Northwest Florida’s appealing mix of natural springs, sugar white beaches, abundant pine forests and towns with tongue-twisting names like Apalachicola, Miccosukee, Wacissa and Sopchoppy have long made Northwest Florida a popular vacation destination. Here, where tourism thrives, companies looking to relocate will find an energetic workforce as well as certified properties ready for development and easy access to key southeastern markets and the world at large via interconnected highways, rail lines and three deep water ports.

Primary industry sectors across these 16 counties include aviation/defense, technology, logistics and manufacturing. And coming on strong: cybersecurity. The Department of Defense’s Center for Information Dominance (CID) at Corry Station, NAS Pensacola, is seen as a major catalyst for private-sector growth in this burgeoning field, and as a result, the University of West Florida launched its Center for Cybersecurity in 2014. Now headed by the CID’s former commanding officer, retired Navy Captain Susan Cerovsky, UWF’s Center offers bachelors and masters degrees in cybersecurity and certificates in cybersecurity, intelligence analysis and information security management.

WHO LIVES HERE

Active and retired military assets
Nearly 44,000 highly trained military personnel are on active duty at six Air Force and Navy installations across Northwest Florida. And of the approximately 6,000 who retire from military service here each year — average age early 40s — many choose to remain in the region and pursue second careers, bringing to area employers the advanced technical skills they acquired while in military service.

Highly educated
Florida’s capital city of Tallahassee, home to two public universities — Florida State and Florida A&M — boasts some of the state’s best-educated people. U.S. census figures show that 47% of Tallahassee residents age 25-plus have a bachelor’s degree or higher compared to the U.S. average of 29%. In 2014, Tallahassee ranked No. 12 on WalletHub’s “Most Educated Cities” based on education level and quality of education.

Growing jobs
The Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent MSA ranked 23rd among 93 U.S. mid-sized cities cited by newgeography.com as “2015 Best Cities for Job Growth.” In 2014, this metro area added nearly 4,000 jobs, more than any other in Florida’s Northwest. Unemployment declined from 6.3% to nearly 5.2% in 2014 compared to 5.6% across the U.S.

ECONOMIC LIFE

Aviation/Aerospace/Defense

• Northwest Florida’s economy is dominated by a military presence that includes: Eglin Air Force Base, the USAF’s largest by area; Tyndall Air Force Base, responsible for air defense of the continental U.S., U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico; Hurlburt Field, supporting special operations; the Pensacola Naval Air Station, home of the legendary Blue Angels; Naval Support Activity Panama City; and Whiting Field. Collectively, these installations account for close to 179,000 military and civilian jobs.
• The Italian firm Aero Sekur, which specializes in helicopter lift-raft and flotation systems, has relocated its U.S. operations from New Jersey to Pensacola, tripling the size of its facility and positioning the company closer to helicopter operators that service the offshore oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Aerosync Support, a leader in helicopter repairs, modifications and upgrades, has opened a facility at the Santa Rosa Industrial Park in Milton with the anticipation of 25 jobs. Aerosync provides global on-site labor support for Bell and Sikorsky helicopter products.
• VT Mobile Aerospace Engineering has signed a 30-year lease on an aircraft hangar that will be built by the city of Pensacola on nearly 19 acres at Pensacola International Airport. The planned facility — large enough to accommodate two wide-body aircraft — is expected to create 300 jobs and be operational by mid-2016.

Downtown Developments

• Fort Walton Beach: Construction is expected to begin in late fall 2015 in downtown Fort Walton Beach on the $33-million, 144,000-sq.-ft. Landmark Center. The five-story mixed-use project will include a 112-room hotel, executive offices and 24 loft-style condominiums, plus retail and dining space and a garage.
• Pensacola: Phase one of a $50-million, mixed-used project on the former downtown site of the Pensacola News Journal is expected to get underway in late 2015. Plans call for 48,000 sq. ft. of office space, 33,000 sq. ft. of ground floor retail space, up to 300 apartments of various sizes and a 500-space parking garage. In October 2014, the city approved plans for construction of a nearby downtown YMCA.
• Inlet Beach: Once a sleepy tourist town along Scenic Highway 30A in Walton County, Inlet Beach and its neighbor Rosemary Beach are hotbeds of development activity. Newly opened are: 30Avenue, 130,000 sq. ft. of retail, restaurants and offices; The Crossings at Inlet Beach with 17,335 sq. ft. of retail space; and the 125-room Inn on the Gulf.

