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A changing of the guard is underway at two closely linked Lakeland economic organizations, with Catapult President Christin Strawbridge tapped to succeed longtime Lakeland Economic Development Council President Steve Scruggs.
The LEDC announced on Wednesday, May 20, that Strawbridge will become executive vice president and eventually transition into the president’s role after a period of overlap with Scruggs, who has led the organization since 1987.
There is no firm transition date, but Strawbridge said Scruggs will likely move into an advisory role before the end of the year. His contract runs through 2027.
At Catapult, Operations Director Brett Chamberlain will take over as president on June 1.
A second succession effort
The announcement comes about 14 months after an earlier LEDC succession plan unraveled, ending with former senior vice president Katie Worthington Decker’s abrupt departure.
This time, the organization is framing the move as a structured internal transition.
Strawbridge, 31, joined Catapult in 2018 and became president in 2021. She said she began interviewing for the LEDC role a few months ago as part of a board-led succession process that included multiple candidates, rounds of interviews, and projects.
LEDC Board Chair Mark Cabrera called her “the right leader at this pivotal time,” saying she is “steeped in the LEDC’s culture and passionate about the future of our city.”
At Catapult, Board Chair Wesley Beck said he was excited to work with Chamberlain, 40, who has already played “an important role in the organization’s growth.”
From incubator to economic driver
The LEDC established the nonprofit Catapult incubator in 2014, but Strawbridge said they are now independent organizations.
During her tenure, Catapult expanded beyond coworking into makerspace, kitchen, mentorship, and business support programs. Businesses launched or supported through Catapult generated $27 million in revenue last year — underscoring its role as a meaningful economic engine.
Asked whether her move represented a philosophical shift — from Catapult’s focus on entrepreneurship and innovation to the LEDC’s emphasis on recruiting and expanding larger employers — Strawbridge said she sees more alignment than contrast.
At Catapult, growth might mean helping a business hire its first employee or open its first brick-and-mortar location. At the LEDC, it might mean helping companies expand to Lakeland, add hundreds of jobs, or occupy more square footage.
“It’s the same thing the LEDC does, just on a larger scale,” she said. “Every one of those jobs is somebody’s life.”
Same mission, different style
Scruggs, 63, has been one of Lakeland’s most visible and influential business leaders for nearly four decades.
According to the LEDC, Lakeland added more than 36,000 jobs and $3.2 billion in capital investment during his tenure. But his role often extended beyond recruitment and into civic debates.
Most recently, Scruggs sharply criticized Lakeland’s original stormwater fee proposal, calling it “rare and extreme” in a sharp and lengthy exchange with city commissioners, before ultimately reaching a compromise.
Strawbridge said she sees continuity in the mission Scruggs helped shape, but not necessarily in his style.
She described Scruggs as a longtime mentor, saying she has met with him weekly for four years and learned from both his experience and his intentional approach to leadership.
“Steve has been doing this for so long, and he has lived through so much, and that has informed the way that he does things now,” she said.
She said she hopes to carry on the tradition of driving results, but “I think it might look different than maybe some of the tactics that he’s used in order to get to those same places.”
Listening before setting priorities
Rather than laying out immediate policy priorities, Strawbridge said her first step at the LEDC will be listening — meeting with members, city officials, and community leaders before deciding what should come next.
“I’m not coming in with my mind made up,” she said.
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