March 29, 2024

Economic yearbook 2010

Southwest Fla. Yearbook 2010

Market trends offer grounds for 'some renewed optimism.'

Amy Keller | 4/1/2010

Charlotte County

There’s at least one silver lining in Charlotte County’s depressed housing market: The region has reclaimed its reputation as an affordable retirement destination. Money magazine last year named Port Charlotte as the “Best Place to Retire” in the country, and Where to Retire magazine recently profiled the city as a “low-cost haven.”

Jobs continue to be an issue. Jeff Weiler, president of Weiler Engineering in Port Charlotte, says he’ll be able to put 276 people to work immediately on the construction of a new Southwest Florida Intermodal and Logistics Center once he gets the funding. The project seeks to turn a 20-acre parcel into a rail-to-truck transfer facility. A grant application for federal stimulus money was unsuccessful. Weiler says he plans to move forward anyway using private financing and tax-exempt bonds through the county.

Hendry/Glades Counties

With 42 miles of shoreline along Lake Okeechobee, 40 miles of hiking trails, 52 miles of canoeing trails on Fisheating Creek and 60 miles of riverfront on the Caloosahatchee River, Glades County is primed for nature-based tourism. Tourism development, in fact, is an integral part of the county’s economic diversification efforts in advance of the state’s purchase of farmland from U.S. Sugar for Everglades restoration. “When dealing with ag-based economy and a shift like this U.S. Sugar purchase, that’s a generational shift,” says Tracy Whirls, executive director of the Glades County Economic Development Council. “The parents in the 30-to-50 age group are not going to easily make the shift from agricultural work to high tech, but if you can drive a tractor, by George, you can drive a tour bus.”

Business to Watch

» In November, Edison State College and the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences received a nearly $1-million grant to produce biofuels in Hendry County. The Hendry County Sustainable Biofuels Center will bring much-needed economic development to the rural region.

DeSoto/Highlands/Hardee Counties

Renewable energy projects are providing a boost for the region. Last October, FPL Group completed construction of a photovoltaic solar facility in Arcadia. The DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center will generate more than $2 million in property tax revenue for DeSoto through the end of the year and $37 million over the life of the project.

In Highlands County, Vercipia Biofuels, a joint venture between BP and Verenium Corp., expects to break ground this year on a 36-million gallon cellulosic ethanol plant. Vercipia has committed $350 million to the project, which will use 35,000 acres of cropland to produce the biomass that feeds the plant. The project is expected to create 140 to 150 farm jobs, and the plant will employ another 70 at an average salary of $70,000.

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