March 29, 2024

Business Florida 2015 - The Regions

Northwest Florida

Crestview, Fort Walton Beach, Gulf Breeze, Panama City, Pensacola, Tallahassee

| 9/23/2014

ECONOMIC LIFE

Aviation/Defense

  • Northwest Florida’s economy is dominated by military facilities, including: Eglin Air Force Base, the USAF’s largest by area; Tyndall Air Force Base, soon to have the world’s largest collection of F-22 Raptors; Hurlburt Field, supporting special operations; the Pensacola Naval Air Station, home of the legendary Blue Angels; Naval Support Activity Panama City; and Whiting Field. Collectively, these installations account for more than 178,000 military and civilian jobs.
  • On-Point Defense Technologies in Fort Walton Beach has embarked on a multi-year expansion that is expected to create 29 jobs. The company, which designs and tests advanced weapon systems, had considered relocating to Alabama, but chose to remain in Okaloosa County for its talent pool of prior service military and proximity to defense contractors.
  • Panama City-based DeTect Inc. has received another installation order for its MERLIN Aircraft Birdstrike Avoidance Radar system; the destination this time is the U.S. Navy Townsend Bombing Range in Georgia. MERLIN systems are in place, providing real-time birdstrike alerts, at numerous U.S. Air Force and Navy installations and at commercial airports in Europe.
  • Slated for completion by the end of 2014, Emerald Coast Aviation’s new 5,600-sq.-ft. terminal at Crestview Bob Sikes Airport will house a reception area, pilots’ “snooze” room and corporate offices.
  • Carolina Aeronautical Airframe & Powerplant, an aeronautics vocational school based in South Carolina, has opened a branch center at the Okaloosa Industrial Air Park in Crestview, where it will offer FAA Mechanic and Inspection Authorization Certification.

Logistics/Distribution

Port Panama City’s new 250-acre Inter-modal Distribution Center has attracted two companies:

  • FedEx Ground, which opened a 60,000-sq.-ft. package distribution facility with 30 employees on-site and another 40 at remote locations; and
  • AAdvantage North American, a Panama City-based firm providing vendor-managed inventory warehousing/distribution services in 75,000 square feet of leased space.

Professional/Financial Services

  • Construction continues at Navy Federal Credit Union’s Pensacola campus where two new buildings and 2,000 new jobs are planned by 2016. Navy Federal currently employs 3,400 workers in the Pensacola area.
  • iGATE Corporation will expand its corporate headquarters in Pensacola and hire as many as 385 full-time employees. iGATE is owner of CHCS Services, a Pensacola-based customer service center handling insurance claims and health referral services for seniors.
  • National law firm Kaye Scholer has consolidated administrative functions previously divided among its offices in New York, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles at a single operations center in Tallahassee, bringing 100 jobs.

Information Technology

  • Bit-Wizards Information Technology Solutions of Fort Walton Beach plans an expansion that will create 20 new jobs in software development, account management and advertising.
  • Gulf Breeze-based email and web security provider AppRiver continues to grow, opening its second European office in Barcelona, Spain, and a branch office in Atlanta.
  • Global Business Solutions Inc. remains on track to expand its corporate headquarters in Pensacola by 120 employees over five years. GBSI provides technical training and technology services to public- and private-sector clients.

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