Kottkamp leaves company that took $5m county grant

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Former Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp has left his position as CEO of a health drink company that so far hasn’t provided the jobs it was expected to create after getting a $5 million grant from Lee County.

The company, Bonita Springs-based VR Laboratories, accepted a $5 million economic incentive grant from Lee County with the promise of creating 40 full time jobs by the end of 2012 and 208 jobs by the end of 2016. But the money is nearly gone, few jobs have been created and the bottling plant that the company said it would open is in limbo. The company has blamed the delay on a dispute with a contractor and the county has given it a one-year extension to keep its commitments.

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