BIG ECONOMIC 'SHOT IN THE ARM' ON THE WAY TO FLORIDA PANHANDLE

Look out panhandle, an explosion is about to happen and it is not a bomb. The area is in a buzz as a number of Army Special Forces are making a weekend trip to look for new homes prior to them reporting for duty, as well as, getting familiar with the area. As you will see below there are a number of other exciting things happening and the area is just trying to get ready.

Army Special Forces, potential new businesses could provide economic 'shot in the arm'
Dusty Ricketts
2011-01-11 18:44:47
NICEVILLE — Experts expect a strong turnaround in the local economy, which has taken a beating from the recession and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Building Industry Association of Okaloosa and Walton Counties hosted its economic and housing forecast for 2011 Tuesday morning at the Niceville Community Center. Guest speakers were Rick Harper, director of the Haas Center for Business Research and Economic Development at the University of West Florida, and Kay Rasmussen, vice president of community and economic development for the Okaloosa County Economic Development Council. Although she was not able to release details because of confidentiality agreements, Rasmussen spoke generally about several large companies the EDC is hoping to attract to the county. “There is a lot of activity (going on in Okaloosa County),” Rasmussen said. “Strong growth is the answer and we have got a lot of strong activity taking place and that is very promising for all of us.” Project Quest, which will be formally announced in the coming days, is an aviation modification company that will bring in 25 to 50 new jobs initially and require about $1 million worth of new construction. The EDC also is working with several avionics service companies about locating in the Crestview Industrial Air Park. Rasmussen is hopeful that the EDC will be able to announce which companies will move there within the next few months, but said the organization is working with two companies that would bring in 600 jobs to the site. A pharmaceutical manufacturing company that is considering moving to Crestview would bring 500 new jobs. The company is considering building a new facility or expanding an existing building. While the EDC does not normally work with retail projects, it is talking with representatives of a large-scale shopping development to be located on the south side of Crestview. “Crestview is very strong,” Rasmussen added. “One, it’s the proximity to the 7th Special Forces Group. Another reason is they have the area to grow. They’ve got the land up there.” During the recession, Harper said Florida was losing 500,000 employeed workers a year. That job loss has stopped, and he said Northwest Florida’s top three economic drivers — the military, health care and tourism — remain strong. Retail sales from tourism in Okaloosa County dropped from $65 million a month to about $53 million a month because of the BP oil spill, but Harper said tourism will rebound faster than most other areas of the economy. He said other parts of the country and the world are recovering faster from the recession, but that people still will want to vacation in Northwest Florida. Harper also highlighted the incoming Army 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), which will increase the county’s workforce by about 6 percent in a matter of months. That will be a big step in the area’s recovery, he said. “This is a one-time shot in the arm as far as direct jobs go,” Harper said. “It is massively important and it means over the next five years that Okaloosa is going to be a high-growth county for Northwest Florida.”