CRESTVIEW FLORIDA BANKING ON FAMU FUELING ECONOMY

Congratulations to the City of Crestview and local politicians in support of this great opportunity to the City of Crestview. This opportunity and the others planned in the Crestview area should make the City of Crestview a great place to live, work, and play.

Crestview banking on FAMU fueling economy
By KYLE WRIGHT Florida Freedom Newspapers

CRESTVIEW — Scholars and politicians alike say a Florida A&M University pharmacy school would pump millions of dollars into the local economy. Rick Harper, director of the Haas Center for Business Development at the University of West Florida, says the proposed school in downtown Crestview would have an immediate direct impact of $3 million to $6 million per year in faculty and student spending. Harper based his estimate on the projected initial enrollment of 50 students served by about seven faculty members. State Sen. Durell Peaden, who led the effort to secure state funding for the first phase, expects the project eventually would pump hundreds of millions of dollars into the local economy. Analysts project new medical schools at Florida State University and the University of Central Florida to create an economic impact of more than $1 billion during the respective schools’ first 10 years. Peaden thinks a local pharmacy school could be worth about half that amount. “It’s worth more than anything else we could bring to Crestview,” he said. “It’ll be worth at minimum a couple of hundred million dollars, and as it develops, it will get even higher.” Crestview Mayor David Cadle emphasized the city would not get stuck with the bill if the project encounters a funding shortfall. FAMU officials estimate the facility will cost $10.2 million. The state has allocated $2.5 million for the project. FAMU officials hope to secure additional state funding in future years. “There will be no city liability whatsoever for the final cost of the renovation” of the Alatex building, the likely site for the proposed school, Cadle said. “The city will not be committing any money to the project. It will be totally through the state.”