"All of our businesses are trying not to lay off people." — Ted Everett, executive director, Washington County Chamber of Commerce
Pensacola / Escambia County
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| See population, income and job statistics from this region. Explore |
Business to Watch
CEO Tim Hogan created Brand Asset Digital, an online media creative products company, last year by combining several of his ventures. Sales tripled in 2008 and are expected to grow tenfold this year as another acquisition is completed. The company employs 30, with 20 more to be hired this year.
Person to Watch
Mike Hicks, president of Hixardt Technologies, an IT and engineering company, recently won two major five-year awards, a $20.6-million Air Force contract and a share of the Navy’s SeaPort e-services contract projected to generate $20 million per year. Hicks expects revenue to double or triple this year and his 20-employee staff to grow by 10 to 20. >> Quint Studer, Studer Group healthcare consulting business CEO, Pensacola Pelicans baseball team owner and $16-million investor in the planned Community Maritime Park, is diversifying to re-energize the Belmont-DeVilliers historic black business community, where he’s purchased eight lots and is spending $1.3 million to build a site that he hopes to lease to a blues cafe startup.
 Denise McLeod, COO of Landrum Staffing Services in Pensacola, says applications are up almost 35% in January from a year ago. [Photo: J.P. King / bpm inc.] |
Panama City / Bay County
The job market in the Panama City metropolitan area has shrunk over the past year, with 450 jobs lost since November. The short-term forecast is weak economic growth, primarily attributable to the real estate market crash, says Ed Wright, interim executive director of the Bay County Economic Development Alliance. Long term, the forecast is upbeat: Completion next year of the new Panama City-Bay County International Airport is expected to be a major growth catalyst.
Business to Watch
» Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group last year opened 100 stores, dining and entertainment venues at its Pier Park outdoor shopping mall at Panama City Beach; more stores are in the works.
Fort Walton Beach / Okaloosa County
| Who's Hiring |
| » Virginia-based Navy Federal Credit Union expects to add 43 employees and could hire 150 total this year in Pensacola, its first remote contact center, which now employs 1,200. NFCU expects growth this year will be in customer service, collections and mortgages, all services available at Pensacola. |
| » Technical Software Services employs 45 and is looking to hire four or five more this year, including instructors for network training and software engineers, in connection with a Navy training development contract at Corry Station. |
| » Brand Asset Digital, an online media creative products company, plans to hire 20 this year. |
| » Tata Business Support Services, a customer service firm in Santa Rosa County, is adding 200 employees. |
| » Advanced Fire Protection Services in Okaloosa County and e-mail security firm AppRiver in Gulf Breeze also are hiring. |
» One-third of 45 job orders in February at Landrum Staffing Services were from the medical industry. |
| » Call centers and transportation businesses. “You still have to transport goods and services,’’ says Tom Ousley, employment services manager in the Pensacola office of EscaRosa Workforce. |
Business to Watch
» Advanced Fire Protection Services is reviewing new Air Force contracts for installation and fire protection services for buildings under construction as the Air Force — which accounts for 30% of AFP’s business — expands locally. AFP employs 55, forecasts 9% growth this year and will be hiring, says President Mike Brown.
Apalachicola / Franklin County
“The key to improving our economy is the housing industry — in 2005 we had 150 new starts, in 2008 only 30 in Franklin County,’’ says Alan Pierce, the county’s director of administrative services. Other basics, seafood and tourism, are fairly stable, says Apalachicola Bay Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Anita Grove. A tourism boost: The area was named a “distinctive destination’’ last year by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Business to Watch
» Leavins Seafood in Apalachicola has developed “frosted oysters’’ by freezing the shellfish with nitrogen. The process maintains their integrity and flavor for shipment to areas where fresh oysters aren’t available. Leavins added some 35 employees last year.
Holmes / Washington Counties
 Ted Everett, executive director of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, says the county’s jobless rate, 9.5%, is “unemployment outrageous.’’ [Photo: Ray Stanyard] |
Logistics Trend
» Both Holmes and Washington counties could benefit from direct highway connections to Port Panama City as well as the airport site, as a result of an expanded Panama Canal. “We’re 30 miles closer to the Panama Canal than Miami,’’ says Rick Marcum, executive director of Opportunity Florida.
Jackson / Calhoun / Liberty Counties
Green Circle Bio Energy, which opened the world’s largest wood pellet manufacturing plant at Cottondale in mid-2008, a $100-million investment, recently hired 15 employees for a total of 65. Family Dollar continues as a Jackson County mainstay, employing 515 at its Marianna distribution center. Calhoun County’s economy, with strong ties to the timber industry, is being impacted by logging company layoffs and the construction slowdown, says Kristy Speers, Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce executive director. In Liberty County, building trades manufacturing is largely holding up, says Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Johnny Eubanks.
Business to Watch
» Ice River Springs recently opened a $25-million water bottling plant at Marianna, with 10 employees to start and the potential for up to 100 as the company grows.
Walton County
County government and municipalities and the Walton Area Chamber of Commerce have teamed up to form an Economic Development Alliance and are hiring an executive director. “It’s about attracting and retaining business,’’ says chamber President Dawn Moliterno. Meanwhile: “The best thing for us: We’re sustaining.’’
Business to Watch
» Gulf Coast Shutter in Miramar Beach is projecting a 30% to 50% revenue increase this year and is planning to add four to five employees. Owners Ed and Melinda Adams expanded their product line, adding commercial overhead doors to their line of hurricane protection products, and widened their marketing to cover the entire Panhandle.
