Strong and Growing

Diane Sears | 10/1/2007

Sumter County

Ideal Sites

Situated at the crossroads of several state and federal highways, Sumter County is an ideal location for companies looking to build manufacturing and distribution facilities. Sumter also has become known for its cement plants:

• Rinker
  Expanded its operations and has turned a closed plant into a learning center for children’s science and math classes.
• American Cement
  Invested $160 million into a new building in Sumterville, creating 125 jobs.
• Sumter Cement
  Purchased more than 1,400 acres for a new facility and is expected to create 118 jobs.
• Burlingames
  Moved to town in the past year to produce colored tiles and is expected to employ 105.

Also opening in Sumter County is the new $17.5-million Florida Bass Conservation Center at Richloam State Fish Hatcheries, a combination research center and hatchery dedicated to Florida’s unique strain of largemouth bass.

Volusia County

Low Costs

Manufacturers are increasingly expanding their national operations into Volusia County, especially in three targeted industries:

1. Auto components because of the area’s ties to NASCAR
2. Marine recreational products because of its beaches and waterways
3. Medical, food and beverage products because, as a state, Florida consumes the third-largest quantity of these products nationwide.

The cost of doing business in Volusia is lower than in the mid-Atlantic and New England states ?— 40% less for electricity and 20% less for labor — which makes it enticing for industrial projects coming from the northeast U.S. The county is looking to place projects with a combined need of 1.5 million square feet of manufacturing space; in return, 1,726 new jobs are possible.

Deltona/ Daytona Beach/ Ormond Beach

12^th place among the nation's top 100 MSAs for five-year income growth rate. (Bizjournal study)

Seminole County

Banking on Success

Seminole is developing a reputation as one of a few global centers for financial technology jobs outside New York City. The county is home to several customer service call centers, banking software companies and firms that handle insurance, mortgages and back-office banking services. New construction includes a 130,000-square-foot headquarters for Central Florida Educators Credit Union.
Manufacturing companies also are moving in and expanding. Corrugated packing manufacturer Central Florida Box, for example, relocated in 2006 from Orlando to a 190,000-square-foot headquarters in Lake Mary, tripling its space.

When Bank of New York subsidiary Pershing LLC was looking to diversify its geographic holdings outside New Jersey, Lake Mary seemed the ideal place. Its parent company already had 675 associates there and in neighboring Orange County. The company transferred about 45 workers to Lake Mary and hired other former New York residents who had moved to Florida because of the quality of life, says Chief Administrative Officer Ron DeCicco. Pershing opened its new operation in early 2007 and sees the University of Central Florida as a good talent pool to feed its goal of employing 300 by the end of 2007 and another 200 in coming years.

Seminole Schools Shine

• District is rated “A,” and 94% of all schools are rated “A” or “B.”
• All 8 high schools are in Newsweek’s list of top 5% in the nation.
• Graduation rate of 83% in 2006.
• SAT scores have exceeded state and national averages for 30 years.
• More than 80% of high school graduates pursue higher education.
• More than 45% of teachers hold doctorate, specialist or master’s degrees.

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Resources

Universities/Colleges
• Beacon College
• Bethune-Cookman College
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• Florida Hospital College of Health Sciences
• Florida Institute of Technology
• Full Sail Real World Education
• Rollins College
• Stetson University
• University of Central Florida

Community Colleges
• Brevard Community College
• Daytona Beach Community College
• Lake Sumter Community College
• Seminole Community College
• Valencia Community College

Airports
• Daytona Beach International
• Melbourne International
• Orlando International
• Orlando Sanford International

Seaports
• Port Canaveral

Tags: Space Coast, Business Florida