Sarasota/Sarasota County

Kathy Baylis

“What we’re sensing generally from our businesses is some renewed optimism,” says Kathy Baylis, president and CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County. Businesses are “starting to pick up customers, sales are increasing and the general feeling is that a turnaround is occurring — not at the rapid pace we’ve seen in prior times, but there is sort of a slow, gradual feeling that things are turning around.”

Several area businesses have benefited from $24 million worth of Economic Recovery Zone Facility bonds that were allocated to Sarasota County through last year’s federal stimulus package.

» IntegraClick, a local internet marketing company, used $8 million worth of the low-interest, tax-exempt bonds to fund the acquisition of a new 12-acre campus.

» Sharky’s on the Pier, a popular waterfront eatery in Venice, received recovery zone financing to help pay for a $4.2-million renovation.

» Sarasota-based Finergy Development is borrowing $10.4 million through the bond program for a 100-room Hilton Garden Inn Hotel at U.S. 41 and Albee Road in Nokomis.

But complications remain. Sean Snaith, director of the Institute for Economic Competitiveness at the University of Central Florida’s College of Business Administration, told local business leaders at a 2010 Economic Outlook luncheon in January that while previous recessions were always cushioned by a rapid influx of growth, migration to the state has slowed. The once-reliable construction and tourism industries, meanwhile, are still off their marks.

Baylis says the EDC is more aggressively helping companies to take advantage of international business opportunities and is equally focused on luring companies from cities like Baltimore, for example, which already have links to Sarasota. In Baltimore’s case, the Baltimore Orioles have their spring training home at Sarasota’s Ed Smith Stadium.

Businesses to Watch

» Osprey Biotechnics, which manufactures beneficial bacteria for plant and animal health, environmental restoration and pollution prevention, did well last year and is doubling the size of its plant to begin manufacturing fungi used in making food, antibiotics, detergents and also as biological agents to control weeds and insects. The company also plans to double its workforce over the next three years.

» North Venice-based Tervis Tumbler, which has been producing cups and mugs since 1946, posted a 40% revenue gain last year. The company hired 77 employees in 2009, bringing its total head count to 287. The company plans to add retail locations.

People to Watch

» Rob Campbell, a 58-year-old former executive for Apple and Microsoft, is leading a new Sarasota-based startup called Voalté. The company’s first product, the Voalté One system, is a software application that allows nurses, doctors and other point-of-care workers at hospitals to receive all of their voice, alarm and text messages on their iPhones. Piloted at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, the program is now being used by hospitals as far away as California.

» In 2009, Sarasota angel investor and entrepreneur Rich Swier Jr. and Matt Orr, founder of ThisWeekInSarasota.com, launched a Sarasota-based business incubator called The HuB. In addition to fostering startups, The HuB is an “economic engine with social purpose,” says Swier. The group is working with local arts organizations to find ways to leverage social media to reach a younger audience.

Bradenton/Manatee County

Efforts to diversify the region’s economy are coming to fruition and creating jobs in areas like clean energy and biotech. Business newcomers include:

» France-based Trod Medical opened its U.S. headquarters in the Lakewood Ranch area last September. The Florida location will spearhead the launch of its Encage surgical device, a radio frequency device used in urology, radiation oncology and interventional radiology.

» Mustang Vacuum Systems, which produces the machines that make photovoltaic solar cells, recently moved its manufacturing operations from Sarasota County to south Manatee County, where it plans to add 125 jobs over the next two years with an average annual wage of more than $44,000.

» Florida Biomass Energy received approval in December from the Florida Public Services Commission to build a $185-million plant that will burn wood waste and specially grown vegetation to generate up to 60 megawatts of electricity for Progress Energy.

Meanwhile, the county awarded two economic development incentive grants totaling $213,000 to Oliphant Financial, a debt buyer and software provider, and Star2Star Communications, which develops and provides business communications solutions via the internet. The grants are expected to create 213 jobs.

Seeking to build on the success of IMG Academies, officials are also looking to grow the area’s sports performance industry. IMG announced in January that it had signed a deal with the National High School Coaches Association to create and host official High School National Championships.

Businesses to Watch

» Palmetto-based Sleek Audio, which manufactures high-quality earphones, has moved a number of its manufacturing operations from China to Manatee County. Sleek Audio’s SA6 earphone, an acoustically customizable wireless hybrid earphone, has won rave reviews and won the Popular Science “Best of What’s New” award for 2008.

» Shopping online is convenient — unless you live overseas and are ordering from a U.S. store, since many online retailers refuse to ship abroad. MyUS.com provides a Bradenton address for consumers overseas. It then repackages and ships the items overseas. Revenue has grown 156% since 2006, and CEO Eric Baird projects $100 million by 2012.

