Southwest Florida

ECONOMIC LIFE

Corporate Headquarters

• Two years after deciding to move its world headquarters to Lee County from Park Ridge, N.J., Hertz Global Holdings is on track to settle into its new permanent home in Estero with 700 employees before the end of 2015. Finishing touches are underway at the three-story, 300,000-sq.-ft. glass-covered structure on a 34.5-acre campus at the intersection of Williams Road and U.S. 41. In the meantime, Hertz continues to operate out of temporary offices in Naples with 640 employees. Projections call for as many as 300 additional jobs by 2017.
• The citrus division of the Fort Myers-based agricultural and natural resources company Alico became the largest citrus producer in the U.S. with its purchase of three central Florida citrus operations in December 2014. At a combined purchase price of close to $363 million, the acquisitions expand Alico’s citrus footprint to more than 30,000 acres and are expected to increase the firm’s citrus production from 3.4 million to 10 million boxes annually.

Manufacturing

• Bonita Springs-based Global Tech LED is poised to begin manufacturing its lighting products and systems in India, for use in India. The company, which makes LED streetlights, ceiling lights, floodlights and other fixtures for commercial use, has partnered with Jabil Circuit, a global contract manufacturer headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida, to actually fabricate its products in India. Global Tech relocated to Bonita Springs in 2014 and over the last two years has expanded from 15 employees to 60-plus.
• Eastern Architectural Systems, the door and window division of Lake Worth-based Eastern Metal Supply, has moved into its new 172,000-sq.-ft. building in Fort Myers. The new facility replaces a 60,000-sq.-ft. leased building the firm previously occupied in Fort Myers and is designed to expand another 80,000 square feet to accommodate future growth.

Logistics/Distribution

• The long-anticipated Cheney Brothers’ West Coast Distribution Center continues taking shape on a plot of land near Punta Gorda Airport and I-75. Plans call for the $40-million, 345,000-sq.-ft. project to be completed by fall 2015. Cheney Brothers is the nation’s 11th largest food distributor, exporting products worldwide and directly serving customers in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas from its headquarters in Riviera Beach and food distribution centers in Ocala, Orlando and, soon, Punta Gorda. .

Life Sciences/Healthcare

• Fort Myers-based cancer genetics testing firm NeoGenomics posted a gain of $25 million in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2014, a 36% increase over the same period a year before. Over the last five years, NeoGenomics, which in July 2014 acquired the California pathology firm PathLogic, has doubled its Florida workforce, creating 124 jobs, including 50 new positions in Fort Myers since 2013.
• Lee Memorial Health System has announced plans to create The Shipley Center for Cardiothoracic Surgery Innovation, Education & Research to advance the care and treatment of heart and lung disease in a 10,000-sq.-ft. space on the first floor of HealthPark Medical Center. In March, Lee Memorial Hospital and HealthPark Medical Center received Healthgrades 2015 “America’s 50 Best Hospitals” Award for the second consecutive year, placing them in the top 1% of hospitals nationwide.

QUALITY OF LIFE

Fun in (and out of) the sun Southwest Florida is home to tons of sunshine and three award-winning sites in which to enjoy it: Barefoot Beach in Bonita Springs and Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park in Naples, ranked No. 2 and No. 9 respectively by “Dr. Beach” (Florida International University Professor Stephen Leatherman) on his 2015 “Top 10 Beaches” list, and Fort Myers Beach, named among the top 25 on TripAdvisor’s 2015 “Best U.S. Beaches.” And now open weekends only in Punta Gorda is the Florida Tracks & Trails outdoor adventure park, offering an 80-acre paintball park, 22 miles of trails for dirt bikes and ATVs and a four-acre manmade lake; plans call for a 40,000-sq.-ft. indoor event facility, RV campgrounds and a zip-line park. Arts and culture are strong here, too. Enjoy symphony orchestras in Fort Myers and Naples, plus a full complement of museums, galleries, theaters, shops and restaurants throughout the region.

Major league action Three MLB teams have their spring training homes in Southwest Florida — the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins in Fort Myers and the Tampa Bay Rays in Port Charlotte. Tickets are easy to obtain and, since these venues are considerably smaller than their in-season counterparts, fans get to enjoy a more up-close-and-personal baseball experience.

Tags: Business Florida