SOUTHWEST: Eye Opener

Charlotte County

Charlotte County’s unemployment rate was 6.8% in January, the highest since after Hurricane Charley hit in 2004. The county recently cut impact fees to encourage development and boost the sagging construction industry. There may be some significant new jobs on the horizon. Fort Myers native Steve Alexander, CEO of Grove Tactical Homeland Security, is aiming to build a $198-million homeland security research and training center on up to 7,000 acres in Charlotte County. The project should begin the early permitting process this year.

Palm Beach developer Syd Kitson is in the design and approval stage for Babcock Ranch, a 20,000-acre community that straddles the eastern edge of Charlotte and Lee counties. At the same time, Kitson nixed plans to build a mixed-use development at Murdock Village in Port Charlotte. Kitson cited “unfavorable economic conditions in both the credit market and housing market” as reasons not to move ahead with the project.

Lee County

Following Charlotte County’s lead, leaders in Lee may cut impact fees to stimulate commercial development in the region. The county is also expediting road and other public works projects to get the economy moving. Already on the fast track are a widening of Summerlin Road, a new EMS hangar at Page Field and an expansion of the Lee County Justice Center. The Horizon Council, a 62-member public/ private organization that advises the county commission on economic development issues in Lee County, has formed a diversification task force.

Hendry / Glades Counties

While Hendry County had the second-highest unemployment rate in the state in January, at 7.2%, there are some new green-collar job opportunities on the horizon. Citrus Energy, a Boca Raton company, is planning to build a 4-million-gallon-a-year ethanol bio-refinery adjacent to the Southern Gardens citrus processing plant in the northeast corner of Hendry County in the rural community of Clewiston. The company received a $2.5-million state grant for the project.
River Forest Yacht Center recently began building a 200,000-sq.-ft. indoor yacht storage center in Ortona in Glades County. The facility, which will be completed this month, will hold up to 280 yachts and be able to withstand up to Category 4 force hurricane winds.

LEADER

» U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney, who faces a tough re-election battle this fall, sponsored a successful amendment to save the Hope VI Main Street Grant program, a federal program that provides funding to revitalize main streets in small rural communities with mixed-use affordable housing and commercial development projects. Glades County is applying for $1 million from the program to renovate three buildings in downtown Moore Haven.

De soto / Highlands / Hardee Counties

U.S. EnviroFuels, the Tampa-based company that wants to build multiple ethanol plants in Florida, has plans to build a sweet sorghum-ethanol production plant in Venus. The $47-million plant will produce 20 million gallons of the biofuel a year and create 30 jobs with an average wage of $39,000 — 41% higher than Highlands County’s average annual wage of $27,538.

Pacer Marine Engineering, which manufactures marine wire, cable and electrical parts, is building a 40,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility near Wauchula in the Hardee County Commerce Park. The facility will employ 30 initially. Also in Hardee County, Organix-South, a manufacturer of herbal body care products and herbal supplements, has moved into a new headquarters and manufacturing facility.

GEO Group, the Boca Raton-based company that operates the Florida Civil Commitment Center in Arcadia, will replace the 545-bed facility with a 660-bed facility.

Tags: Southwest