Person to Watch

» Annie Eng, a former stockbroker who grew up in Malaysia, founded HP Ingredients in 2001 to introduce North America to tongkat ali, a plant that is a popular aphrodisiac. Today, the Bradenton-based company markets LJ100, a patented extract of tongkat ali, and more than 200 other standardized botanical extracts for private labeling. The company has eight employees and revenue of more than $2 million. In 2008, Eng launched a related company, Novelle International, which offers three products containing maqui superberry. Eng, 38, says the maqui has the highest known antioxidant level of any fruit.

Naples/Collier County

A fourth-quarter survey by Metrostudy of new-home construction showed a slight improvement in market conditions in Collier and Lee counties, as inventories of new homes fell slightly and the pace of move-ins again exceeded the pace of new starts.

While construction-related industries are still suffering — and a commercial construction-related crisis looms — the health, education and high-tech sectors are continuing to create jobs.

Business to Watch

» Structure Medical, a 6-year-old company that manufactures high-precision, mostly titanium implants for the spine and extremities has been expanding rapidly. The company doubled revenue between 2008 and 2009 and will move from a 7,200-sq.-ft. building into a 30,000-sq.-ft. facility. The company has 80 highly paid employees, including seven hired this year.

People to Watch

» Chick Heithaus and Frank Friend, both with SCORE Naples, which advises small-business owners, have partnered with the Economic Development Council of Collier County on an economic gardening initiative. The program is designed to help companies with between 10 and 99 employees. SCORE Naples is also coaching businesses how to export.

Who’s Hiring

Fort Myers-Cape Coral/Lee County

Many in Fort Myers are finally feeling hopeful. Foreclosures have slowed. The resale housing market is improving and jobs are being created.

A $25-million incentive program that the county launched last year has resulted in contracts with eight companies that have begun hiring for 993 jobs.

One recipient, Source Interlink, a publishing, merchandizing and distribution company, says the $1 million it received will enable it to create or transfer 350 positions from its other locations to its Bonita Springs headquarters.

“We are very busy on the recruiting scene.” — Jennifer Berg, marketing and communications manager, Fort Myers Regional Partnership [Photo: Alex Stafford]

With $300,000 from the county, Paramount Transportation Logistics Services has agreed to locate its headquarters and service center in Fort Myers — a move that will create 100 jobs.

NeoGenomics, a provider of cancer genetics testing services, is expanding its Fort Myers headquarters and testing facilities and plans to hire 75 over the next three years.

Jennifer Berg, marketing and communications manager for the Fort Myers Regional Partnership, Lee County’s economic development office, says the county has 33 other expansion and location projects in the pipeline.

Business to Watch

» Algenol Biofuels, a Bonita Springs-based biotech company that turns algae into ethanol, has received a $10-million grant from Lee County to build a 43,000-sq.-ft. facility for its photobioreactors — containers that generate ethanol from algae, saltwater and carbon dioxide. The new venture will create about 120 jobs.

Former Bonita Bay Group CEO Kitty Green is helping to lead an effort to generate business leads by urging community input via the together4business.com website.

People to Watch

» Kitty Green, former president and CEO of the Bonita Bay Group and current chairwoman of the Horizon Council’s community outreach committee, is helping to promote a marketing campaign that asks for the community’s help in generating business leads. The “Together We Mean Business” campaign drives people to the group’s website, together4business.com.

» John Dwyer, president and CEO of Interop Technologies, is rapidly growing the company, which creates software and provides hardware for text and picture messaging, mobile internet access and other cell phone features. “You can win in tough markets if you’re in a good industry — if you really tend to your customers and find the holes,” Dwyer says.

Charlotte County

There’s at least one silver lining in Charlotte County’s depressed housing market: The region has reclaimed its reputation as an affordable retirement destination. Money magazine last year named Port Charlotte as the “Best Place to Retire” in the country, and Where to Retire magazine recently profiled the city as a “low-cost haven.”

Jobs continue to be an issue. Jeff Weiler, president of Weiler Engineering in Port Charlotte, says he’ll be able to put 276 people to work immediately on the construction of a new Southwest Florida Intermodal and Logistics Center once he gets the funding. The project seeks to turn a 20-acre parcel into a rail-to-truck transfer facility. A grant application for federal stimulus money was unsuccessful. Weiler says he plans to move forward anyway using private financing and tax-exempt bonds through the county.