Transportation/Logistics

• More than 100 engineering, administrative and support jobs will be coming to the Port of Pensacola as Offshore Inland Marine & Oilfield Services relocates the majority of its operations to the Florida Panhandle from Mobile, Alabama. OIMO is a value-added service provider supporting offshore oil and gas and marine industries operating in the Gulf of Mexico.
• The Port of Port St. Joe has received approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to begin dredging its navigational channel to the maximum authorized depth of 37 feet. Meanwhile, Eastern Shipbuilding Group of Panama City has leased 20 acres at the port to expand its shipbuilding, vessel construction and repair and industrial steel fabrication operations in the Gulf Coast region.
• In Bay County, two industrial properties have been certified under Gulf Power’s “Florida First Sites” program, which designates shovel-ready industrial sites: 54 acres at Port Panama City’s intermodal distribution center and 195 acres at Venture Crossings, a commerce park owned by The St. Joe Company and adjacent to Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport.
• In June 2015, Tallahassee Regional Airport received official FAA designation as an international airport. Companies and commercial air carriers can now fly from overseas directly into Tallahassee without first stopping at another international point of entry.

Technology

• Construction continues on an $8-million expansion at the Institute of Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC). Slated for completion in early 2016, the three-story, 30,000-sq.-ft. building will substantially increase IHMC’s Pensacola footprint, consolidating research and administrative functions in one campus and allowing for future growth. In addition to offices and research facilities, the new structure will feature a glass-walled observation area where public tour groups and other visitors can observe IHMC’s Robotics Lab safely and without disrupting its work.

NOTABLE ADDITIONS/EXPANSIONS

Aviation
Aviation Aviation manufacturer Edge Aerodynamix has located its U.S. operations in Panama City near Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport with the expectation of creating 120 manufacturing, R&D and marketing jobs. Founded by a New Zealander and former commercial pilot, Edge manufactures products that reduce friction and pitting when applied to aircraft wings and helicopter blades, thus decreasing drag and increasing fuel efficiency.

Financial Services
Virginia-based Navy Federal Credit Union has announced plans for its largest-ever expansion in Pensacola, creating 5,000 new jobs and a $350-million capital investment. The company, which boasts assets of $62.5 billion, opened in Pensacola in 2003 with 60 employees. This most recent expansion represents the company’s second in two years and, when completed in 2026, will bring Navy Federal’s Pensacola workforce — currently numbering 3,850 — to just below 10,000.

QUALITY OF LIFE

Permanent Vacation
Northwest Florida residents have ample opportunities year-round to enjoy the amenities tourists rave about. Two of this region’s beaches — Pensacola and Panama City — are among TripAdvisor’s 2015 “Top 25 Best U.S. Beaches”; a third — St. George Island State Park — is ranked No. 3 by Florida International University Professor Stephen Leatherman (aka “Dr. Beach”). Other unique sites: the old and new state Capitols in Tallahassee; the underwater Panhandle Shipwreck Trail and Pensacola’s National Naval Museum, No. 12 among TripAdvisor’s “Top 25 U.S. Museums.”

Educational Opportunities
Northwest Florida is home to nine not-for-profit colleges and universities, including: Florida State University, No. 31 on The Business Journals’ ranking of four-year public universities by academic excellence, affordability and diversity; Florida A&M University, ranked 8th among historically black colleges and universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2015; Gulf Coast State College, now offering a two-year degree in unmanned vehicle systems, which links to a four-year degree at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona; and Tallahassee Community College, offering “Golden Guarantees” that ensure admission to one of Northwest’s three four-year universities — FSU, FAMU or University of West Florida — for students who complete all transfer requirements and earn their Associate in Arts degree at TCC.

NOTABLE EMPLOYERS

Aviation/Aerospace/Defense

• DeTect Inc. | Panama City
• DRS Technologies | Fort Walton Beach
• InDyne | Fort Walton Beach
• Jacobs Technology | Fort Walton Beach
• L-3 Communications | Fort Walton Beach, Pensacola

Professional /Financial Services

• Absolute Consulting | Navarre
• CHCS Services/iGATE | Pensacola
• Navy Federal Credit Union | Pensacola
• West Corporation | Pensacola

Manufacturing

• Ascend Performance Materials | Pensacola
• Eastern Shipbuilding Group | Panama City
• Home Source International | Marianna
• International Paper | Pensacola
• WestRock | Panama City

Information Technology

• AppRiver | Gulf Breeze
• Bit-Wizards | Fort Walton Beach
• Global Business Solutions | Pensacola