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Economic Yearbook 2007
SPACE COAST: Preparing for Change
A shift from the Shuttle.
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Daytona Beach
BUSINESS BOOST: After a flat tourism year, Daytona Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Chairman Jim O'Shaughnessy is more hopeful for 2007, in part because of last year's quiet hurricane season. "The optimistic news for us was the last three months of the year were up nicely." ... In January, the area got a boost when AirTran began serving Daytona Beach International Airport with flights to and from Atlanta and Baltimore-Washington. ... Part of the beach is in limbo, with mom-and-pop hotels razed to make room for condo projects that are now stalled. Says O'Shaughnessy, "We've got some large vacant lots." ... One of Daytona's biggest players, International Speedway Corp., plans to move forward this year with an entertainment shopping center project first announced in 2005. The site, across the street from the Daytona International Speedway, will include a mix of retail, office, residential and entertainment space.
Innovators
? Founded more than 80 years ago, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is the nation's oldest and largest university focused on aviation and aerospace. The school is partnering with Florida State University and the Florida Institute of Technology on space research and technology, including plans for a joint space institute.
? Kentucky native George Anderson has spent more than 30 years in Daytona Beach as a hotelier, developer and business leader. He led the effort to create Ocean Walk Village Development, a hotel and shopping hot spot in one of Daytona Beach's most run-down areas. Today, he's planning to redevelop 16 acres of oceanfront property into condo or condo/hotel units.
