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Business Florida 2014 - The Regions
Northeast Florida
Jacksonville, Palatka, Palm Coast, Ponte Vedra, St. Augustine
Northeast at a Glance
Demographics for the Northeast Region can be found at Business Florida's interactive map of Florida.
Universities/Colleges
• Edward Waters College
• Flagler College
• Florida State College at Jacksonville
• Jacksonville University
• St. Johns River State College
• University of North Florida
Airports
• Flagler County Airport
• Jacksonville International
• Northeast Florida Regional at St. Augustine
Seaports
• Port of Fernandina
• Port of Jacksonville
Spaceport
• Cecil Field
With a population exceeding 1.5 million and a workforce of close to 763,000, Northeast Florida offers a dynamic market for business relocation and expansion. Known for affordability and accessibility, this seven-county region is home to three Fortune 500 firms and the national or divisional headquarters of at least 80 other companies. A world-class intermodal transportation system made up of multiple seaports and airports, plus a vast network of railways and interstate highways, has made Northeast Florida a booming hub for trade within the U.S. and across international borders.
In Jacksonville, Florida’s northernmost MSA, city and county governments operate as one, helping to ensure that businesses looking to relocate or expand here enjoy smooth transitions. In 2013, the Jacksonville City Council took steps to further simplify the process by shortening the time it takes to approve smaller incentive packages from three readings to one. At the Port of Jacksonville, improvements continue in anticipation of Panama Canal expansion, now expected to be completed by mid-2015, and the move begun more than a year ago to re-energize downtown is paying off as additional companies relocate their facilities and staff from suburban Jacksonville to the city’s urban core.
WHO LIVES HERE
Skilled military personnel Northeast Florida’s four military installations provide direct employment for nearly 46,000 active-duty, reserve and civilian men and women. And of the personnel who exit the military here each year, more than 3,000 remain, providing a ready pool of workers with military-honed skills in electronics, technical maintenance, repair and management.
Youthful and well-educated Median age in the Jacksonville MSA is 37, equal to the national median age but three years younger than Florida’s median, and these workers keep getting smarter. The number of persons age 25+ with bachelor’s degrees jumped 47% between 2000 and 2010 — enough to propel Jacksonville into No. 7 on newgeography.com’s list of the "U.S. Cities Getting Smarter the Fastest."
Ready for work Word on the street is that Northeast Florida is a good place to land a job. In April 2013, Forbes named Jacksonville 3rd best city in the U.S. for finding a job, and Money magazine awarded the No. 5 spot on its 2013 "Where the Jobs Are" list to St. Johns County, where job growth is up by 12% since 2010.