Business development initiatives
NASCAR
and the Daytona 500 set the stage for the automotive and motorcycle
industries.
On the
day of the Daytona 500, one of the largest annual sporting events in the
world, parking near the famed tri-oval Speedway goes for premium
money. More than 225,000 avid and fiercely loyal NASCAR fans spend
fistfuls of dollars to get in on the fender rubbing, bumping and grinding
that takes place at speeds approaching 200 miles per hour.
The
Daytona 500 actually is the climax of Speed Weeks, an action-packed 10
days of nationally-televised events at Daytona International Speedway that
generate expenditures measured not by millions of dollars, but hundreds of
millions of dollars.
"Virtually every community in America would do back flips for the huge
dollars auto racing generates in our community", said Volusia County
Economic Development Director Rick Michael. "Money can’t buy the name
recognition and the exposure we get from the events at Daytona
International Speedway and being the home base for NASCAR."
Michael's office at Daytona Beach International Airport is within a few
hundred yards of the Speedway's third turn. He literally can see and hear
the ca-ching of cash registers being pumped full of dollars as NASCAR
events soar in popularity across the planet. While spending by auto race
fans and the motorcyclists that arrive on their heels primes the area's
economic pump, Michael's keen eyes are focused on the corporate side of
this auto-racing mecca.
"Parking on race days is hard to come by", Michael mused. "But I'm not
talking about the fans who drive here. I'm talking about the hundreds of
corporate jets that line the runways here at the airport."
Executives from some of the world's biggest and most well known companies
fly in for the races or the storied motorcycle festival that follows Speed
Weeks. These wheeler-dealers are manufacturers, they're sponsors, they're
advertising executives, they're developers, they're service providers
whatever their business, they all have one thing in common: they spend
mega bucks.
"The
automotive and motorcycle industries are huge", Michael said, obviously
thinking about the economic potential of these companies. "We have a
rather substantial number of these companies here, but we'd like to have a
whole lot more."
So it
doesn't take a nuclear physicist to figure out why the automotive and
motorcycle industries are targets for Volusia County aggressive economic
development program. "These companies are coming here for our events,"
said Michael. "Why shouldn't they become permanent corporate citizens?"
The
Daytona Beach/Volusia County area already boasts a number of automotive
companies that crank out parts for new cars, motorcycle components, engine
parts, wheel covers and lubricants.
An
inside look at the area's economy reveals the tremendous influence wheels
of one sort or another have on the area's financial picture.
The
long arms of the booming Orlando metropolitan area have enveloped the
entire Central Florida region, Volusia County included. Within an hour's
drive from downtown Orlando, Volusia County brings to the front seat a
superior, affordable quality of life. With nearly 50 miles of oceanfront
on the Atlantic and an inland area of lush tree canopy and pristine rivers
and lakes, Volusia County is one of Florida's hottest growth areas in a
state that continues to outpace the rest of the country in several key
economic factors.
"I've
been saying for years our turn would come", said Frank Bruno, Chair of the
Volusia County Council (County Commission). "The signs of economic
prosperity and positive change are everywhere. Our excellent quality of
life is what attracted most of us here in the first place. It's up to us
to make sure we protect what we have."
The
last two years have been building boom times in Volusia County. The
county's property tax base grew by more than $1 billion in 2003 and again
in 2004 a year in which housing starts topped the 5,000 mark.
"I
told people two and three years ago this is not a bubble", said Morgan
Gilreath, Volusia County's Property Appraiser. "They are believers now."
Land
is being purchased and developed at an unprecedented rate. Farmland is
disappearing. Older buildings, particularly on the oceanfront and
Intracoastal Waterway, are being torn down to make way for the
new. Prices are climbing. Yet, Volusia County remains one of the most
affordable places to build and to live in Florida.
In
2004, the average value of a single-family home in Volusia County was
$127,043. This compares with $219,349 in Broward County in south Florida,
$137,052 in Volusia's southern coastal neighbor, Brevard County, and
$159,469 in Seminole County and $152,829 in Orange County both at the
heart of the Orlando metropolitan area.
"People like to work where they like to live", said Michael. "When we
pitch our area to a prospect company, beside the basic economics we focus
on quality of life, affordability and our strategic location at the
crossroads of Interstates 95 and 4."
Volusia's leaders have spent years marking their economic trail. They now
believe the pieces are in place. Orange and Seminole counties, to the
southwest, are about tapped out. Tiny Flagler County, Volusia's northern
neighbor, is Florida's fastest growing county and a magnate for New
Yorkers. The New York metropolitan area is Volusia's top destination for
people moving to the area from another state.
Volusia's real estate market is so hot oceanfront condominium projects are
selling out before the first spade of earth is turned. Investors are
buying lavish units and turning a handsome profit on a resale before the
first splash in the swimming pool.
If
timing is everything, Volusia's leaders have their watches
synchronized. If it's all about location, location, location, the area
appears to be in the right place at the right time.
