Sponsored by Enterprise Florida
St. Lucie County – South Florida’s Hottest New Industrial Development Market
What do Amazon, FedEx Ground, Cheney Brothers, the Sansone Group, SL Industrial Partners (a division of the Silverman Group) and others have in common? All have discovered the unmatched benefits of siting industrial facilities in St. Lucie County.
Located midway between Miami and Orlando and within a three-hour drive of 70 percent of Florida’s cities, St. Lucie County offers, by far, southeastern Florida’s lowest industrial land costs – as low as $1.50 per square foot, compared to $6.58 in Miami and $5 in Palm Beach. The county’s industrial sites have excellent access to Interstate 95 and Florida’s Turnpike.
St. Lucie County and its municipalities, Fort Pierce and Port St. Lucie, are known for the ability to provide exceptional speed-to-market. In the past few years, a 106,000-square-foot expansion with an environmental component was approved in 41 days and 1.1 million square feet of new construction in 89 days.
“Successful economic development truly is a team sport,” said Pete Tesch, president of the Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County (EDC). “In addition to our location, land availability, low costs, and workforce, our county, municipalities and the EDC work closely together to ensure companies interested in creating jobs here receive expedited review, tax incentives if qualified, and the kind of sincere welcome not often experienced elsewhere.”
St. Lucie County also offers a dynamic workforce of 156,060, with the lowest average labor costs in southeast Florida and a low median age of 43.4. A March 2021 study on commuting patterns by the State of Florida noted that 62.4 percent of the county’s workforce currently out-commutes, highlighting the opportunity to draw these commuters to new local jobs.
Robust career and technical training programs are offered by St. Lucie Public Schools and Indian River State College (IRSC). The college was ranked as the nation’s No. 1 state college in 2019 and operates six campuses in the four-county region. In addition to offering associate and bachelor’s degrees, IRSC provides short-term, in-demand career certifications and is constructing a new 50,000-square-foot Advanced Workforce Training Center. With a 98 percent high school graduation rate and more than 35 career and technical education programs, St. Lucie’s non-college-bound youth also have many options to help them prepare for successful careers in targeted industries.
Finally, with housing costs 8.9 percent under the national average and significant residential single-family and multi-tenant development – over 3,800 single-family home permits were issued in 2020 with the cities and county on target to exceed 4,000 in 2021. St. Lucie is southeast Florida’s most affordable county.
For information about locating in St. Lucie County, visit www.youredc.com.
Indian River County, Florida – Central to Where Your Business Needs to Be
Indian River County – Vero Beach, Sebastian, Fellsmere – strikes a perfect balance between business and pleasure. Those who live, work or visit Florida’s Central East Coast experience a safe and affordable community that’s rich in history and natural resources, with year-round mild temperatures and the azure waters of the Atlantic Ocean providing a variety of outdoor activities. From paddle-boarding on the Indian River Lagoon to bass fishing in Cypress Lake, or just some quiet time with a book on the beach, the county offers something for everyone. Corporate executives locate their companies to this area because of their positive vacation experience, plus many have winter homes in Vero Beach.
The county’s superb quality of life attracts innovative businesses and talented professionals from around the country and around the world. The area offers easy access to markets with none of the urban sprawl, traffic or congestion. Commute times within the county are no more than 30 minutes, and less than an hour within the tri-county region.
It’s also a cost-competitive place to locate or expand your business. The Indian River Chamber participates in the national ACCRA Cost of Living survey, comparing a variety of cost factors with 300 other markets throughout the country. Year-after-year, the Vero Beach-Sebastian area is typically on par, or slightly lower, with the national average.
Visitors to Indian River County, including business executives, are coming from areas throughout the Northeast and Midwest. With a variety of hotel experiences, from beachside resorts to those with convenient interstate access, Indian River County can accommodate families, romantic couples’ weekends and get-togethers with friends. The county was recently awarded a Bronze-level recognition as a Bicycle Friendly Community from the League of American Bicyclists.
Historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach, the former spring training grounds of the NY/LA Dodgers, is now rebranded as the Jackie Robinson Training Center, to honor the first African American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era. Mr. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. The Training Center is now utilized year-round for a wide variety of professional and youth sporting competitions – including baseball.
Because location is central to success, Indian River County isn’t just where you want to be – it’s central to where you and your business ought to be. For more information on locating your company to Indian River County, Florida, contact Helene Caseltine, Economic Development Director with the Indian River Chamber of Commerce, at 772-567-3491 or helenec@indianrivered.com. Visit their website at www.indianrivered.com. For more information on visitor experiences, check out www.visitindianrivercounty.com.
