SOUTHWEST: Eye Opener

Sarasota County

In the fast-growing North Port area, new economic development manager Allan Lane is making job creation his top priority. “North Port needs to diversify its employment base by seeking to attract businesses and industries that offer higher wage jobs,” says Lane, who came to North Port in January from College Park, Ga. The city must also expand its infrastructure, he says, to accommodate the growth that is predicted over the next several years. To that end, the city recently embarked on a $13.1-million road improvement program and approved a $50-million bond referendum to expand the city’s wastewater treatment facilities. The city is also rezoning properties to support industrial development.

Bradenton

Infrastructure is a key concern in Bradenton and other heavily populated sections of Manatee County. Bradenton and Palmetto have teamed up to tackle traffic congestion problems that plague both cities; the two cities will conduct a nine-month study funded by the Florida Department of Transportation and the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization.

The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, which opened its Bradenton campus in Lakewood Ranch four years ago to help tackle the physician shortage in Florida, opened a pharmacy school last fall.

LEADER

» Manatee County Administrator Ed Hunzeker is looking at ways to streamline the county’s development review process and designating so-called “encouragement zones” where the county will provide incentives for redevelopment. Hunzeker is pushing for an impact fee to assure new growth pays for itself and wants to create a financing mechanism so that development can pay that impact fee over a 30-to-40-year horizon through tax-exempt debt.

HOUSING TREND / SARASOTA-BRADENTON

Manatee County

The county has been hard-hit by layoffs related to the lagging home construction industry, but there have been positive developments as well. The Roskamp Institute in south Manatee, known for its research on Alzheimer’s disease, is attracting researchers with its recently announced three-year doctorate research program in neuroscience. Beacon Products, which manufactures outdoor lighting fixtures, lampposts and site furnishings, has just moved into a 50,000-sq.-ft. facility. The company has expanded its line of energy-efficient lighting products for cities and residences. Port Manatee’s new $3.9-million mobile harbor container crane has opened up opportunities in the container shipping business. The purchase of the crane also solidified Del Monte’s decision to renew its port contract for another five years.

Naples

Florida’s housing market crisis has stalled the transformation of downtown Naples. Developer Jack Antaramian has temporarily shelved plans for Renaissance Village, slated for 16 acres in downtown Naples. He was unable to secure the $100 million in reservations he needed to start work on the development, which was to have 300 residential units and 205,000 square feet of commercial space. Phil McCabe, president and CEO of Gulf Coast Commercial, suspended sales for Intermezzo, a luxury midrise community he was planning to build in Old Naples on the southeast quadrant of Goodlette-Frank Road and Central Avenue.

LEADERS

» Tim Cartwright, managing director of a merger and acquisition firm and president of Gulf Coast Venture Forum, is working with the Collier County Economic Development Commission to create a Southwest Florida regional angel fund, which he anticipates will be operational by the end of the year.

» Andrew McElwaine, who took the helm of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida in 2005, is spearheading a $25-million fund-raising campaign to increase the non-profit’s advocacy work, expand and modernize the group’s wildlife conservation center and double the organization’s existing endowment to generate $600,000 a year to support staff and services.

Tags: Southwest