SPOTLIGHT
Amazon’s new fulfillment center in Leon County will receive a $2.5-million bonus for meeting — and exceeding — job creation and capital investment incentives. Under Amazon’s deal with the city-county Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency, the company committed to creating 1,000 jobs and spending $200 million in capital investment in the first six months of operation. Since starting operations in September 2023, Amazon has created 1,400 jobs and invested $250 million in capital improvements. The Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency is a Tallahassee-Leon County agency established to incentivize and promote economic development through funding from a one-cent local option sales tax.
“Amazon has already surpassed its initial commitment of creating 1,000 jobs by 40%, and the capital investment of $200 million has been exceeded by 25%,” says a Blueprint staff report to county and city officials.
The construction of the 630,000-sq.-ft. automated distribution center began in 2021. It went operational in September 2023 after months of delay due to supply chain issues.
The location of the Amazon facility in the Leon County region has had a major economic impact, including the creation of 2,256 jobs during the construction phase and $119.7 million in construction wages. Amazon workers currently earn an average of $17 per hour, and nearly 43% of the distribution center’s employees reside in three regional ZIP codes that are among the poorest in Florida, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics.
DEVELOPMENT
- Developers are moving forward with recently approved plans for 500 housing units in rapidly growing Santa Rosa County. The three subdivision projects will be spread over a total of 125 acres of currently vacant and non-contiguous land. They include: Marlin Place, a 142-lot, 45-acre development near the town of Milton being developed by Forestar (USA) Real Estate Group, a subsidiary of Texas-based D.R. Horton; the Rivers Cove project, a 224-lot subdivision being developed by D.R. Horton on 46 acres of previously undeveloped land also near Milton; and the 34-acre Lakes of Woodbine, a 131-lot subdivision for single-family residences in the Pace community being developed by D.R. Horton and Olson Land.
- The $30-million expansion of Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park in Fort Walton Beach is open to the public. After five years of planning and construction, the 2.2-acre expansion features three large interconnected dolphin habitats that hold over 1 million gallons of Gulf seawater. The park now seats 480 guests.
PHILANTHROPY
- “This gift will make a tremendous impact on the lives of students,” the University of West Florida’s business college Dean Richard Fountain says about the Pensacola-based Bear Family Foundation’s $5-million gift to provide scholarships.
SPORTS
- The pickleball rage is moving into Tallahassee with a 27,000-sq.- ft. indoor facility set to open by early summer. The Pickle Pad is a project being developed by Indoor Active Brands, which focuses on providing consumers indoor entertainment and physical activity venues. The Pickle Pad is the first such facility to be located in Florida under the Indoor Active Brands banner, a division of Atlanta-based NRD Capital.
TOURISM
- Visit Pensacola reports tourism in 2023 saw some 2.5 million visitors to Escambia County spending a total of more than $2 billion. President and CEO Darien Schaefer says the local tourism industry supports 20,600 jobs and represents nearly 15% of all jobs in Escambia County.
TRANSPORTATION
- The city of Pensacola’s plans for a $70-million expansion of its International Airport got a $5-million boost recently from Escambia County. The county’s grant follows the Florida Legislature’s recent approval of a $5-million grant and the city’s approval of $4 million. The $14-million total will be used to pay for design plans already underway. Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves says he’s optimistic the remaining $54 million will be secured this year and the construction of five new passenger loading gates and the expansion of the security screening area will get underway by late 2024 or early 2025.
- The city of Tallahassee’s expectations that a Colorado-based aviation company would invest more than $20 million at Tallahassee International Airport have been dashed. The city severed ties due to the company’s failure to meet terms in its lease agreement. Plans called for Burrell Aviation to build a new cargo servicing facility.
- New York-based international carrier JetBlue has begun daily nonstop service from Tallahassee to Fort Lauderdale. Budget carrier Breeze Airways has begun serving Pensacola International Airport with nonstop flights to Tampa and a one-stop connection to Norfolk, Va.