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Hendry/Glades Counties

With 42 miles of shoreline along Lake Okeechobee, 40 miles of hiking trails, 52 miles of canoeing trails on Fisheating Creek and 60 miles of riverfront on the Caloosahatchee River, Glades County is primed for nature-based tourism. Tourism development, in fact, is an integral part of the county’s economic diversification efforts in advance of the state’s purchase of farmland from U.S. Sugar for Everglades restoration. “When dealing with ag-based economy and a shift like this U.S. Sugar purchase, that’s a generational shift,” says Tracy Whirls, executive director of the Glades County Economic Development Council. “The parents in the 30-to-50 age group are not going to easily make the shift from agricultural work to high tech, but if you can drive a tractor, by George, you can drive a tour bus.”

Business to Watch

» In November, Edison State College and the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences received a nearly $1-million grant to produce biofuels in Hendry County. The Hendry County Sustainable Biofuels Center will bring much-needed economic development to the rural region.

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DeSoto/Highlands/Hardee Counties

Renewable energy projects are providing a boost for the region. Last October, FPL Group completed construction of a photovoltaic solar facility in Arcadia. The DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center will generate more than $2 million in property tax revenue for DeSoto through the end of the year and $37 million over the life of the project.

In Highlands County, Vercipia Biofuels, a joint venture between BP and Verenium Corp., expects to break ground this year on a 36-million gallon cellulosic ethanol plant. Vercipia has committed $350 million to the project, which will use 35,000 acres of cropland to produce the biomass that feeds the plant. The project is expected to create 140 to 150 farm jobs, and the plant will employ another 70 at an average salary of $70,000.

» Jobs
MSA	Jan. 2009	Jan. 2010	% Change	Jobless Rate
Bradenton/Sarasota/ North Port	282,123	269,884	-4.3%	13.3%
Cape Coral/Fort Myers	252,809	240,110	-5.0%	14.1%
Naples/Marco Island	134,140	126,629	-5.6%	12.7%
Punta Gorda	61,717	59,258	-4.0%	13.8%
Source: Agency for Workforce Innovation
» Homes Single-family existing-home sales by Realtors
MSA	Jan. 2010 Sales	1-Year Change	Jan. 2010 Price	1-Year Change
Fort Myers/Cape Coral	1,115	+47%	$91,000	-4%
Marco Island*	19	+90%	$400,000	-14%
Punta Gorda	196	+12%	$102,100	+3%
Sarasota/Bradenton	662	+30%	$156,700	+8%
Source: Florida Association of Realtors * Data from the Marco Island Association of Realtors only

 

» Population Totals
2.4% or higher    1.0%-2.4%    1.0% or less
		Average Annual Growth
County	2010	2006-2010	Trend
Charlotte	156,119	0.54%
Collier	331,329	1.55
De Soto	35,156	0.67
Glades	11,490	0.61
Hardee	29,598	1.31
Hendry	40,224	0.79
Highlands	104,351	1.77
Lee	617,591	2.10
Manatee	329,891	1.44
Sarasota	377,825	0.71
Florida	18,910,672	1.21%

 

» Population by Age
	Years of Age (2010)
County	0-14	15-19	20-39	40-64	65+	TOTAL
Charlotte	12.8%	4.7%	20.6%	32.1%	29.8%	156,119
Collier	17.2	5.2	21.8	29.0	26.8	331,329
De Soto	18.8	6.5	32.4	26.2	16.2	35,156
Glades	12.9	5.6	28.4	30.5	22.6	11,490
Hardee	23.3	6.5	31.0	26.3	12.9	29,598
Hendry	23.6	8.1	30.3	26.2	11.8	40,224
Highlands	15.6	5.1	24.8	29.2	25.4	104,351
Lee	17.7	5.1	24.3	30.1	22.7	617,591
Manatee	17.8	5.4	23.2	31.2	22.5	329,891
Sarasota	13.0	4.6	20.6	32.2	29.7	377,825
Florida	17.9%	6.1%	25.4%	32.9%	17.6%	18,910,672

 

» Per Capita Income
		Source of Income
County	Per Capita Income 2010	Labor	Property	Transfer
Charlotte	$37,539	42.6%	35.2%	22.3%
Collier	64,595	34.9	59.4	5.7
De Soto	23,741	62.0	16.4	21.6
Glades	22,784	59.5	21.2	19.2
Hardee	23,308	68.9	11.1	20.0
Hendry	26,124	71.4	13.6	15.0
Highlands	27,634	46.3	24.6	29.1
Lee	42,304	48.2	39.5	12.3
Manatee	39,947	55.5	33.0	11.5
Sarasota	58,478	41.6	46.7	11.7
Florida	$39,927	62.2%	26.5%	11.3%