Triumph Overview

Triumph Gulf Coast, Inc., is a nonprofit corporation organized to oversee the expenditure of 75 percent of all funds recovered by the Florida attorney general for economic damages to the state that resulted from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Triumph Gulf Coast, Inc., is required to administer the distribution of the funds to be used for the recovery, diversification, and enhancement of the eight Northwest Florida counties disproportionately affected by the oil spill. Those counties include Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, Gulf, Franklin and Wakulla.

Triumph Gulf Coast was originally created in 2013. The first five board members were appointed by the Governor, the Attorney General, the Chief Financial Officer, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The board operated in an unofficial capacity until June 2017.

On June 2, 2017, Governor Rick Scott signed the legislation that officially appropriated funds to the nonprofit corporation. The original board then took immediate steps to file official Articles of Incorporation and arrange for the transfer and acceptance of the first $300 million from the oil spill settlement to investment accounts under the control of Triumph Gulf Coast, Inc. On June 30, 2017, the final two board members were appointed from two of the four least populated counties, as required by the new legislation.

The first official meeting of the Board of Triumph Gulf Coast, Inc., was held on July 13, 2017. The board elected officers and took other administrative actions in preparation for the start-up of the corporation.