 Marc Giulianotti directs chemistry operations in the laboratories at Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies. [Photo: Michael Price] |
Thanks to an uneventful 2006 storm season, projects in progress are on track to meet deadlines, and new developments are flowing in. The result is an effort by each county to solidify its unique position in the region, and for county, business, economic development and other leaders to work together to boost the area’s presence and success.
Miami-Dade County
Wider Perspective
Miami-Dade County is making a concerted effort to add trade, healthcare, biotech and business to its tourism roots. The county partnered with Enterprise Florida and the University of Miami to participate in Bio2007 in Boston. The Beacon Council, the county’s economic development group, participated in a trade mission to South Africa in spring 2007, and officials from the Port of Miami traveled to China to boost connections with the port’s top trading partner. In May 2007, the Port of Miami became home port to Royal Caribbean International’s Liberty of the Seas, the largest cruise ship afloat. Still in the offing: The University of Miami’s plans for a $1-billion regional “Health District” to include a biomedical research facility, clinical institute, hospital and bioscience center. Slated for the city’s urban core, it’s expected to bring 1,000 jobs.
Nokia calls on Miami-Dade
For Nokia Latin America, Miami’s mix of nationalities is a plus for recruiting regional sales and marketing staff. The county’s access to the Caribbean, all of Latin America and even the company’s native Finland via Miami International Airport makes travel a breeze. Just being in Miami lures Latin Americans north to what is perceived as neutral, friendly territory. “There’s a natural familiarity with the restaurants, food, lifestyle and architecture,” says Jose Sosa, Nokia’s regional marketing director, who relocated here in late 2006 along with a dozen other staffers from Dallas to open the office. Staffing is expected to top 100 and could help Nokia get some $400,000 in tax incentives, he says. “It’s tough to beat Miami as a place to do business.”
Broward County
Planes, Trains and Ships
Whether the subject is planes, trains, ships or call centers, Broward County has plenty of seats. In late 2006, Global Contact Services of West Virginia announced plans for a 120-person bilingual call center in Fort Lauderdale. Miami-based Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. brought 410 new jobs to Miramar. Countywide, transportation is on the move. The Broward County Commission has approved a $695-million, 2,700-foot runway lengthening at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Tri-Rail, the Broward-based commuter train service linking the county with Miami-Dade and Palm Beach, increased regional service by 25% in June. Trade missions to China in 2006 and to Mexico and Canada in 2007 are helping to promote the county’s growing bilingual character, international trade and capital investment.
Getting windy
Among the businesses that “blew” into Broward in 2007 — Associated Grocers, which brought 300 new jobs to its Pompano Beach warehouse/distribution facility, and ABB Optical, which now hosts 70 new Coral Springs jobs as a leading national optical distributor — none was bigger than Canada-based Rowan Williams Davies & Irwin Inc., with its state-of-the-art wind tunnel. The new 10,000-square-foot Miramar facility, ideally located for its proximity to international markets, builders and businesses focusing on and affected by hurricanes, is home to 12 new high-skill jobs and eventually more than twice that, says Frank Kriksic, partner and general manager RWDI USA LLC.
Broward County — By the Numbers
|
Jefferson’s Vision Comes to Broward
|
Education in Broward may soon be taking a step back in time to move ahead. Nova Southeastern University (NSU) has plans for a $500-million “Academical Village” intended to blend the visions of Thomas Jefferson with New Urbanism to transform its central Broward campus into the area’s academic and economic hub, says Dr. George Hanbury, the school’s executive vice president and COO.
Walkways and multiple transportation options will connect NSU to Davie and other area campuses (including Broward Community College, Florida Atlantic University and a University of Florida agricultural research office). In addition, a high-speed optical connection will link NSU to schools and biotech firms throughout the state. “If you tie into us,” Hanbury says, “you literally tie into all of those research institutions.”
Palm Beach County
Healthcare Gaining Strength — New facilities for research, training and patient care |
Prosperity Reigns
In the county that started this region’s high-tech and bio burst, the good news keeps coming.
In June 2007, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System and First Industrial Realty Trust, a Chicago-based real estate firm, bought 537 acres and 6 million square feet of in-place industrial development rights in the county’s Florida Research Park. In late 2006, Office Depot decided to keep its 2,100+ jobs in Delray Beach. Jarden Consumer Solutions — the marketer of such brands as CrockPot, Mr. Coffee and SunBeam — consolidated operations here, as did aerospace firms Coastal Optical and Lockheed-Martin. Palm Beach International Airport is looking to more than double the length of a runway, and the Port of Palm Beach is hoping to purchase property near Belle Glade for an inland port facility.
On the horizon are more business and financial services companies eager to serve the area’s affluent community. Says one business leader, “One thing that has not decreased is the amount of wealth in our county.”
Connecting the biotech dots
South Florida’s rapidly expanding Internet Coast regional initiative designed to spur entrepreneurship and research surrounding science and technology development, needed mobility. So Nancy and Ed Iacobucci (he’s the founder of Boca software firm Citrix) launched DayJet Corporation, the first per-seat, on-demand air carrier. Users book a single seat on one of the company’s “very light jets” for flights between cities with little to no direct service, like Boca Raton (where DayJet is headquartered), Lakeland, Gainesville, Tallahassee and Pensacola. The cost? Between $1 and $4 per nautical mile. The company expects to grow its employee base from under 200 today to 350 and its equipment to 300 jets (already ordered) across Florida and beyond, says Traver Gruen-Kennedy, the company’s vice president of strategic operations. “We connect the region.”
Martin County
Pace is Picking Up
 Florida’s workforce training programs teach practical skills such as welding. |
Development is catching on in Martin County, especially in the county’s western reaches. In the once largely agricultural area around Indiantown, Quillen DRI and Venture Corporate Park have joined Indiantown Commerce and Technology Park as prospective industrial development sites. Martin County’s population is expected to top 150,000 within three years, and many residents between the ages of 25 and 64 who currently commute to jobs outside the county are workforce-ready and eager for employment closer to home.
Amassing gas
Long-time Houston energy executive Brad Williams sensed opportunity in Martin County where energy use is on the rise and natural gas has been coming in by way of just two pipelines that converge outside of Indiantown. Why not build a storage facility? So Williams has created Floridian Natural Gas Storage Company LLC, and has filed for permitting on a 145-acre former Superfund site. Construction of the $500-million project will take three years and 350 workers, some of whom will be trained in a program offered jointly by Indian River Community College and the American Welding Society.
Homes for real people
The Quillen development from Delray Beach-based Ascot Development LLC is a master-planned community slated to bring 2,250 homes, 150,000 square feet of mixed-use commercial, office and residential development, a school and natural preserves to 586 acres in Indiantown.
Under one roof
Applied Concepts Aircraft Solutions is consolidating its engineering and design headquarters in a single building at the Treasure Coast Commerce Center. The move retains three jobs already in Martin County with five professionals from the former headquarters, along with plans to add five more in the near-term.
Founded in 1998, the company is involved in helicopters and aircraft manufacturing with customers that include Sikorsky, Lufthansa, Technik, BE Aerospace and Jet Aviation.
St. Lucie County
Collaboration is the Key
The biggest news in St. Lucie County — and arguably the entire Southeast region — this past year was the landing of the headquarters of Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies. Like the Scripps Research Institute’s impact on Palm Beach County before it, word of Torrey Pines’ plans to bring or create almost 200 high-wage jobs to a $40-million, 100,000-square-foot center in the town of Tradition created a regional frenzy of activity. The news has bolstered the stature of the Research Coast, an economic and technology development partnership between St. Lucie, Martin and Indian River counties, and has attracted a variety of new research and supporting businesses to the area, leaders say.
It was collaboration — between state, county, city and business leaders — that helped lure Torrey Pines from San Diego, says Richard A. Houghten, Ph.D., its president and CEO. Beyond proximity to universities, federal agencies and The Scripps Research Institute in Palm Beach County, local leaders’ plans for schools, roads, infrastructure and development — with an aversion to sprawl — was important to maintaining lifestyle. “We felt a genuine cohesiveness in the entire community,” Houghten says. “That was the deciding factor.”
Homes and big boxes
St. Lucie County enjoys the double good fortune of a prime location and ample growing room. Some 50,000 acres of former citrus groves will become, in part, a Core Communities retail center with the area’s first “big box” stores: Target; Bed, Bath & Beyond; and L.A. Fitness. Core also has signed a letter of intent with The Taubman Company to build The Landing at Tradition, a 1.1 million-square-foot regional mall.
