ED in Pensacola

From: Charles Wood
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 9:35 AM
To: Charles Wood
Subject: Weekly Economic Development Investor Update

Please note, this is an email that I send directly to you and I encourage any feedback or questions by replying to this email which 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.

• One of Two – Over the last year, the Pensacola and Panama City MSAs are the only two metros that had positive job growth in the period from March 2009 to March 2010. While unemployment levels are still very high, this is definitely a good sign for Pensacola and possibly a sign that Northwest Florida may emerge from the recession before the rest of the state. See the map at: http://www.labormarketinfo.com/library/maps/ces/jobgrowth.asp?growthtype=p&series=00000000

• Project Activity – Our activity levels continue to climb. The back office and call center sectors have been the most active, in fact we have submitted on four different projects in the last two weeks for projects that range between 200 and 400 jobs. Additionally, mid size manufacturing projects are picking up as well generally in the range of 50 to 100 employees.

• Recruitment Trip – I attended CORENET last week as part of our recruitment efforts. CORENET is a membership organization of corporate real estate executives that manage real estate for public and private companies as well as large national real estate groups. The highlight of the meeting was a dinner hosted by the Florida Business Development Fund (of which the Chamber is a member along with Tampa, Jacksonville and a few other large EDOs) that hosted 18 corporate real estate execs from around the country.

• Final Plat for Tech Campus - The City Council approved the final plat for the tech campus last Thursday allowing PBS&J to complete the engineering documents and submit to the City and the US Economic Development Administration for final approval – this means that most of our major hurdles are behind us including the $2 million EDA grant award, the archeological dig, and now the platting process…

Recent Success: Synergy Solutions of Phoenix, Arizona has announced that they will locate a back office support center in Pensacola, creating 200 jobs in downtown.

Charles Wood, CEcD
Senior Vice President - Economic Development
Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce