Southwest

Florida’s Southwest region has experienced a resurgence, aided by infusions of investment capital, the region’s manufacturing, construction, logistics and health care sectors are all enjoying steady improvement. That growth spurt is especially noticeable in home building, a sector fueled by more than $1 billion in HUD recovery funds and a surge in private investment capital from banks, according to Florida Gulf Coast University’s Small Business Development Center.

More than two years after Hurricane Ian slammed into Florida’s Southwest Gulf Coast, three hard-hit counties — Collier, Charlotte and Lee — are recovering quickly and adapting to a new economic landscape shaped in large part by the storm.

For example, this new landscape is spurring many residential and commercial developers to seek higher — and less expensive — ground east of I-75 which runs north and south along the Gulf Coast.

The underlying strength of the Southwest region’s fast-growing economy is evident by the steady infusions of investment capital and its robust manufacturing, construction, logistics and health care sectors.

And with many residential and commercial structures damaged or destroyed by the storm in Lee County alone, the demand for new — and affordable — housing in the Southwest region has surged following the storm.

“We have targeted over $600 million in HUD funding to housing issues here in Lee County,” says Dana Brunett, deputy director of Lee County Economic Development Office. “And we’re focusing on getting more affordable housing through the use of those funds.”

Affordable Housing

Brunett says the challenge is that developers make more money on market rate multi-family dwellings as opposed to workforce housing.

“However, we’re starting to see a lot of properties come on line that are more affordable and are in the pipeline, but it’s just hard to keep up because people keep moving here and gobbling up new housing.”

The surge of available investment capital from banks, private lenders and governmental sources has been a pleasant surprise, says Dorian Zwierewicz, regional director of Florida Gulf Coast University’s Small Business Development Center.

The university’s SBDC center established a capital access goal of $30 million for the 2024 calendar year, and quickly reached that goal in July, says Zwierewicz.

“Like anyone else I was worried about reaching this year’s goal because of the higher interest rates, but we’ve just had a lot of demand for capital,” he says. “Banks are really helping our small business clients by expanding their micro-loan programs and offering loans of $150,000 or less, down from a minimum of $350,000 and above a few years ago.”

Workforce Training

Other challenges facing the Southwest region include talent attraction and retention and workforce training.

Melanie Schmees, manager of Sponsored Programs for FGCU, says the Good Jobs Challenge grants from the U.S. Department of Commerce have made an important impact on the Southwest region.

“The Good Jobs program has really been in direct collaboration with employers to understand their unique workforce needs and how we can upscale our local workforce to directly meet those needs,” she says. “So, I think the ability of our educational institutions to respond directly to employer needs and the workforce needs has really been a success and exemplified through this program.”

But more still needs to be done on the talent and workforce challenges.

Talent

“Talent and workforce are huge issues,” says Burnett. “We need to do more economic gardening in our own backyard and training the existing people here to get those jobs.”

Burnett adds that rising housing prices and steady cost of living increases are discouraging the migration of young talent to the Southwest region.

“Young people can’t afford to come down here and live in the short term to accept a job,” Burnett says. “Even with the huge demand we have here for nurses, they’re coming down, turning around and going back because they can’t afford to live here.”

Aside from workforce and talent issues, the Southwest region, like the Florida Economic Development Council’s seven other regions, continues to face stiff competition from other states.

Among the needs cited by the region’s economic development leaders are more affordable land, existing shovel-ready sites, and additional tax and capital investment incentives that match up with other Southeastern states.

New Initiatives

New initiatives by Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties include temporary waiver of impact fees; tax abatements, lease-purchase agreements for land in industrial parks along with infrastructure and site development grants.

Embedded in the Southwest’s new economic landscape is the strategy emphasizing “placemaking,” defined as the intentional use of public spaces to strengthen community connections where people want to gather and interact.

These efforts include downtown redevelopment, responsible redevelopment of the coastal islands and beaches and sustained efforts toward land conservation.