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At Wednesday afternoon’s members meeting of the Lakeland Economic Development Council, one person was conspicuously absent: Katie Worthington Decker, who was the organization’s senior vice president until nearly two weeks ago, when she was asked to resign.
Worthington Decker, 41, began at LEDC in January 2022. Before that, she had been the president of the Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce for eight years. She has a strong background in community development, government affairs, education advocacy and placemaking – making sure the people who work here want to live here, too.
What is LEDC? It’s a nonprofit organization funded mostly by member businesses. Its work involves attracting new enterprises to Lakeland and advocating for business growth, with an emphasis on increasing high-skilled employment and encouraging entrepreneurism through its Catapult business incubator. It began as an organization of Lakeland’s top 100 business leaders.
Succession planning: In addition to her economic development and leadership skills, there was another reason for Worthington Decker’s hiring. It was part of the organization’s succession planning as LEDC President Steve Scruggs, now 63, contemplated retirement.
“He entrusted me with significant responsibilities, allowing me to lead both within the organization and in the community,” Worthington Decker said in a statement to LkldNow.
“That being said, the timing around the succession planning has changed. Steve has a passion for this work and I support his decision to continue in his role. I look forward to using my leadership and community development skills with new opportunities that I hope will have a positive impact on the community for many years to come!”
Scruggs comment: At Wednesday’s LEDC meeting, attended by about 200 members, Scruggs did not mention Worthington Decker or her absence. Scruggs, who has become known as a powerbroker in Lakeland, sent LkldNow a statement following the meeting.
“We have been truly fortunate to have Katie on our team,” Scruggs wrote. “She is a visionary and innovative thinker, a talented relationship builder across public and private sectors, and has grown into a skilled economic developer. Her contributions have been many, and she will undoubtedly be an invaluable asset to her next organization. I sincerely hope we can continue to benefit from her talents within the Lakeland and Polk County community.”
Supporters: Word spread through the city this week that Worthington Decker had been pushed out, leaving some community leaders shocked, saddened and angry.
Mayor Bill Mutz said he was deeply disappointed.
“Katie is a high-achieving, super-competent person, appropriate, very emotionally attuned, deliberate,” Mutz said. “She’ll push through the things that need to get done. I have huge respect for her in her capacity.”
Mutz said he wonders what could have been done to keep Worthington Decker at LEDC. She is currently trying to line up job prospects that make sense, he said, adding, “She will land well because she is highly respected — and should be.”
Mutz called Scruggs a personal friend, saying Lakeland is a different community because of him. Scruggs was one of the people responsible for attracting Amazon, oversaw the development of the Catapult business incubator and helped negotiate the construction of the Summit Building on Lake Mirror.
City Commissioner Sara Roberts McCarley said she had not heard the specifics around Worthington Decker’s departure.
“While she was here, she did a great job and I think she’ll do a great job whenever she lands,” Roberts McCarley said. “Keeping her in the community is really important.”
Who is Katie Worthington Decker? Worthington Decker has been a Polk County resident for nearly three decades. She moved to Polk County as a teenager when her father, Terry Worthington, was named president of United Way of Central Florida. She was graduated from Santa Fe Catholic High School in northeast Lakeland and earned a degree in hospitality management from the University of Central Florida in 2005. She then moved to Winter Haven in 2006 and was founding chairwoman of the Winter Haven Young Professionals Group, which is now known as Endeavor Winter Haven.
She is married and has a 6-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son.
Accomplishments: While at LEDC, her accomplishments included:
- Directly assisting the leasing or sale of 2 million square feet of property to companies, creating 470 new jobs.
- Creating a business development team and interns, who have remained in Lakeland as vested members of the community.
- Guiding infrastructure improvements.
- Connecting business leaders with one another to create collaboration.
Her supporters say she will make her next career move quickly.
“Sitting around is certainly not in my nature,” Worthington Decker said Wednesday evening.
“The Polk County community is absolutely amazing, as are the people and businesses I have had the privilege of working with over the last 20 years … I am exploring and evaluating what my next steps could be within this community.”
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Foolish. Katie was a massive loss to the Winter Haven community and a great boost for Lakeland. She was a breath of fresh air to a stagnant and obviously threatened leadership. She will fly into another role and Lakeland will continue to meander aimlessly.
Sounds like a very powerful man pushed out another very competent woman. The powerful can never retire quietly like the rest of us. They stay around forever even when they are no longer effective or competent.