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Economic Yearbook 2007
NORTH CENTRAL: Upbeat, Uncertain
Cautious optimism.
Upbeat, Uncertain
NEW DEVELOPMENTS: a Wal-Mart distribution center opened in January, creating 800 jobs, and another for Sysco will add about 300 in Alachua County. David Ramsey, research-marketing manager for Gainesville's Council for Economic Outreach, says, "Wal-Mart's jobs start at $13.30, which has driven up the average wage for everybody."
STRONG SHOWING: Fifty-seven percent of Gainesville employers said they expected to hire workers in the first quarter of 2007, according to a survey by research firm Manpower. ... With 2.6% unemployment, Sumter County was upbeat -- until February's tornadoes hit.
SETBACK: The state rejected a bid by Ameris Health Systems to build a hospital in Chiefland that would have served a tri-county area. ... In Marion County, leaders fear that emergency-vehicle maker E-One may leave for greener pastures. Locals are waiting to see if an $8-million incentive package put together by the city and county can entice the manufacturer to remain and save 1,700 jobs and a half-billion annual impact to the area.
CHALLENGES: North central counties are trying to decide how best to provide infrastructure and government services for a growing population. Even thinly populated Dixie County is being asked to provide more "in the face of the general clamor for tax reduction and limits on local governmental spending," says county coordinator Arthur Bellot. ... Residents in coastal Levy County, meanwhile, are pondering the news that Progress Energy may build a nuclear power plant near Dunnellon to meet even larger electricity demands in the future.
GOING GREEN: Not long ago, Gainesville city commissioners rejected plans for a coal-fired power plant, favoring instead a green alternative to provide energy for a growing population.
