Charlotte Crane | 4/1/2010

Jefferson/Gadsden/Wakulla Counties

“Industries hiring are staffing companies and state and local government. We also have job orders for healthcare and information technology. It’s the small companies, not the big companies, bringing in jobs.’’ — Kimberly Moore, CEO of Workforce Plus, regional workforce board for Leon, Gadsden and Wakulla counties

To spur economic development, Jefferson County has adopted an ordinance offering grant incentives to businesses providing new jobs or capital investment. Being considered: Development of a master plan and completion of infrastructure work to make the county-owned industrial park industry-ready.

David Gardner

Construction at Adage’s second biopower company could possibly start by midyear; at startup, it will employ about 125. Most existing businesses, however, are in survival mode, says David Gardner, executive director of the Gadsden Chamber of Commerce and economic development. “I have to be the cheerleader, but I hear the stories of their concern.’’

“Tourism development is where we see our growth right now,’’ says Mary Ellen Davis, chairman of the Wakulla County Economic Development Council.

Business to Watch

» Applied Fiber, founded in 2003 and based in Havana, is a growing technology business manufacturing high-performance cable assemblies using light-weight, high-strength synthetic fibers. It provides cable assemblies for the oil and gas industries, commercial marine uses, architectural firms, sporting goods companies and the medical industry.

Taylor/Gilchrist Counties

Perry in Taylor County recently completed a restoration of the Live Oak Perry and Gulf Railroad train station for use as a business incubator; it’s fully occupied, housing economic development agencies and four shops. A Holiday Inn and three retailers also opened recently, adding jobs and tax dollars, says city manager Bob Brown. “And we’ve had no big closures. We have good things going on, and we’re on the cusp of a lot of better things’’ — among them gas pipeline construction.

For Gilchrist County, the combination of local ad valorem decreases and expected state cutbacks could mean a county revenue reduction this year of $750,000 to $1 million, says county administrator Ron McQueen. “We’re concerned this could mean layoffs; we’ve reduced operating revenue to the bone in the past two years.’’

Business to Watch

» Buckeye Florida, a wood cellulose manufacturing plant near Perry, is partnering with the University of Florida to build a facility for cellulosic ethanol research projects, aided by UF’s $20-million grant from the Legislature. Groundbreaking was in March. Buckeye also is installing a condensing steam turbine, a biomass-fueled generating project that will increase its green-energy reliance from 87% to 92%; construction, to be completed by the fall, is providing 148 jobs. A third project, research with UF on different kinds of biomass, began in 2009.