Easy Access
 Greenhouses in Highlands County help keep Florida’s nursery industry in the number 2 spot nationwide. [Photo: Highlands Today] |
Positioned just south of Florida’s geographic midpoint, the 5,000-square-mile South Central/Heartland region boasts the kind of reasonably priced building sites to which economically savvy companies are increasingly drawn.
Hardee County
Ahead of the Pace
One example of a company looking to capitalize on this region’s affordability is Pacer Marine Engineering (PME). PME broke ground in mid-2007 for a 40,000-square-foot manufacturing facility near Wauchula in Hardee County Commerce Park.
“The people of Hardee County have been second to none,” says Jack Swiatkowski, president of this family-owned manufacturer of wire harnesses, instrumentation and digital control systems. Swiatkowski cites reasonable insurance and property costs, lower taxes and the “friendly, small-town feel of the area” among reasons why PME chose Wauchula. The company, which will open with a staff of 30 and eventually grow to 100 employees, received fiscal incentives for its project. “It’s a performance-based deal,” says Swiatkowski. “Hardee County is looking to populate the area with jobs, and that’s what we’ll be doing.”
Highlands County
 Sebring Regional Airport [Photo: Kathy Waters] |
Center of Activity
Highlands, where business centers on Sebring and its busy airport, is the largest and most heavily populated county in the South Central/Heartland region. Of the region’s 254,018 total residents, close to 100,000 live in Highlands.
By Air: Sebring
Regional airport is Unique
The only U.S. airport to encompass both a Foreign Trade Zone and a Community Redevelopment Agency is home base for several businesses, including:
» E-Stone USA, which in 2007 opened a second production line and doubled the size of its granite product manufacturing facility to about 150,000 square feet.
» Funder America Inc., maker of laminated wood products, which also is expanding.
Local Economy:
Catalyst for Growth
One of the most intriguing developments in the South Central/Heartland region comes as the result of the Rural Economic Development Catalyst Project, which brings together public- and private-sector entities in an unprecedented display of cooperation.
After three years of study, the South Central Catalyst Project team chose Sebring Regional Airport as the location for its target industry priority, healthcare and sciences. Efforts are now under way to lure industry-related firms to the site.
Of the 13 South Central sites initially reviewed by numerous state agencies in critical areas such as transportation, environment and infrastructure, Sebring Regional Airport was deemed the most ready for development. But the other 12 sites will still benefit, too.
Those detailed agency reviews have given economic development professionals across the region valuable data about individual site strengths and limitations, areas for improvement and marketing assets — information they can use to boost revenue and jobs.
DeSoto County
Huge Projects on Tap
Fort Myers-based Cameratta Properties owns 5,700 acres south of Arcadia in DeSoto County where it will build a master-planned community, DeSoto Estates. Cameratta aims to develop 10,750 residential units and 1 million square feet of commercial space over the next eight to 10 years. A planned industrial park and the arrival of a new concrete company are among other developments in DeSoto.
Glades County
Big Boats, Bigger Business
 River Forest Yachting Center |
River Forest Yachting Center, a $7-million, 30-acre project on the Caloosahatchee River, is expected to have a long-term, region-wide economic impact. Located 15 miles west of Lake Okeechobee at the Ortona lock on the freshwater Okeechobee Waterway, which crosses Florida from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, the center will offer a climate-controlled, storm-hardened inland haven for yachts up to 90 feet in length. Plans call for four 51,000-square-foot steel buildings, each with 34-foot-tall doors, plus an 80-ton lift to hoist the big yachts. Each building will accommodate approximately 65 yachts, and the average boat, according to principal Joe Charles, will be a 55-footer, worth about $1 million. His goal is to store $100 million worth of boats in the first year. “When you bring in $100 million worth of assets belonging to high-end people, it’s going to spur plenty of other growth,” says Charles. Attendant development could include car rentals, hotel rooms, eateries, marine supply stores, fiberglass repair shops and other related businesses — music to the ears of Glades County officials.
Investing in security
Glades may be one of Florida’s smallest counties, but big things are happening here.