Port St. Lucie By The Numbers 12th Best Place Overall to Do Business in the U.S. (Inc. magazine, April 2007) 22% growth in metro Port St. Lucie from April 2000 to July 2006 14th fastest growing city (US Census Bureau) |
New Business Activities
- Southeast Florida is as much about international trade as it is high technology. Girard Equipment Inc., a manufacturer of valves for tanker trucks, is relocating its corporate headquarters, manufacturing plant and 12 employees from New Jersey to the Vero Beach Enterprise Zone as it prepares for expansion into Asia.
- Two hotel properties are new to the beachfront. The 83-suite luxury condo-hotel the Vero Beach Hotel & Club, managed by Naples-based Coral Hospitality. The Caribbean Court at Vero Beach, an archway-lined and vined renovation of the old Riviera Inn, today is an 18-room upscale boutique inn.
Economic Indicators: |
|
| Indicator | |
| Population (2006) | 6,060,811 |
| Labor Force (2006) | 3,049,287 |
| Total Employment (2006) | 2,942,316 |
| Unemployment Rate (2006) | 3.5 |
| Personal Income in Billions (2005) | $226 |
| Per Capita Personal Income (2005) | $37,623 |
| Number of Foreign-Affiliated Companies (2005) | 1,391 |
| Cost of Living Index (2006) (U.S. Average=100) | 113.2 |
| Median Home Price (2006) | $345,375 |
Source: Enterprise Florida |
|
Housing Costs: |
||
| Urban Area and State | Rent | Price |
| San Francisco CA | $ 1,995 | $ 871,443 |
| New York (Queens) NY | $ 1,718 | $ 597,969 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria DC-VA | $ 1,720 | $ 671,289 |
| Boston MA | $ 1,360 | $ 501,098 |
| Newark- Elizabeth NJ | $ 1,427 | $ 534,133 |
| Philadelphia PA | $ 1,264 | $ 425,611 |
| Fort Lauderdale FL | $ 1,065 | $ 480,056 |
| West Palm Beach FL | $ 1,013 | $ 436,517 |
| Miami-Dade County FL | $ 1,126 | $ 424,703 |
| Chicago IL | $ 1,488 | $ 360,316 |
Source: ACCRA via The Beacon Council (2006 data) |
||
Global Gateway: |
|
| 2006 Top Partners by Rank | Value |
| 1 Brazil | $8,883,534,922 |
| 2 Venezuela | 4,968,215,848 |
| 3 Dominican Republic | 4,567,093,828 |
| 4 Colombia | 4,387,952,534 |
| 5 China (Mainland) | 3,883,094,254 |
| Total All Countries | $72,078,088,844 |
Source: US Census Bureau, WorldCity Analysis |
|
Educational Alliances
When it comes to education in southeast Florida, collaboration is the name of the game.
- Indian River Community College and the Kight Center for Emerging Technologies, along with exploratory programs offered through Florida Atlantic University’s Center of Excellence in Biomedical and Marine Biotechnology provide introductory technology training.
- The St. Lucie County Commission and School Board, along with the University of Florida and its Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), teamed up to create a 1,600-acre Research and Education Park.
- Florida Atlantic University has partnered with Indian River Community College on a joint campus and has acquired Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. FAU’s Center of Excellence in Biomedical and Marine Biotechnology works with Florida International University, Nova Southeastern University, the Smithsonian Marine Station and private-sector partners.
- University of Miami and Florida International University researchers participate in collaborative projects in south Florida through UM’s Comprehensive Drug Research Center.
- Keiser College, Nova Southeastern University and Barry University, all of which are private educational institutions, offer a variety of graduate and undergraduate degree programs for traditional and working students.
- Florida Institute of Technology, an independent university located just north of Florida’s Research Coast, the Martin/St. Lucie/Indian River county business development consortium, offers programs in the sciences, engineering, psychology, management and related disciplines.
Indian River County
Continued Growth
In contrast to 26 miles of picturesque beachfront, the widening of Interstate 95 through Indian River County is a clear sign of this area’s continued growth — and traffic patterns. East-west traffic is flowing more smoothly, as State Road 60 through Yeehaw Junction toward Osceola County gets widened to four lanes. For companies moving in, housing prices are dropping as inventory sits idle.
