The time has come and the excitement in the air is growing. With the OFFICIAL movement of some of the 7th Special Forces to the area happening NOW, and some of the others deciding to move earlier to take advantage of the low prices; it will be an quite interesting to see how we can accomodate these folks. The word is out and some of the national, regional, and local builder's are looking for quality home sites to begin building. As the Vice President of the Northwest Florida Military Officer's Association, I get to here some interesting news. As I said before, the military transfer season is upon us NOW and with the demand of the normal military transfers this summer, new military units being assigned to our area, and the major reduction in military housing units on Eglin; this year and next few years to come will be exciting. If you don't think it's HOT, ask some of the realtors, who are making thousands of dollars on new home sales.
Special Forces Relocate to Eglin 04/20/10
By: Allyson Walker Walton County, Fla, WMBB - Channel 13 Panama City
Walton County could have its very own mini stimulus rolling into the area this summer. The county is getting ready for a Special Forces unit to relocate to Eglin Air Force Base from Fort Bragg. Those in Walton and Okaloosa counties say the stampede of military families will make a huge impact on the area. A brand new banner means preparations for a trip to Fort Bragg, North Carolina are well underway. And it’s all because a whole unit of Army Special Forces will be relocating to Eglin this summer, according to Kim Kirby, the DeFuniak Springs City Manager “…Lieutenant Colonel Bloomberg with the 7th Special Forces, provided invitations to the area cities and counties’ chambers of commerce to attend a forum in Fort Bragg on May 11th and 12th to provide information about our communities to the 7th Special Forces groups and their families.
It’s all a part of a joint effort by Walton and Okaloosa County to court and coax families to move into their communities. The influx of people means an economic boost. Kirby points out that “…it could mean our businesses have customers that are buying books, buying groceries, buying gas, our downtown, paying taxes…”
And for a county under serious budget strain, more business could help. Mary Lou Reed with the Walton and Okaloosa Workforce Development Board agrees “…we’ve sometimes referred to it as our own little stimulus plan.”
Special Forces families can live anywhere, and that means they will likely be moving into subdivisions like Blackstone in Mossy Head. Blackstone and Mossy Head School were both constructed after Walton County found out about the group’s relocation back in 2005. Reed says this is a rather unique group of soldiers “…the military members are away a great deal of the time, so where they live and for the family to feel real comfortable in that community is really important to them.”
70% of the group is expected to live in Okaloosa, but the lobbying for the other 30% continues.
Blackstone in mossy head is just one of the areas Special Forces’ families might could move. Right now we don’t know definite numbers, and we won’t know until June.
There is a website set up by the Workforce Development Board to assist families of the 7th Special Forces Group. The board is asking local Walton and Okaloosa County residents to check it and make sure the communities are well-represented. That link is below: http://www.welcometonorthwestflorida.com/
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
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