Pensacola area's economic year that was
- December 30, 2014
- / Shannon Nickinson
- / economy
Pensacola's economy literally got off to a flying start in 2014 when ST Aerospace announced it would build a $40 million aircraft maintenance facility at the city's airport.
ST's announcement in January, and its promise to create 300 new high paying jobs, set an upbeat economic tone for the entire year; a tone that is expected to carry over well into 2015.
"From our perspective we think the aviation sector will continue to grow into 2015 and beyond," said Scott Luth, CEO of the Community Economic Development Association. "Next year Airbus will open its assembly plant in Mobile and we think there will be many jobs connected to that justifies our efforts in the aviation industry.
"We're continuing to work with Airbus suppliers and have a couple considering our region, which is very exciting," Luth said.
While the ST Aerospace project definitely puts Pensacola on the U.S. aerospace map, perhaps the biggest news of 2014 came from Navy Federal Credit Union CEO Cutler Dawson.
Navy Federal, DeepFlex
In early November Dawson announced approval of Phase II of Navy Federal's $1 billion expansion at its 302-acre Heritage Oaks campus in Beulah.
Just weeks after the start of a $200 million Phase I expansion bringing 1,500 new jobs, Dawson said Phase II would include a $350 million of new buildings and create 5,000 new jobs.
By the end of this decade, Dawson said Navy Federal will have a $1 billion campus in Beulah with some 10,000 jobs, a huge economic boost by any standard.
Another shot in the area's economic arm was the announcement this fall of the construction of a $52 million DeepFlex manufacturing facility at the Port of Pensacola.
It's the largest single capital improvement project in the port's history and will bring with it 200 new jobs.
When completed by the summer of next year, the DeepFlex facility will manufacture flexible undersea pipe for the offshore oil and gas industries.
The DeepFlex project is a the result of a partnership with Offshore Inland Marine & Services, a Mobile, Ala.-based company that's been a port customer for some five years.
Pensacola job market
As a result of Navy Federal, ST Aerospace, DeepFlex and a robust tourism industry, the present and future 2014 job market turned out to be one of best in more than a decade.
And, to boot, unemployment sank to 5 percent, the lowest level in more than seven years.
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity reports the Pensacola area created nearly 4,000 new jobs in 2014, with total employment topping 165,000.
With more jobs, a record breaking tourism season, mortgage rates at near historic lows and gasoline prices falling daily, it's no surprise Pensacola's retail sales were showing robust gains.
Florida Department of Revenue figures for the first 11 months of 2014 show Pensacola's retail sales for the year were up by 10.4 percent over 2013.
Leading the way were auto sales, up 16.3 percent, and business investment, up a strong 21.7 percent.
Of the 22 metro areas measured by the DOR, Pensacola's gains in 2014 were fourth best in the state.
Housing market recovers
Housing also continued its recovery from the lows of the housing collapse and accompanying recession in 2008.
[caption id="attachment_8386" align="aligncenter" width="850"]
John Adams, left, and Paul Faircloth put up soffit and facia on a home under construction at the green Haus, modern living spaces development on Eighth Avenue in Pensacola. Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Today[/caption]
Total single family home sales in Escambia County were up 12.5 percent through November. Sales in Santa Rosa County rose nearly 9 percent, according to data provided by Metro Market Trends, a Pensacola-based real estate research firm.
The average sold price of a home in the Escambia-Santa Rosa area topped $181,290, compared to 2013's average of $167,000, according to data from the Pensacola Association of Realtors.
Tech Park, OLF 8
While 2014 was a strong year for job creation, retail sales and home sales, it also was a year of payoffs for behind-the-scenes work done in 2012 and 2013, said Luth.
One project, in particular, that's been in the works since August 2011, is an anchor building in the Pensacola Technology Park, at Ninth Avenue and Gregory Street.
Earlier this year Space Florida announced it would build a $10 million building in the park to accommodate an "aerospace industry" tenant.
[caption id="attachment_10012" align="alignright" width="300"]
Space Florida is moving forward with plans to building an anchor building in the Pensacola Technology Campus. Shannon Nickinson/PensacolaToday[/caption]
In October Space Florida selected the Pensacola architectural firm Caldwell & Associates to design the building.
"The architects are on board and working through the planning and designing of the building," Luth said. "The project has a lot of momentum and I think we'll see some work begin there in the first couple of quarters of next year."
Another promising project is the proposed acquisition of the 600-acre Outlying Field 8, a helicopter training field in adjacent Navy Federal's campus in Beulah.
Local private sector leaders Jim Cronley and Freddie Donovan, and retired four-star Adm. Bob Kelly, have been working closely with the Navy to secure title to the land in exchange for a similar-sized site in Santa Rosa County that is near Whiting Field.
