Message from the Chamber of Commerce

Click image to enlarge

From: Charles Wood
Date: Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 5:33 PM
Subject: Economic Development Update
To: List

This email is the result of a renewed effort to push information out about our economic development efforts here at the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce. The information included is not considered confidential and can be forwarded to other individuals that may be interested in our efforts.

* Pensacola Unemployment 7th Lowest in State – For the month of November, Pensacola’s unemployment rate was 6.7%, that means out of 23 MSAs in the state we ranked 7th, ranking lower than Jacksonville, Tampa, and Orlando. The unemployment rate for the state was 7.3 with the highest unemployment felt in Flagler County, south of Jacksonville at 11.1%.

* iTen Wired video – Continuing to push our message out about the region’s innovation and technology sector, we have uploaded a video clip from our most recent iTen Wired Summit held at the Andrews Institute. See post below, titled iTen Wired (click here).

* Real Estate & Prospect Interest – We hosted two out of town real estate firms this week (Jones Lang Lasalle and Marcus and Millichap) who were scouting the area for opportunities. We see this as a very good sign that investors are looking at getting their money off the sidelines and that they see Pensacola as a stable market for investment despite the national downturn. Additionally, we sent out state tax information as well as labor information to a Wisconsin-based company considering Pensacola as a possible location option.

Please feel free to email me if you have questions on the above items or would like me to provide updates on specific topics next week. And as always, thank you for your support of our economic development efforts.

Sincerely,

Charles

Recent Success: Pall Life Sciences announced a $26 million investment in Pensacola and will grow to over 200 employees.