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Economic Yearbook 2006 - Space Coast
A Surge in Interest
Floida's Space Coast increasingly draws new residents from within the state.
The coastal counties used to be a favorite relocation destination for Northeasterners, but today the region is seeing a surge in new residents from other parts of the state, most looking to take advantage of lower real estate prices.
The list of U.S. counties that supply the most new residents to Volusia starts with nine Florida counties followed by Suffolk County, N.Y., at No. 10. Seminole and Orange counties top the list, with 22% of the total.
"There's a change in who's coming here and from where," says Richard Michael, director of Volusia County's Department of Economic Development. "There are a lot of migratory adjustments are taking place within the state." However, about 18% of people moving out of Volusia aren't going far, heading to Seminole and Orange counties, mostly for jobs, Michael says. "When you start taking a look at the net gain between the in- and out-migration, it comes out about even."
In Brevard County, many people and companies are moving up from the Miami and Fort Lauderdale areas, says Lynda Weatherman, president and CEO of the Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast. "We still have available buildings and green fields, and we're seeing a lot of interest from individuals in other parts of Florida."
Key Newcomer
? Specialty auto parts manufacturer BBK Performance Parts of Temecula, Calif., is moving into the new DeLand Crossing industrial park at Interstate 4 and State Road 44 this year. President and CEO Brian Murphy, who founded the company with his younger brother in 1988, is a pilot and aviation buff who will live part of the year in a house he's building in Jumbolair, a fly-in community near Ocala. The DeLand Crossing facility will include 60,000 square feet of warehousing plus a retail store operated by sister company Brothers Performance Warehouse, Murphy says. BBK Performance expects to start hiring early next year and eventually employ 30 there. The company had looked into sites in Ohio, Georgia and other locations but chose Volusia County because of its low cost of living, heavy concentration of aerospace workers and favorable land prices, Murphy says.
