NORTHWEST FLORIDA ECONOMY REBOUNDS AHEAD OF THE COUNTRY

As noted in a recent Gulf Power Economic Symposium, the future is bright for Northwest Florida's economy. Hopefully, you have been following the news, which I have been noting to understand the reason why. This news just helps to reaffirm what I have been telling you. So, what do we do from here. Press on the banks and investors to open the door to lending and meet the needs of ten's of thousands of new residents and businesses coming to our area. All I can tell you, you haven't seen nothing yet.

‘The future is here’
NWF will rebound from recession faster than rest of country, economist says
By DUSTY RICKETTS
Northwest Florida Daily News 315-4448 dricketts@nwfdailynews.com  

SANDESTIN — While Northwest Florida felt the effects of the economic recession sooner than most of the country, the region is poised to have one of the strongest recoveries. Gulf Power’s Economic Symposium returned for its 14th year Tuesday. It attracted speakers from around the state and nation to discuss the best way Northwest Florida can rebound from the recession and the BP oil spill. One of the returning speakers was Rick Harper, director of the Haas Center for Business Research and Economic Development at the University of West Florida. He said the three major industries in the region — the military, tourism and health care — are all strong and poised to grow. “We’ve always grown faster than the rest of the nation,” Harper said. “The only reason we sometimes think of ourselves as slower in this area is because Florida is usually faster than we are. But in Northwest Florida, projections are we’re going to reverse that and become faster than the rest of the country, certainly the rest of the Southeast.” H a r p e r ’ s a s s e s s - ment that the region will rebound from the recession quicker than other parts of Florida is backed up by other data. Woods & Poole Economics Inc., a Washington, D.C.,-based firm that specializes in long-term county economic and demographic projections, recently completed its forecast for the rest of the year and highlighted Northwest Florida’s potential. Harper said the Army 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) and the Joint Strike Fighter program coming to Eglin Air Force Base will have immediate and long-term benefits. He said the region hit its economic high after Hurricane Ivan before other parts of the country, but started to drop much sooner than other areas. Home prices did drop more substantially in Florida than in other parts of the United States, but that has made Northwest Florida more price competitive with the rest of the country than it had been during the housing boom, Harper said. The good news is that the area also is coming out of the recession a little bit sooner, he said. “The future is here in Northwest Florida,” Harper said.