The Santa Rosa site, acquired last year by Escambia County, will be developed to replace OLF 8, at which time it will be transferred to Escambia County and developed into a state-of-the-art commerce park.
Cybersecurity’s future
Going into 2015 Luth also sees great promise for job creation in the small but growing cybersecurity sector.
Pensacola is home to the Navy's Center for Information Dominance at Corry Field, one of the leading government-sponsored cybersecurity centers in the U.S.
In the private sector Gulf Breeze-based AppRiver, an email-web security firm founded in 2001, continues to grow and add jobs.
"There are some large government and private sector contracts out there that could directly affect our region," Luth said. "They would be great wins for our community if we were to win them."
Another shot in the area's economic arm was the announcement this fall of the construction of a $52 million DeepFlex manufacturing facility at the Port of Pensacola.
It's the largest single capital improvement project in the port's history and will bring with it 200 new jobs.
When completed by the summer of next year, the DeepFlex facility will manufacture flexible undersea pipe for the offshore oil and gas industries.
The DeepFlex project is a the result of a partnership with Offshore Inland Marine & Services, a Mobile, Ala.-based company that's been a port customer for some five years.
Pensacola job market
As a result of Navy Federal, ST Aerospace, DeepFlex and a robust tourism industry, the present and future 2014 job market turned out to be one of best in more than a decade.
And, to boot, unemployment sank to 5 percent, the lowest level in more than seven years.
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity reports the Pensacola area created nearly 4,000 new jobs in 2014, with total employment topping 165,000.
With more jobs, a record breaking tourism season, mortgage rates at near historic lows and gasoline prices falling daily, it's no surprise Pensacola's retail sales were showing robust gains.
Florida Department of Revenue figures for the first 11 months of 2014 show Pensacola's retail sales for the year were up by 10.4 percent over 2013.
Leading the way were auto sales, up 16.3 percent, and business investment, up a strong 21.7 percent.
Of the 22 metro areas measured by the DOR, Pensacola's gains in 2014 were fourth best in the state.
Housing market recovers
Housing also continued its recovery from the lows of the housing collapse and accompanying recession in 2008.
[caption id="attachment_8386" align="aligncenter" width="850"]
John Adams, left, and Paul Faircloth put up soffit and facia on a home under construction at the green Haus, modern living spaces development on Eighth Avenue in Pensacola. Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Today[/caption]
Total single family home sales in Escambia County were up 12.5 percent through November. Sales in Santa Rosa County rose nearly 9 percent, according to data provided by Metro Market Trends, a Pensacola-based real estate research firm.
The average sold price of a home in the Escambia-Santa Rosa area topped $181,290, compared to 2013's average of $167,000, according to data from the Pensacola Association of Realtors.
Tech Park, OLF 8
While 2014 was a strong year for job creation, retail sales and home sales, it also was a year of payoffs for behind-the-scenes work done in 2012 and 2013, said Luth.
One project, in particular, that's been in the works since August 2011, is an anchor building in the Pensacola Technology Park, at Ninth Avenue and Gregory Street.
Earlier this year Space Florida announced it would build a $10 million building in the park to accommodate an "aerospace industry" tenant.
[caption id="attachment_10012" align="alignright" width="300"]
Space Florida is moving forward with plans to building an anchor building in the Pensacola Technology Campus. Shannon Nickinson/PensacolaToday[/caption]
In October Space Florida selected the Pensacola architectural firm Caldwell & Associates to design the building.
"The architects are on board and working through the planning and designing of the building," Luth said. "The project has a lot of momentum and I think we'll see some work begin there in the first couple of quarters of next year."
Another promising project is the proposed acquisition of the 600-acre Outlying Field 8, a helicopter training field in adjacent Navy Federal's campus in Beulah.
Local private sector leaders Jim Cronley and Freddie Donovan, and retired four-star Adm. Bob Kelly, have been working closely with the Navy to secure title to the land in exchange for a similar-sized site in Santa Rosa County that is near Whiting Field.
The Santa Rosa site, acquired last year by Escambia County, will be developed to replace OLF 8, at which time it will be transferred to Escambia County and developed into a state-of-the-art commerce park.
Cybersecurity’s future
Going into 2015 Luth also sees great promise for job creation in the small but growing cybersecurity sector.
Pensacola is home to the Navy's Center for Information Dominance at Corry Field, one of the leading government-sponsored cybersecurity centers in the U.S.
In the private sector Gulf Breeze-based AppRiver, an email-web security firm founded in 2001, continues to grow and add jobs.
"There are some large government and private sector contracts out there that could directly affect our region," Luth said. "They would be great wins for our community if we were to win them."
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