September 2025 — Verdenia C. Baker, county administrator of Palm Beach County, sat down with Invest: to discuss how economic development has been flourishing in Palm Beach County, how the county is balancing economic growth while still maintaining a high quality of life for its residents, and initiatives that are in the works to continue to attract more tourism, visitors, and leisure travelers.
You recently retired after more than 10 years of service as county administrator of Palm Beach County. What have been some of the highlights for you?
Some of my proudest moments have been dealing with economic development and housing. I have had the opportunity to work with the business development board and department of housing and economic development to retain, expand, and develop businesses here in Palm Beach County. Over the years, we have worked on developing partnerships with banks, the business community, and legal teams to create various funding resources for our businesses. Cash flow is a major issue for small businesses, so the county was instrumental in the creation of loans and a CDFI to help get them started. I was a lead negotiator of the Scripps Research Institute moving to Florida. Since then, Max Planck has expanded to the county from Germany and the BioLife Science industry has expanded. We continue to diversify our economy and are booming with the financial wealth industry. We have also had other small businesses relocate and expand to Palm Beach County…