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Business Florida 2011 - The Regions
Northwest - Growing Strong
Entrepreneurs find solid support, right sites and plenty of room for expansion in Northwest Florida.
From education to economic development
Higher education and the research it generates provide the fuel that powers Northwest Florida’s economic engines. This 16-county region includes three nationally recognized research institutions: University of West Florida in Pensacola and, in Tallahassee, Florida State University (FSU) and Florida A&M University. In addition, Chipola College, Gulf Coast Community College, Northwest Florida State College, Pensacola State College and Tallahassee Community College supply a steady stream of skilled workers to companies across the region.
The commercialization resulting from university-based research activity has spawned a number of startup companies in Florida’s Northwest, including Tallahassee-based CICEFT Inc. Founded in 2008 by Tom Painter, an engineer at FSU’s National High Magnetic Field Laboratory — the largest and highest powered magnet laboratory in the world — CICEFT produces advanced cable-in-conduit (CIC) magnet components, which are typically used in large-bore, superconducting magnets for high-tech applications.
 Numerous R&D institutes contribute to a cooperative support system for aerospace and defense technologies in Northwest Florida. In Gulf Breeze, the Andrews-Paulos Research & Education Institute applies sports-based research to enhance the performance of elite commandos and rehabilitate injured soldiers. [Photo: Andrews-Paulos Research & Education Institute] |
“I’ve always had an interest in becoming an entrepreneur,” says Painter, who came to FSU from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1992. “I also liked living in Tallahassee; the lifestyle is laid-back and the environment can’t be beat. I’ve got some of the world’s best beaches just an hour-and-a-half away.”
Energy upgrades
Northwest Florida’s wide open spaces are particularly appealing to companies on the cutting-edge of alternative energy.
In Milton, work has begun on a new 250,000- square-foot light manufacturing, assembly and warehousing facility owned by Gulf Cable LLC. Gulf Cable and its related companies specialize in the design, production and installation of electrical systems for transmitting solar and wind energy from the point of generation to the power grid.
D. Craig Bowman, executive vice president of New Jersey-based WTEC and several of its sister companies, including Gulf Cable, says Milton proved an attractive location for the new facility for many reasons, including the fact that the company had an existing presence in the area. “We already had a management team there, and Milton offers a comfortable and productive work environment,” he says.
An attractive incentive package from Santa Rosa County and the state of Florida plus Northwest Florida’s location, which offered ready access to customers in nearby states that are on the cutting-edge of alternative energy production, helped to further solidify the deal.
Other developments in Northwest Florida’s energy sector:
• A $5.1-million gas-to-energy facility under construction by Pensacola-based Gulf Power will convert methane gas fumes from decomposing garbage at the Perdido Landfill into usable energy for generating electricity.
