SHARE:
Business Florida 2016 - The Regions
Northwest Florida
NOTABLE ADDITIONS/EXPANSIONS
Aviation
Aviation Aviation manufacturer Edge Aerodynamix has located its U.S. operations in Panama City near Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport with the expectation of creating 120 manufacturing, R&D and marketing jobs. Founded by a New Zealander and former commercial pilot, Edge manufactures products that reduce friction and pitting when applied to aircraft wings and helicopter blades, thus decreasing drag and increasing fuel efficiency.
Financial Services
Virginia-based Navy Federal Credit Union has announced plans for its largest-ever expansion in Pensacola, creating 5,000 new jobs and a $350-million capital investment. The company, which boasts assets of $62.5 billion, opened in Pensacola in 2003 with 60 employees. This most recent expansion represents the company’s second in two years and, when completed in 2026, will bring Navy Federal’s Pensacola workforce — currently numbering 3,850 — to just below 10,000.
QUALITY OF LIFE
Permanent Vacation
Northwest Florida residents have ample opportunities year-round to enjoy the amenities tourists rave about. Two of this region’s beaches — Pensacola and Panama City — are among TripAdvisor’s 2015 “Top 25 Best U.S. Beaches”; a third — St. George Island State Park — is ranked No. 3 by Florida International University Professor Stephen Leatherman (aka “Dr. Beach”). Other unique sites: the old and new state Capitols in Tallahassee; the underwater Panhandle Shipwreck Trail and Pensacola’s National Naval Museum, No. 12 among TripAdvisor’s “Top 25 U.S. Museums.”
Educational Opportunities
Northwest Florida is home to nine not-for-profit colleges and universities, including: Florida State University, No. 31 on The Business Journals’ ranking of four-year public universities by academic excellence, affordability and diversity; Florida A&M University, ranked 8th among historically black colleges and universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2015; Gulf Coast State College, now offering a two-year degree in unmanned vehicle systems, which links to a four-year degree at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona; and Tallahassee Community College, offering “Golden Guarantees” that ensure admission to one of Northwest’s three four-year universities — FSU, FAMU or University of West Florida — for students who complete all transfer requirements and earn their Associate in Arts degree at TCC.
Million-Dollar "Running Man"
Three years of work paid off in June 2015 for 23 members of IHMC‘s robotics division when they snagged second place in a global robotics contest sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Team IHMC’s semi-autonomous robot “Running Man” bested 21 other teams from around the world in the Pomona, Calif., competition that was designed to simulate how robots might be used in a disaster recovery scenario — such as a nuclear power plant accident — where human intervention would be too dangerous.
Each robot had an hour to complete eight tasks that included driving a car, climbing over debris, cutting a hole in a wall, opening and closing a door and turning off a valve. “Running Man,” a 6-foot, 2-inch, 380-pound, bipedal robot (translation: it walks on two legs) completed all eight tasks in just over 50 minutes, six minutes behind a wheeled robot fielded by a Korean team. IHMC was awarded $1 million. Only one other device — a chimp-like robot from Carnegie Mellon University — completed all eight tasks.
NOTABLE EMPLOYERS
Aviation/Aerospace/Defense
- DeTect Inc. | Panama City
- DRS Technologies | Fort Walton Beach
- InDyne | Fort Walton Beach
- Jacobs Technology | Fort Walton Beach
- L-3 Communications | Fort Walton Beach, Pensacola
Professional /Financial Services
- Absolute Consulting | Navarre
- CHCS Services/iGATE | Pensacola
- Navy Federal Credit Union | Pensacola
- West Corporation | Pensacola
Manufacturing
- Ascend Performance Materials | Pensacola
- Eastern Shipbuilding Group | Panama City
- Home Source International | Marianna
- International Paper | Pensacola
- WestRock | Panama City
Information Technology
- AppRiver | Gulf Breeze
- Bit-Wizards | Fort Walton Beach
- Global Business Solutions | Pensacola