More than a two-year school
Indian River Community College in 2008 will offer nine four-year degree programs, including nursing, applied science, and middle and secondary education training, President Ed Massey, Ph.D., says. In addition, IRCC has partnered with Florida State University’s College of Medicine to open a new regional medical school on its Fort Pierce campus. “All the components of economic development — a trained workforce, educational foundation and top facilities — are critical for any company to relocate to an area,” Massey says.
“Show Me the Money”
When Damien Jacquinet needed a $1.5-million line of credit to finance receivables and triple the output of Nida-Core Corp., he turned first to a traditional bank. “Regular banks have pretty strict covenants that get your attention out of what you do best, which is running your business,” he says. So now, instead of dealing with a single bank, Jacquinet is considering the Research Coast Business Financial Consortium. Established in spring 2007 by the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council (Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties), the Consortium offers alternative funding for budding entrepreneurs. Composed of 16 banks that have agreed to set aside $2 million each over the next two years, the Consortium aims to lure or fund growing high-tech, high-wage companies along the Research Coast with competitive rates. Because the risk — from $150,000 to $1.5 million per loan — is spread out, lenders can offer more flexible terms than they might demand with conventional loans. |
 David Kunen of Raytheon and FKCC President Jill Landesberg-Boyle in the Computer Training and Testing facility at the community college’s main campus in Key West [Photo courtesy of Florida Keys Community College] |
Monroe County / Key West
Stats: The Keys 2006 $3.83 bil. 2005 $3.65 bil. Source: Florida Department of Revenue Up 4.49% for tourism and recreation At $40,000+, the Florida Keys have among the highest starting teacher salaries statewide. |
Adapting to Change
Long known for its laid-back lifestyle, Monroe County, which encompasses the Florida Keys, has lately undergone an evolution of sorts. Over recent years, the population has dropped as some four in 10 residences here are second homes or vacation getaways, and the region now serves more seasonal and part-time than year-round residents. Employment, however, is up, as are sales and tax collections. The Key West channel and harbor were recently dredged to accommodate increasing traffic. Expanded passenger ferry services from Miami, Fort Myers and Marco Island to Key West now bring in some 124,000 visitors annually. A new bus route from Marathon to Key West serves a mobile working class and student population. And the $1-million renovation currently under way at Key West International Airport will turn this facility into a more fitting home for the corporate and personal jets that fly in for long weekends.
Classrooms in the Keys
Florida Keys Community College’s new president Jill Landesberg-Boyle has two primary goals: expand the marine, high-tech, hospitality management and allied health-related programs, and increase enrollment — especially into the Upper Keys from nearby Miami-Dade County. The defense and homeland security firm Raytheon landed security contracts at Key West’s seaport and airport in 2006, and, as a result, has taken up residence at the community college to provide training and aptitude testing for screeners.
Redeveloping the island chain
In Marathon, Spottswood Companies’ Faro Blanco (“White Lighthouse”) development is slated for completion in 2008 and will convert an existing resort into 88 upscale resort condos with 150 yacht slips. Scheduled to open in fall 2007, the Beachside Resort (a former Holiday Inn property in Key West) will be an upscale resort condo project consisting of 129 units with an average price of $1.3 million. “Project Key West” is a 450-room interval ownership hotel rising on 20 prime island acres in 2008. The property also will provide 50 units of workforce housing for some of the company’s 249 employees (up from a projected 189 a year ago). The Keys now cater to a new clientele: “We’re becoming an Aspen-like resort,” says Peter H. Batty, Spottswood’s senior vice president for sales.
Resources
Universities/Colleges
• Barry University
• Florida Atlantic University
• Florida International University
• Florida Memorial University
• Lynn University
• Nova Southeastern University
• Palm Beach Atlantic University
• St. Thomas University
• University of Miami
Community Colleges
• Broward Community College
• Florida Keys Community College
• Indian River Community College
• Miami Dade College
• Palm Beach Community College
Airports
• Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International
• Key West International
• Marathon (Florida Keys)
• Miami International
• Palm Beach International
Seaports
• Port Everglades
• Port of Fort Pierce
• Port of Key West
• Port of Miami
• Port of Palm Beach