Welcome

Forget Southwest Florida’s reputation as a retirement haven. Young companies and experienced businesses looking for a fresh start in a sunny setting are changing the landscape—and they’re finding a
warm welcome.

Expansions in and relocations to Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties are adding young, tech-savvy professionals, high-powered executives and others lured by the area’s quality of life. Businesses are enticed by the region’s population, which now surpasses the 1 million mark, the state’s lack of personal income tax and the 5.5 percent corporate income tax rate, which is lower than those of other states.

The region stretches from Port Charlotte south to Marco Island, and from the Gulf of Mexico eastward to Lehigh Acres and Immokalee. A new town, Ave Maria, is emerging, carved out of 5,000 acres of agricultural land in eastern Collier County. Homes, businesses, parks and schools will be anchored by the centerpiece, Ave Maria University, which opened on its new campus this summer.

While tourism, construction, agriculture and healthcare remain the top industries, professional services and technology firms are increasingly attracted by the growth, infrastructure and workforce in Southwest Florida, where the unemployment rate is consistently lower than national averages.

If you’re considering moving your company to the region—or are already here and looking to grow your business—here’s a snapshot of each of the three counties, and what each has to offer.

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LEE COUNTY

Established: 1887

Business environment: With a population of more than 500,000, Lee County boasts more residents and a larger consumer base and workforce than its neighbors to the north and south. Its median home price is 30 to 40 percent less than in Collier County. As a result, many Collier employees commute from Lee County cities. The county’s economy has a strong hospitality base, with island destinations of Sanibel and Captiva, as well as family-friendly Fort Myers Beach. Other large industries are construction, professional services, education and healthcare. Major assets include Florida Gulf Coast University and Southwest Florida International Airport, both of which serve the region. Areas to watch are the county’s largest city, Cape Coral, which is experiencing a commercial boom and is working to redevelop its downtown core, and Estero, home to FGCU and two new regional malls.

Lay of the land: Lee County boasts 590 miles of shoreline, 50 miles of beaches and 100-plus barrier and coastal islands. The county seat, Fort Myers, is located 123 miles from Tampa and 141 miles from Miami. The Caloosahatchee River runs through Lee County, flanked on one side by historic downtown Fort Myers—where high-rise condominiums are on the rise and redevelopment is under way—and on the other side by Cape Coral and North Fort Myers.

Accolades: The Cape Coral-Fort Myers metropolitan statistical area (MSA) ranked No. 4 on Inc. magazine’s 2007 list of "Boomtowns," or the best cities for doing business; No. 1 in Bizjournals.com’s 10 Hottest Labor Markets in America; No. 68 on Forbes’ list of Best Places for Business and Careers; and No. 2 among the 200 largest metros on the Milken Institute’s list of Best Performing Small Cities (released in 2006), a measurement of where jobs are being created in America.

COLLIER COUNTY

Established: 1923

Business environment: The hospitality business is huge here—as evidenced by an increase in employment and sales figures during "season," the period from January to May when the population multiplies with part-time residents and vacationers. The construction industry is another top employer as residential developments, office buildings and other commercial structures rise out of the ground. The county also has one of the state’s lowest unemployment rates and highest rates of job creation, which attracts technology, professional services and financial firms that bring high-wage jobs. The county’s agricultural sector—with tomato fields and citrus groves in eastern Collier—employs more than 6,600 workers. Areas to watch include the Florida Tradeport in Immokalee and the new town of Ave Maria.

Lay of the land: Bordered by Everglades National Park on the east and the Gulf of Mexico on the west, Collier County has a wealth of natural resources, including more than 30 miles of beaches, the Ten Thousand Islands and the Everglades. It also boasts two national parks, three state parks and numerous other recreation areas. Dotting the landscape are resorts, championship golf courses (Naples claims the second most golf holes per capita in the United States), upscale housing developments and posh shops and galleries. The trip from Naples, the county seat, to Miami is 123 miles via Alligator Alley.

Accolades: The Naples-Marco Island area came in at No. 3 among the 200 metropolitan areas on Milken Institute’s list of Best Performing Small Cities; No. 13 on Forbes’ list of Best Places for Business and Careers; and it ranked No. 6 on Inc. magazine’s 2007 list of "Boomtowns."

CHARLOTTE COUNTY

Established: 1921

Business environment: Charlotte County is the least populous of Southwest Florida’s three coastal counties, but new development, especially since 2004’s devastating Hurricane Charley, has
attracted new residents and businesses. Its largest industries are healthcare, tourism and construction. Areas to watch for development include Enterprise Charlotte Airport Park, Charlotte Harbor Community Redevelopment Area, downtown Punta Gorda and Murdock Village, a planned development in Port Charlotte slated to have thousands of residential units and millions of square feet in commercial space.

Lay of the land: Charlotte County is situated almost halfway between Tampa and Naples. It spans 694 square miles, with 165 miles of canals, 219 miles of waterfront, 70 parks and recreation areas and 12.5 miles of beaches. Punta Gorda, the county seat, is 105 miles south of Tampa and 55 miles south of Sarasota.

