For businesses moving to Florida or expanding operations, few things are more important than infrastructure. Can you get the power you need? Can customers, workers and suppliers get to you? Is broadband access strong? Does the site have the other services it needs?
Bolstered by strong relationships with state utilities, Florida’s economic developers have aggressively pursued improvements to roads, airports, wireless networks and rail connections to meet the needs of current and future businesses.
For a case study in this, consider the ongoing development of the Tradition Center for Commerce in Port St. Lucie. Relying on more than $10 million from the Florida Job Growth Fund, the city has transformed a 1,200-acre site through improvements to the road, water, sewer and electric utility infrastructure.
This has created a dynamic industrial park, with distribution centers and manufacturers, including Accel International (high-performance wires and cables), Tamco (lighting and electrical products) and Oculus Surgical (ophthalmic equipment).
The roadwork, in particular, has been key to the project, says Pete Tesch, president of the Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County.
“It really helps with the flow of truck and employee traffic,” Tesch says. “It generally contributes to making it all work with the overall masterplan.”
The project is just one of many that have been targeted by Florida’s efforts to improve its infrastructure through a range of federal and state programs.
Among the initiatives:
- The state’s broadband internet network is being boosted through a $223 million program relying on state and federal dollars. The money will support 54 projects in 33 counties, targeting 27,000 residential, agricultural, business and community locations.
- Marion County received $4.7 million for infrastructure improvements at its Florida Crossroads Commerce Park, a multi-use industrial park targeting the food manufacturing and distribution, E-commerce and aviation and aerospace manufacturing industries.
- Pensacola received $3.9 million for infrastructure improvement at the Port of Pensacola. The port will establish a High-Performance Maritime Center of Excellence and provide a home base for the yacht racing team American Magic.
- Cape Coral received $4 million to increase access to Victory Park, a 140-acre master planned development. The project also includes a regional workforce training center.
- Santa Rosa County received $4.2 million to connect Naval Air Station Whiting Field to Whiting Aviation Park. The funds will be used to help build a helipad and a new taxiway to expand business opportunities.
- Jacksonville received $5.5 million to build a rail spur for its Cecil Commerce Center, a 600-acre industrial park that will support the manufacturing and logistics industries.
- Ormond Beach received $1.6 million to build a secondary access road to provide better access to the city’s Airport Business Park.
‘Another Set of Hands’
Projects such as those don’t happen without the combined efforts of local and state economic development officials working with industry partners. Playing a key role — whether it’s the blank canvas of a greenfield site or a tract that’s partially built — are the state’s utilities. Each of the major utilities operating in Florida supports efforts to attract new businesses or meet the growing needs of those looking to expand.
“In the early days, we were out there helping communities set up EDCs and develop initiatives that could help them grow,” says Marc Hoenstine, managing director of Florida economic development for Duke Energy. “More recently, we're investors in all of our county economic development organizations. In many cases, we're on the board of those organizations.”
Duke’s own efforts includes its Site Readiness Program, which aims to identify, evaluate and improve potential development locations. The programs delve into a range of factors, including workforce availability, cost, potential environmental issues and the community’s own ability to show the land.
“We're going deep because we know the clients are going to ask those questions when they come to town,” Hoenstine says. “So we're helping communities prepare their pitch and their proposal.”
Florida Power & Light Co. (FPL) has its Florida First Sites program to promote project-ready industrial sites, in consultation with local developers and a national site selection firm. Before being included in the growing inventory, sites are evaluated for a range of factors, including ownership, available utilities, permitting, site characteristics and nearby workforce.
“Florida First Sites offer unique advantages, from coastal locations near major seaports to inland sites in close proximity to rail and interstates,” says Cathy Chambers, FPL’s senior director of economic development.
Scarlett Phaneuf is the economic development representative for PowerSouth Energy Cooperative in Northwest Florida, where she supports local efforts to attract new business.
“I'm kind of an extra set of hands,” Phaneuf says. “We get involved in lead generation. We work closely with local and state organizations on sales and business development missions, where we're selling the entire state and our region.”
Addressing Challenges
Florida is well known for its potential exposure to severe weather and hurricanes. The state’s utilities are constantly making infrastructure upgrades to reduce vulnerability.
Tampa Electric, for example, is spending $150 million annually to strengthen its infrastructure. That includes undergrounding key power lines, trimming vegetation that might cause disruptions during storms and replacing wooden poles with steel or concrete.
The company is also turning to technological advancement to make its system more resilient.
“One of our latest smart advancements, self-healing technology, works like a GPS redirecting traffic around an accident,” says Rick Richmond, the company’s senior manager of economic development. “It helps to identify power line problems and remotely route electricity around them to reduce power outages and restore power sooner.”
The ever-growing state (an estimated 1,000 new people moving here every day) also deals with stresses related to managing water. Those challenges are being addressed through statewide efforts that include the work of the Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University.
The university’s researchers work with local communities and businesses on a wide range of water and environmental issues. Included in that mix is a massive data project involving the Charlotte Harbor watershed that the university hopes will lead to the creation of a predictive tool to help communities identify potential trouble spots along with how best to solve them, says Greg Tolley, the school’s dean.
“We need to be able to provide new businesses moving to the state with the opportunity for a long-term investment in communities that are more sustainable,” Tolley says.
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