may be many more people who could become a member of this movement, there was only room for the 15 or so people who attended a luncheon at Lehigh Regional Medical Center.

On hand to oversee and explain the latest work on helping Lehigh catch up with other areas of the county were Dan Eveloff and Rachel Busch, members of the Lee County Economic Development Board.

Helping to bring the two guest speakers to Lehigh were Charlotte Rae Nicely and Dian Cimrig. Nicely is executive director of Lehigh Community Services, which houses the United Way in Lehigh and hosts a number of programs to help the needy, and Cimrig, the marketing director of Lehigh Regional Medical Center (LRMC).

Dan Eveloff, who is also president of Regents Bank in Lee County, said they were in Lehigh to form a task force to work with the county’s economic development.

Known as “DevelopLee,” he said it is an initiative led by business owners and civic leaders who serve on the Commercial Revitalization Task Force.

Dan Eveloff

This group was formed in 2015 by the Horizon Council and the Lee County Economic Development Office, with the mission to provide a forum to discuss creative ways to revitalize areas of Lee County that have lagged behind in the ongoing economic recovery plan.

The DevelopLee program is also working with the North Fort Myers area and the MLK Corridor. Groups of residents and business people have formed local task forces and are working to promote the area to business and organizations.

In Lehigh’s case, those attending mostly agreed to become the beginning of a Develop Lehigh Acres task force. Along with the Lee County Economic Development group and the Horizon Council, efforts to bring the speakers to Lehigh was also part of the work of Ruth Ann Anglickis, a local business executive and strong supporter of Lehigh and its future development.

The group discussed the many assets of Lehigh, many of which are known, but not promoted to businesses which may be looking at Lee County for expansion and development.

This new task force has nothing to do with incorporation, which was never brought up at the meeting.

MEL TOADVINE Rachel Bush and Dan Eveloff speak before a new Lehigh Task Force to help improve Lehigh’s economic recovery.

Both Rachel Busch and Dan Eveloff say Lehigh needs to become a place that not only attracts residents but businesses.

But to date, there has been no real “push” to promote Lehigh; although there is a healthy group of local businesses located in the community’s industrial park.

One of the attendees brought up the problem that Lehigh has had to endure negative publicity for years and changing that perception is something that must take place.

In the past and still looked upon, Lehigh has been considered “that community way out there,” and “a place where there is too much crime,” and “a place where many less affluent people live.”

“These are some of the things, the perceptions, that must be changed,” said Rick Anglickis, the husband of community activist Ruth Ann.

MEL TOADVINE Rachel Bush and Dan Eveloff are shown at the meeting in Lehigh to form a new task force for new commercial development.

In fact, those misconceptions are not right. There are great neighborhoods in Lehigh for people to live in a small town-like atmosphere. The crime is not the highest in Lehigh; but is in other parts of the county, as noted by the Sheriff’s Office Lehigh commander recently.

Lehigh Acres has two distinct advantages that no other community in the county can claim.

One is its close proximity to a regional international airport, which is an added bonus for businesses to locate their firms. Lehigh also has a population of 106,000 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That means there is a large work force in Lehigh.

The community is about half an hour from Fort Myers Beach where residents can enjoy a beachfront resort. Lehigh is closest to the interstate, which businesses can access to also move their goods, in addition to the airport.

And Lehigh has a major hospital, now under new leadership, and recognized as an excellent hospital for the population.

MEL TOADVINE Ruth Ann Anglickis speaks about Lehigh possibilities with a new task force to aid in the development of Lehigh.

“And we don’t want to forget our three activity centers already planned in Lehigh,” said Ruth Ann Anglickis.

“The community has been working on that project for over two years,” she said, and the county has accepted the plan, and we are waiting for them to come to be,” Anglickis said.

DevelopLee planners have been collecting information on Lehigh since its inception and the activity centers, two in the Homestead Road area and one in the Joel Boukevard area, are on the drawing board.

All agreed with economic development officials that it is time to push Lehigh into the new financial age, following the “Great Depression” that began in 2006. But the community, while showing economic progress, may be lagging behind communities such as Cape Coral and Fort Myers.

The group will meet again, probably in Octobe,r and each member of the group was asked to bring a friend who is as interested in making Lehigh shine as much as any other community.

Gary Bell, the CEO of Lehigh Regional Medical Center, who was in attendance, welcomed guests and offered the same dining room for future meetings as the one being used last week.

Economic development visitors say the Lehigh Task Force needs to formally become a group and to come up with a leader.

Commissioner Frank Mann of Seat 5 on the Lee County Commission, attended and said this was one of the best meetings he has attended in a long time and wants to see the group succeed with good leadership where all members can get along with each other and all come to work with both the Economic Development department and the Horizon Council.

A longtime supporter of Lehigh, Mann said he believes a task force can bring about change as has happened in North Fort Myers and along the MLK Corridor.

Charlotte Rae Nicely of Community Services said she was happy with the attendance and believes a strong task force can make things happen.

To join the DevelopLee effort, you can get in touch with Rachel Busch, strategic projects manager, at 239-533-6816 or email her at: rbusch@leegov.com.

: Dan Eveloff

: MEL TOADVINE Rachel Bush and Dan Eveloff speak before a new Lehigh Task Force to help improve Lehigh’s economic recovery.

: MEL TOADVINE Rachel Bush and Dan Eveloff are shown at the meeting in Lehigh to form a new task force for new commercial development.

: MEL TOADVINE Ruth Ann Anglickis speaks about Lehigh possibilities with a new task force to aid in the development of Lehigh.