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Economic Yearbook 2008
SOUTHWEST: Eye Opener
Collier County
The county’s economic development officials are working to keep existing businesses here. Inovo Inc., a Naples company that manufactures oxygen regulators and other respiratory devices, was considering a move to North Carolina or California after it gobbled up a California competitor. In response, county commissioners passed an $82,000 incentive package to encourage the company to stay. Employees at Inovo earn an average wage of $58,187 — 150% of the county average.
Collier Enterprises has scaled back its plans for Big Cypress, a new community that will be built on 2,800 acres in the eastern part of the county. The developer is aiming for 9,000 residential units instead of 25,000 as originally planned, with a town center between Golden Gate Estates and Ave Maria. Site preparation will begin in 2010.
Fort Myers / Cape Coral
 academic strides (Fort Myers) Wilson Bradshaw » Since its opening in 1997, Florida Gulf Coast University has more than quadrupled its student body. Wilson Bradshaw, named president of FGCU in August, says it’s his mission to make sure that the rapidly growing university is responsive to the local economy’s workforce needs. That will involve developing new academic programs — like the doctoral program in physical therapy that FGCU will inaugurate this fall — and seeing to it that more students who graduate from FGCU stay in the region. Another top priority is the school’s expanding applied research programs. Three FGCU researchers recently received a $1.5-million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to conduct virus protection research that could benefit soldiers. [Photo: Jeffrey Camp] |
Mike Jackson, economic development director in Cape Coral, says the city will have to get creative to refill shrinking coffers. Among his ideas is leasing the air rights above five city parking lots where developers can build vertically — a strategy that was first pioneered in this country by the railroads. Jackson is also toying with the idea of getting the private sector to finance a hotel and ice rink next to city-owned Sun Splash Family Waterpark.
Lee County was awarded a $1-million grant from the state to help develop a Triage Center/Low Demand Inebriate Shelter to provide services to individuals experiencing behavioral crises such as mental illness or substance abuse. Lee County Commissioner Bob Janes says the center will save taxpayers thousands of dollars that is wasted when “citizens in need of mental healthcare are endlessly cycled and recycled through the courts and prison systems.”
LEADER
» Two years ago, Lane Houk, a former Army medic-turned-investor and mortgage banker, says he noticed a quiet crisis in Lee County. “We were losing firefighters and teachers. Lee Memorial couldn’t recruit enough nurses. The price of housing was the key determining factor in a lot of those situations,” he says. A year ago, Houk launched a non-profit organization called HeroCare. The group connects military servicemen, teachers, firefighters and other public servants with local businesses that can help answer their financial needs. HeroCare negotiates a discount with those businesses and professionals that is not available to the general public. Using mortgage lenders, title companies and other firms that are part of the HeroCare network could save customers up to $2,000 when purchasing a home.
HOUSING TREND / FORT MYERS-CAPE CORAL
| Sales of single-family existing-home sales | ||
| Year | Sales | Median sales price |
| 2006 | 8,518 | $273,600 |
| 2007 | 5,383 (-37%) | $257,000 (-6%) |
| Source: Florida Association of Realtors | ||
| Existing condo sales | ||
| Year | Sales | Median sales price |
| 2006 | 2,150 | $298,900 |
| 2007 | 1,706 (-21%) | $236,700 (-21%) |
| Source: Florida Association of Realtors | ||
Business Beat - Week of May 3rd
