Northwest Business Briefs - July 2004

Navarre Beach -- Florida's newest state park, tucked between Santa Rosa Sound and the Gulf of Mexico, will also have a below-water attraction. Construction of an underwater marine sanctuary at the recently dedicated 130-acre Navarre Beach State Park could begin by late summer.

Northwest Florida -- Rural counties fared better than usual in the latest state budget, Panhandle representatives say. Gadsden County received $9 million for a new school, and Liberty County received a $1.12-million increase for its Florida Education Finance Program -- the third-highest increase in the state. The budget also includes $21.2 million for a new prison in Franklin County and money for additional beds for prisons in Santa Rosa and Washington counties. A budget provision could also direct $56 million to prison construction at Graceville in Jackson County.

Pensacola -- Call centers are sending help-wanted messages: Navy Federal Credit Union, Publishers Circulation Fulfillment and West Corp. together want to add 820 workers here, most by year-end.

Port St. Joe -- St. Joe Co. (NYSE-JOE), Smurfit-Stone Container, the city and the port authority are envisioning port growth and ways to reuse the abandoned 126-acre St. Joe Paper mill site. Under consideration: Moving central port operations north of the mill site, deepening the channel and building mixed-use development where the mill stood.

Tallahassee -- Newly minted Hancock Bank of Florida could provide the springboard for expansion from Tallahassee across the Panhandle, says parent company CEO George A. Schloegel. Gulfport, Miss.-based Hancock Holding Co. bought Guaranty National Bank after regulators ordered it closed.

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