In mid-2007, the 440-bed Glades County Detention Center opened to house federal and Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees along with local inmates. The $32-million capital investment means 40 corrections officer jobs, plus 15 support, 20 medical and eight food service staff.
Hendry County
New Jobs Welcome
 City Mattress [Photo: Naples News] |
In Hendry County, where the average age of the 40,000+ residents is just over 30, unemployment rates are among Florida’s highest. Officials happily welcome new projects, especially those that create jobs.
Bonita Springs-based City Mattress is making plans to manufacture its Prana Sleep brand mattresses at a new $8.5-million plant at the 34-acre Clewiston Commerce Park. In exchange for the firm’s promise to create up to 100 jobs at the 62,500-square-foot factory, Clewiston and Hendry anted up 10 free acres and other incentives worth about $1.5 million to City Mattress. “Clewiston is perfectly situated between our two distribution centers on Florida’s coasts,” says CEO Stephen Schiller. “We were welcomed with open arms in Clewiston, where there is a good labor pool. We feel very good about bringing these jobs to the state of Florida.”
Roadway improvements
To spur additional development, county leaders have made the widening of State Road 80 a top priority. Further improvements to this major transport artery, which has already been widened to four lanes from LaBelle west to Fort Myers, could create an east-west alternative to Alligator Alley.
Fuel for Florida’s future
If all goes according to plan, Hendry County will soon be taking a lead role in providing an innovative source of fuel for Florida consumers.
In July 2007, FPL Energy, a subsidiary of FPL Group, one of the nation’s largest providers of electricity-related services, signed a letter of intent with Boca Raton-based Citrus Energy to develop the first-ever commercial scale citrus-peel-to-ethanol plant. The cellulosic ethanol plant, which will be owned and operated by FPL Energy and located on the grounds of a citrus processing plant south of Lake Okeechobee near Clewiston, will take approximately a year to build. When completed by late 2008, the $10-million plant is expected to produce some 4 million gallons of ethanol per year.
Florida’s citrus processing plants generate approximately 5 million tons of citrus waste annually. FPL estimates that ethanol made from citrus peel could result in a new Florida industry producing more than 60 million gallons of fuel per year, which could potentially replace about 1% of Florida’s annual gasoline consumption.
Educational Opportunities
Many sites mean easy accesss to college classses
- Healthy growth: Based in Avon Park with satellite sites in Arcadia, Lake Placid and Bowling Green, South Florida Community College serves more than 25,000 students per year, offering associate degrees in more than 60 fields, plus baccalaureate and post-graduate degrees in partnership with four-year institutions. A new $11-million, two-story, 51,000-square-foot Health and Science Education Center will permit SFCC to double its nursing program to more than 100 students; nearly 250 students in all will be enrolled in health programs in 2008. SFCC is also spending nearly $1.5 million in 2007-2008 to renovate its Lake Placid Center.
- Expanded reach: Two colleges based in Florida’s Southeast region have a South Central/Heartland presence — Indian River Community College in Okeechobee County and Palm Beach Community College in Glades County; both have extensive workforce development programs. Fort Myers-based Edison College currently houses its Hendry-Glades Center at LaBelle High School; plans are to build a permanent, 1,000-student campus in western Hendry County near State Roads 80 and 29.
Okeechobee County
The Perfect Site
 Entegra Roof Tile [Photo: Jimmie Presley] |
Companies with widespread logistics and distribution needs are finding Okeechobee County especially attractive. One example is Entegra Roof Tile Corp., which produces about 80 million pieces of tile annually. Since opening its plant just north of Lake Okeechobee at the intersection of State Road 70 and U.S. 441 in May 2006, Entegra has already expanded operations, according to Craig Dallas, general sales/marketing manager. “We have the most centrally located tile plant in Florida,” he says. “We can reach Orlando, Miami, Tampa and the Treasure Coast easily from Okeechobee. Within a 150-mile radius we can access all of our major markets. We couldn’t have found a better location.”
Resources
Community Colleges
• South Florida Community College
Airports
• Sebring Regional Airport