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A
healthy balance comes in many descriptions—from
maintaining a healthy average age of the population to
encouraging educational opportunities and attainments to
providing for diverse employment opportunities.
These
factors are enhanced by the presence of and access to
quality health care, the amount of financial resources
that are generated by employment wages, government
entitlements and retirement benefits and other income
generators. These influences, when combined with the
general services provided by local government for social
programs, culture and the arts, sports, parks and
recreation, beaches and libraries also enhance the
community’s ability to develop a quality of life that
attracts families and businesses. |
Volusia County Chair Frank Bruno, second
from right, tours the Florida State
University (FSU) Medical School branch
construction site with (left to right)
Daytona Beach College President Kent
Sharples, County Manager Jim Dinneen, and
FSU Medical School Branch Director Luckey
Dunn. |
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It stands to
reason the higher the average wage a community generates the higher
the opportunities that exist for a wide range of professional
services, education, retail,
recreation, health care and entertainment.
Higher wages
generate a higher level of spendable income that translate into the
ability of a community to attract a greater level of investments in
housing, business and retail opportunities, education and a whole
host of other factors that influence the
diversity of a local economy.
Volusia
County’s economic development strategies focus on many of these
factors. It takes into account our current population and the
existing strengths and weaknesses
represented within our workforce of more than 250,000 workers. In
2002, the Volusia County Council recognized the importance that
economic development plays in helping to form community strategies
that can have long-term impact on the health of a community.
Since 2002,
the economic development investments made by the Volusia County
Council have generated millions of dollars in new business
investments that have created new workplaces, expanded
infrastructure improvements, leveraged millions of dollars in state
and federal resources and, most importantly, facilitated the
creation of new jobs.
For example,
the County Council’s investment of $500,000 in Daytona Beach
College’s initiative to build a branch facility for Florida State
University's Medical School is attracting nearly 40 new medical
school students and interns and administrative
and teaching jobs created by FSU’ s arrival.
The County
Council’s leadership in the FSU project encouraged similar local
investments that resulted in more than $6 million being raised to
establish the FSU presence in Volusia County. The long-term
importance of this initiative will result in
greater access to medical professionals for our community while
serving as a future platform for medical research.
Similar
investments in developing the DeLand Crossings Industrial Park along
I-4 near DeLand created a future employment center that will attract
more than $32 million in
new capital investments and employment opportunities for an
estimated 300 workers.
The county’s
business and employment recruitment strategies are focusing on
opportunities that exist to attract companies providing higher
technology and higher paying jobs.
These
strategies have been successful in encouraging the relocation of
companies such as For Health Technologies, Mikronite Technologies,
Intellitec Products and BBK
Performance Products.
While the
community remains challenged in being able to provide highly skilled
workers, many of the jobs being recruited by the county are
producing wages in excess of $40,000 annually or 125 percent higher
than the average wage of the local
workforce.
Jobs that are
recruited or created at these income levels open several other
levels of employment opportunities for workers throughout the
community.
A machinist
employed by a new manufacturer earning $40,000 most likely has come
from one of many other existing companies within the area where
he/she was earning $34,000 to $36,000 a year. Having vacated his/her
previous position, that position then is available for another area
worker that has been looking to advance from a $28,000 to $30,000
position as a result of increased skills and experience.
For every
direct manufacturing job created at the $40,000 level or above a
minimum of four additional manufacturing job openings are created
indirectly as workers are advanced within the economy to fill
vacancies generated by the upward mobility
of the more skilled worker.
While job
creation has slowed in recent months, there remains a healthy
diversification within Volusia County’s workforce. However, finding
technically skilled and experienced
workers is beginning to become a challenge for local employers.
This concern
is part of the reason we have seen an increase in the amount of
business retention activities as other communities and states
attempt to recruit area businesses away from our community. Solving
these issues and many others that are related to workforce
development and availability of skilled workers is part of the
continued challenge of any community in maintaining a healthy and
diversified economy.
Education and
targeted training of the community’s workforce to support higher
skilled employment opportunities is key to the county’s future
ability to attract new employers.
Likewise,
maintaining the growth of existing companies that provide
high-skilled, high-waged employment assures the future health of
this or any other community.
