Industry riding its own development boom

Most of the talk about growth focuses on retail and housing, but industry has quietly added jobs, companies and facilities.

A dead manufacturing facility is resurrected as a business park in Dade City.

A high-tech aircraft simulator company abandons Clearwater for a larger space in Odessa.

County officials take steps to protect prime manufacturing and industrial real estate from residential and retail development.

Growth in Pasco County is not all shopping centers and housing developments.

Industry is growing, too.

"We're seeing a lot of larger companies identifying Pasco as a place they want to be," said John Walsh, vice president of the Pasco County Economic Development Council. "We've never had those before. And I don't think it's going to stop."

The council works with neighboring counties to sell companies on the Tampa Bay area. But once a company's interest is piqued, the counties fight to lure in new companies. In 2004, the council secured about $1-million in state relocation incentives for moving businesses.

When it comes to sealing the deal, council president Mary Jane Stanley and her staff work to sell executives on the benefits of investing in Pasco.

"It's the political climate," she said. "It's the roads. It's the housing. Four or five years ago, we didn't have the kind of executive housing these companies are looking for. Now we do."

One of the key successes was luring Opinicus Corp., a flight simulator manufacturer, to Suncoast Crossings, an 80-acre office and industrial complex at State Road 54 and Suncoast Parkway. The firm was in Clearwater.

Stanley was also pleased by transformation of the abandoned Pasco Beverage plant site into the Dade City Business Center. The 700,000-square-foot complex is now 40 percent full.

The council also devoted efforts to working with Pasco County staff to rework the county's comprehensive plan. The plan, which goes before the County Commission for approval later this year, includes protections for industrial development.

Some highlights from the council's 2004-2005 annual report:

New industries spent $17.7-million on capital investments in the county, slightly less than the previous year.

The companies added 184,000 square feet of work space and absorbed 72,750 square feet of existing space.

The companies accounted for 696 new jobs.

Existing companies spent a record $19-million on capital investments, $4.5-million more than the previous year.

Pasco companies added more than 200,000 square feet of office space and absorbed 100,000 square feet.

Existing companies created 153 new jobs.

The Economic Development Council estimates that manufacturing accounts for about 5,350 jobs, roughly 5 percent of the county's 105,000 jobs.

More than 64,000 residents commute to jobs outside the county.

Stanley said that last statistic is tough to change.

"We're always going to be a bedroom community because of the way we developed," Stanley said. "It's hard. We can't bring in 70,000 jobs."