Stan Connally talks with Pam Dana and Allan Bense during the Triumph Gulf Coast Inc. board of directors workshop at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort Bayside Ballroom in Miramar Beach, Florida october 28, 2015. Triumph Gulf Coast is a nonprofit corporation organized to oversee 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. (Michael Spooneybarger/ CREO)

Charged with the long-term task of investing $1.5 billion in oil spill fines, Triumph Gulf Coast met Wednesday and quickly agreed on one thing: It needs a lot of help.

Allan Bense, the five-member panel's chairman, got the ball rolling by offering up the name of a Panama City law firm — Burke and Blue — that has agreed to help Triumph on a pro bono basis. First order of business for the law firm, Bense said, is helping Triumph become a fully incorporated, nonprofit foundation.

Until then Triumph cannot accept, or dispense, any of the $300 million expected to arrive in state coffers early next year, money that will come from fines related to the BP oil spill. Triumph was created by the Legislature's Oil Spill Recovery Act of 2011.

That's the first installment from the $1.5 billion that was set up for the eight Panhandle counties — including Escambia and Santa Rosa — most affected economically by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The money is supposed to fund job creation and economic development efforts to diversify the Northwest Florida economy, making it less vulnerable in the future to incidents like the spill, which damaged the region's tourism industry.

Tourism — as measured by bed tax collections — is part of the Studer Community Institute's Pensacola Metro Dashboard. The 16 metrics in the dashboard, created in consultation with UWF, provide a snapshot of the community's economic, educational and social well-being.

While Wednesday's meeting dealt with a lot of housekeeping issues, the panel will have critically important sway over how jobs and economic development are handled in the region for several years to come.

"I'm not sure when we will incorporate, but I do want to make sure that when we are incorporated, we're ready to go," said Bense, a former Speaker of the Florida House.

Burke and Blue spokesperson Lisa Walters detailed for the panel the firm's extensive experience in economic development.

Bense also said the Oil Spill Recovery act also specifies the panel must hire a financial advisor and an advisor with extensive economic development experience.

Panel member and Gulf Power CEO Stan Connally said he wanted Triumph to convene a meeting to discuss development strategies and opportunities with the chief economic development officers of the eight Panhandle counties. That group would include Florida's Great Northwest, a regional economic development agency.

Connally also suggested the University of West Florida's Center for Research and Economic Opportunity be eased out of its current, temporary role of handling administrative duties for Triumph.

When the BP oil spill occurred in April 2010, skimmers like these were a common sight in Pensacola area waterways. Photo credit: University of West Florida

"I think we should allow UWF to go in the background," he said. "There is a potential danger of UWF staying too involved with us because they may, at some time, want to apply for funding from Triumph."

In response to Connally's caveat, Bense suggested the panel hire an interim executive director not associated with any public or private institution.

Bense said he had spoken with Susan Skelton, a former Florida Senate aide, about taking on the role of interim executive director on a pro bono basis. Skelton, who was in attendance, said she would accept.

Bense also asked Connally to look for a bank and a money manager who would hold the funds and advise the panel on the best investment of the funds while on deposit.

The next meeting of Triumph will take place in January, but no date was set.