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Economic yearbook 2010
Southeast Fla. Yearbook 2010
The question is how to accelerate job growth.
West Palm Beach/Palm Beach County
Palm Beach County has the taxpayer-subsidized life sciences sector, aviation-related companies, healthcare and growing headquarters and regional offices as companies acquire and consolidate. The macro: Education, health services and government employment posted the only growth above 1% in 2009. But the 2,600 added jobs were swamped by construction job losses alone, a drop of 19.5%, or 6,500 jobs. Tourism, retail and wholesale trade, manufacturing and financial all lost substantial numbers of jobs, too. Groups such as the Business Development Board and the Economic Council are working on job-creating solutions. “Jump-starting the economy is foremost on the minds of everyone,” says Economic Council President Mike Jones. The lightly populated Glades area in the western county remains in a depression, with unemployment in December ranging from an estimated 27% in Belle Glade to 48% in Canal Point.
Businesses aren’t forecasting a rapid turnaround, though some young companies have big plans. Delray Beach-based Celsius, the maker of a calorie-burning drink and powders, forecasts $25 million in revenue, up from $6 million in 2009, says Chief Operating Officer Jeff Perlman, a former Delray mayor. Perlman expects the 32-employee company to hire several people this year. “We’re in rapid growth mode,” he says. “We are really making a play to become a national brand.”
Tourism good news: The Port of Palm Beach, which has only had day-cruise casino ships since 1996, in February signed a five-year deal with Celebration Cruise Line to serve as homeport for a multiday cruise to Grand Bahama.
In construction, single-family housing starts in the fourth quarter hit 227 after bottoming in the first quarter at 93, according to analysis firm Metrostudy.
People to Watch
 Ricky Wade |
» Paul Emmett, co-owner of Palm Beach Gardens-based Duffy’s Sports Grill, a 20-restaurant chain with locations from Fort Lauderdale to Melbourne that employs 1,500, says he’ll add two locations this year. “We’re pleased we’re not down dramatically. We’re not up,” Emmett says. Same-store sales in 2009 were down 1.4%, but salary freezes and other cost-cutting measures left the bottom line even. He projects a flat first half with modest gains later in the year. At an average check of $18, “We have benefited from customers trading down, and we have lost some customers who have traded down from us.”
Businesses to Watch
» Palm Beach Gardens-based Cross Match Technologies, a biometric ID company, is adding 20 jobs over two years. It employs 162. “They will come from mostly lower-income households in Palm Beach County,” says human resources Vice President Thomas H. Miller. “Many are without substantial manufacturing skills.” The workers will be trained through the Florida Manufacturing Extension Partnership before going to Cross Match for on-the-job training. Depending on the recovery’s progress, Cross Match will be able to hire more workers in science and engineering to develop products, Miller says.
» When the state Public Service Commission shot down Florida Power & Light’s $1.3-billion rate hike request, the utility suspended work on $10 billion in projects ranging from nuclear reactors to changing a coal-fired plant in Riviera Beach to natural gas. It said it would make a final decision later this year on whether and when to proceed.
» Pending City Council approval, International Harbor at Riviera Beach, a joint venture of Viking Developers and Rybovich Boat Co., wants to bring a megayacht service facility to Riviera Beach’s marina, creating 30 to 35 jobs.