"When
I became Volusia County Manager four years ago I could see Volusia's
potential", said Cynthia Coto, who spent more than 20 years as an
administrator with Seminole County the county that's sandwiched between
Volusia and Orange along the I-4 high-tech corridor. During her time in
Seminole, Coto watched the Heathrow industrial complex on I-4 explode with
corporate offices. But she pointed out it took 20 years for those
economic development seeds to mature. 'We have prime, undeveloped real
estate along both Interstates", the County Manager said. "Just like we
did in Seminole, we, as community leaders, have to guide the inevitable
development of these areas in a manner that's consistent with our overall
economic and quality of life objectives."
To
that end, Volusia's political and business leaders are following an
ambitious multifaceted strategy to develop corporate parks and "ready to
go" sites that are being pitched to target
industries. Industrial/corporate sites are on the drawing board or
actually under construction in Ormond Beach, Daytona Beach, Port Orange,
DeLand and Edgewater.
"Companies don't have time to wait for the permit process", said Joie
Alexander, the Vice-chair of the Volusia County Council. "After they've
researched the economic and lifestyle advantages of a Central Florida
location they want to move quickly. That's why we're putting so much
effort as a community in developing corporate infrastructure."
Under
Michael's leadership, the Volusia County Department of Economic
Development is implementing a carefully crafted strategic plan that zeroes
in on target industries in the medical, aviation, automotive and marine
sectors. Not surprisingly, many of the targeted companies are in the
Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions of the United States. Those
regions are the bedrocks of the eight million tourists who visit Volusia
County annually.
"Why
not?" asked Michael rhetorically. "A good many of the company owners in
the country today have been here as Spring Breakers, Bike Week visitors or
as NASCAR fans. Tourism creates our international name recognition. We
try to convert tourism to company relocations. For many of our target
industries their customers are coming here for events. That's why we
have so much interest from automotive and motorcycle manufacturers."
As an
increasing number of companies relocate to Volusia County or existing
companies expand, Volusia's economic leaders have forged a solid
partnership with the area's five colleges and universities and the
workforce development agency. Volusia's public school system has embarked
on a $500-million capital facilities program financed with a
voter-approved half-cent sales tax.
Longtime resident Carl Persis is a member of the Volusia County Council
and a middle school principal. "Our public schools and our institutions
of higher learning are keys to the future and that's why they're so
entwined in our economic development efforts," he said. "If a company
needs 500 workers with specific job skills, we have the mechanisms either
to furnish the workers or to train them."
The
County Department of Economic Development has established an incubator
program at the Advanced Technology Center in Daytona Beach to seed
fledgling high-tech companies. Meanwhile, Daytona Beach-based
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has established a "teaching airport"
program where students get hands on experience at Daytona Beach
International Airport. The university also is partnering with the City of
Daytona Beach, the public school system and the county on a proposed
high-tech industrial park.
While
Volusia County seeks to broaden its economy, tourism is the piston that
drives the engine. A public-private initiative that began in the late
1980s to rejuvenate the core beachside of Daytona Beach has generated
millions of dollars in real estate development.
"It's
amazing what's taking place," said Rick Hamilton, the longtime director of
the county's Ocean Center, the oceanfront convention, events and arena
that's in the heart of the redeveloping beachside. "This is a new Daytona
Beach and that's the way we're marketing ourselves 96 as a new
destination."
The
county's $57-million expansion of the Ocean Center is in full swing. The
facility will have doubled in size when the project is complete late in
2007.
"The
beachside is changing dramatically," said Art Giles, a retired electrical
contractor and member of the Volusia County Council. "This is very
positive and very exciting, but we have to guard against losing the charm
that makes Daytona Beach what it is and I think we're doing that."
If air
travel is an indication of economic health, than 2004 was a hearty year
for Volusia County. Passenger traffic climbed 11 percent. "Our existing
carriers are doing well," said Airport Director Dennis McGee. "And we
have considerable interest among others who see the potential in our
growing region. We're within an hour's drive of the Orlando and
Jacksonville areas yet we don't experience the congestion."
The
airport, also a county-managed facility, the Ocean Center and the
Department of Economic Development are overlapping their marketing to
create a seamless, cross pollinization that includes the areas tourism
promotion partners.
Retired oil dealer Dwight Lewis, now a member of the Volusia County
Council, grew up in Daytona Beach. "I've lived in this county all my life
and I can't recall a time when there was so much change," he said. "All
parts of the county are growing. It's like our time has come."
But
community leaders also are mindful that growth has a potential downside.
Initiatives to build schools, protect green space, conserve natural
resources and add cultural, historic and outdoor facilities have received
widespread public and political support.
"Our
challenge is to grow and prosper but in a way that makes sense and doesn't
detract from the very lifestyle that brought so many of us here in the
first place," said Volusia County Council member Bill Long, who represents
the rapidly-growing southwest part of Volusia.
Jack
Hayman, a former mayor of the City of Edgewater in southeast Volusia, is
the County Council's representative on the Water Authority of Volusia
County (WAV). This countywide body is developing a countywide water
management strategy. "We're working for our children and their children,"
said Hayman. "We have all the water we need to meet today's demands. But
we can't sit back and not worry about tomorrow."
As
Volusia approached the second turn of 2005, Volusia's economic engine had
hit fourth gear. The unemployment rate hovered at a low 4 percent and the
workforce had grown to almost 240,000. The average price of a new single
family home had climbed to $165,000 countywide. Volusia's economic
leaders have checkers in their eyes.