Santa Rosa County
GEO Group is expected to provide up to 400 jobs when it completes construction, scheduled to start in early spring, on a $120-million state prison in East Milton. Hiring now: Tata Business Support Services, a customer service firm, adding 200 employees to handle a new contract for an online travel agency. Some local businesses, typically in technology, also talk of expanding, says Ed Gray, chairman of Team Santa Rosa Economic Development Council.
Business to Watch
» AppRiver, one of the largest e-mail security managed service providers, with 35,000 customers, realized 50% employee growth last year, to 110, and a 65% increase in revenue, to $25 million. Projected 2009 revenue: $34 million; CEO Michael Murdoch says AppRiver is hiring.
Gulf County
Port St. Joe is on the verge of activating its re-created port. It has acquired deepwater development sites through leases with St. Joe Co., is completing its first bulkheading and dredging project and has signed its first customer contract, for a major tonnage commitment. Meanwhile, Port St. Joe Redevelopment Agency is implementing the first phase of a bayfront master plan, including a new amphitheater and expanded walking and bike paths.
Business to Watch
» Sacred Heart Health Care of Pensacola will provide 100 jobs when it opens Sacred Heart Hospital on the Gulf in spring 2010. The project created 40 to 50 construction jobs.
| Jobs | ||||
| MSA | Jan. 2008 | Jan. 2009 | % Change | Jobless Rate |
| Fort Walton /Crestview / Destin |
80,800 |
79,700 | -1.4% | 7.0% |
| Panama City Lynn Haven |
73,700 | 72,100 | -2.2% | 9.8% |
| Pensacola / Ferry Pass / Brent | 168,600 | 163,300 | -3.1% | 8.9% |
| Source: Agency for Workforce Innovation | ||||
| HOMES | ||||
| Single-family, existing-home sales by Realtors | ||||
| MSA | Jan. 2009 Sales | 1-Year Change | Jan. 2009 Price | 1-Year Change |
| Fort Walton Beach |
118 | -16% | $188,300 | -8% |
| Panama City |
58 | -19% | $163,300 | -20% |
| Pensacola | 162 | -10% | $141,200 | -14% |
| Source: Florida Association of Realtors | ||||
| POPULATION TOTALS | ||||
 2.4% or higher  1.0% - 2.4%  1.0% or less |
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| COUNTY | 2009 | Average Annual Growth | ||
| 2005-2009 | Trend | |||
| Bay |
168,542 | 1.06% | |
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| Calhoun |
13,886 | 1.05 | |
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| Escambia |
314,490 | 0.97 | |
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| Franklin |
10,244 | 0.41 | |
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| Gulf |
14,298 | 0.55 | |
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| Holmes |
19,864 | 1.24 | |
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| Jackson |
49,918 | 0.60 | |
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| Liberty |
8,273 | 2.04 | |
|
| Okaloosa |
189,200 | 0.78 | |
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| Santa Rosa |
159,987 | 2.95 | |
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| Walton |
57,704 | 3.82 | |
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| Washington | 23,889 | 2.20 | |
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| Florida | 18,898,835 | 1.60% | |
|
| POPULATION BY AGE | ||||||
| Years of Age (2009) | ||||||
| County | 0-14 | 15-19 | 20-39 | 40-64 | 65+ | Total |
| Bay |
18.8% | 6.1% | 25.4% | 34.5% | 15.2% | 168,542 |
| Calhoun |
16.8 | 5.3 | 31.2 | 30.5 | 16.2 | 13,886 |
| Escambia |
18.8 | 7.3 | 25.8 | 32.0 | 16.1 | 314,490 |
| Franklin |
16.8 | 5.4 | 24.1 | 35.2 | 18.5 | 10,244 |
| Gulf |
14.4 | 5.8 | 27.1 | 35.2 | 17.6 | 14,298 |
| HOlmes |
17.2 | 5.7 | 29.0 | 31.5 | 16.7 | 19,864 |
| jackson |
16.4 | 6.3 | 28.6 | 32.9 | 15.8 | 49,918 |
| Liberty |
16.2 | 5.7 | 35.7 | 31.9 | 10.4 | 8,273 |
| Okaloosa |
20.2 | 6.3 | 24.4 | 34.5 | 14.7 | 189,200 |
| Santa Rosa |
18.0 | 6.3 | 26.6 | 35.7 | 13.5 | 159,987 |
| Walton |
16.5 | 5.7 | 27.0 | 35.0 | 15.8 | 57,704 |
| Washington | 17.1 | 5.7 | 28.4 | 33.9 | 14.9 | 23,889 |
| Florida | 18.0% | 6.3% | 25.8% | 32.7% | 17.2% | 18,898,835 |
| PER CAPITA INCOME | |||||
| COUNTY | Per Capita Income 2009 | Source of Income | |||
| Labor | Property | Transfer | |||
| Bay |
$35,828 | 73.9% | 15.9% | 10.2% | |
| Calhoun |
22,343 | 63.6 | 11.1 | 25.2 | |
| Escambia |
33,007 | 73.1 | 15.6 | 11.2 | |
| Franklin | 32,335 | 57.2 | 24.7 | 18.1 | |
| GUlf |
27,846 | 61.9 | 15.4 | 22.7 | |
| Holmes |
25,520 | 61.3 | 9.8 | 28.9 | |
| Jackson |
24,938 | 63.8 | 13.0 | 23.1 | |
| Liberty |
24,234 | 76.2 | 8.7 | 15.1 | |
| Okaloosa |
42,035 | 76.6 | 18.1 | 5.3 | |
| Santa Rosa |
33,591 | 72.7 | 15.3 | 12.0 | |
| Walton |
29,327 | 66.5 | 21.2 | 12.3 | |
| Washington | 24,980 | 62.2 | 11.5 | 26.3 | |
| Florida | $40,331 | 67.6% | 23.6% | 8.8% | |