Accolades: Inc. magazine ranked the Punta Gorda MSA No. 43 on its 2007 list of "Boomtowns," and it is No. 22 among the 176 small cities on Milken Institute’s 2006 list of the Best Performing Small Cities.

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Every year, businesses looking for a new home set their sights on Southwest Florida. Some are startup ventures; others are relocating from other parts of Florida or the country. In the process, they inevitably discover what they could have done differently to make the move better, and what they did just right.

Three companies share some of the lessons they learned in making Charlotte, Collier and Lee counties their home base.

DRAWN TO POWER
Hurricane Wilma swept through Southwest Florida when Greg Pilant was considering the area as a new home for Greystone Pharmaceuticals. But the storm didn’t scare him away; it helped direct him to a good location.

Lured by the region’s quality of life and its benefits for recruitment, Pilant, CEO and chairman of Greystone, was weighing sites for the biotechnology-development company when he remembered from the hurricane that medical centers seemed to always have power. "I decided that I needed to be by a hospital," he says. "We specifically put our office [there] with that in mind."

That was one of the strategic steps that Pilant took last year when moving the headquarters of the company, which specializes in medical devices and pharmaceutical products, from Memphis to Fort Myers.

Southwest Florida has several assets, including incentives for biotech companies, cheaper flights than in Memphis and excellent quality of life, he says. In addition, the location helps attract key personnel for the company, including Greystone’s chief medical director, Dr. Kelman Cohen, who moved from Richmond, Va. "Where it’s located has a lot to do with it," says Pilant. "Plus, it didn’t hurt anything that he is a Red Sox fan." The team’s spring training grounds are in Fort Myers.
Cohen is one of nearly a dozen executives and employees in Greystone’s Southwest Florida office, with departments including marketing and sales still to move.

Other smart steps Pilant took: examining such factors as crime rates, taxes and real estate. "We went into a lot of detail before we picked the place. This market had very nice marks in all these areas," he says. Road infrastructure was the one area where the region didn’t receive high marks. "It was not just business issues. We tried to look at issues employees would have to be [considering] as it relates to quality of life."

If he could do it again, Pilant would have moved about five years earlier, before real estate prices escalated. "It would have been a lot smarter," he says, but commercial real estate prices aren’t likely to decline any time soon. "I think that will also be what people say five years from now."

STARTING FRESH
Bonded Builders Warranty Group moved from Boca Raton to Port Charlotte in late 2004, shortly after Hurricane Charley plowed through the county. Although company president Whit Ward offered to pay for his employees to move to Charlotte County, only two took him up on the offer, so he was faced with having to hire and train a new staff. Charlotte County economic development officials stepped forward and offered county office space to conduct interviews.
Now about 30 of the company’s 80 employees are at its Charlotte County headquarters. The others are in offices in 43 states and Washington, D.C.

"What I found—and this was a very pleasant surprise—was that the employees I hired over here work better; they’re much better employees," Ward says. "As a result, I am doing nearly twice the volume of business that I did on the east coast with fewer employees."

Ward, who had owned a home in Naples for about 15 years, planned when he took over the company in 2002 to relocate it to the state’s west coast. He looked at Collier and Sarasota counties, but Charlotte County won him over, in part because of the availability of office space; he needed 7,000 to 7,500 square feet.

Charlotte County became an easy choice after Ward saw how much the county’s economic development office was willing to aid him, from providing financial incentives to assisting in finding the property.

Ward had decided early in the process to make contact with economic development officials, and it proved an important move. "They really guided me right through the process," he says. "The first thing I would recommend to anybody is to connect with the economic development office and just let them help you through it."

ATTRACTING TALENT
Tigris Pharmaceuticals opened in Bonita Springs two years ago after president and CEO Edmundo Muniz, a former Eli Lilly and Co. executive, moved from Indianapolis. He aimed to recruit the best of the best, confident in his company and in local factors, including the business environment, lifestyle and quality of schools. Three other Eli Lilly executives followed, filling chief operating officer and vice president positions.

One of the most critical aspects of building a competitive biotech company is the ability to attract top-quality talent, Muniz explains. "In order for you to build a world-class team, you have to be able to appeal to them. They’re well paid; they’re picky in where they go."

Muniz emphasized that Southwest Florida would allow them a family-work balance, even with their demanding jobs. "This area offers the ability to be outdoors more frequently than in Indiana. They have the ability to exercise [and] have children in many activities throughout summer and winter," he says. "When they need time, they can take it. That really cemented their commitment to the company."

Crucial for the biopharmaceutical company was developing strategic relationships with institutions such as Tampa’s H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute. Muniz already has seen an increased focus on biotechnology, such as Merck & Co.’s venture with Moffitt (the state’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center) and the opening of the Scripps Research Institute on the state’s east coast.

"The big pharmaceutical [companies] have started to look at Florida as a place for development," he says.

Southwest Florida has exceeded his expectations so far. "I think this area was right for this type of business a long time ago, and I think I could have been here earlier," he says.