Sandy Kishton

Columbia County poised for early economic recovery and business growth, state experts tell Chamber members

By Karl Burkhardt

Columbia County has many assets that attract new businesses and will help speed economic recovery. That was one of the key messages at a special meeting hosted by the Lake City/Columbia County Chamber of Commerce Monday at Lake City Community College.

Alex Sanchez, President of the Florida Bankers Association; John Adams, President of Enterprise Florida; Dale Brill, Director of the Governor's Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development; and Eric Godet, a Director of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, talked to community leaders about Florida's path to economic recovery.

They cited the area's quality of life, the Municipal Airport, the two interstate highways and Lake City Community College among the major assets.

"It is a self-correcting time, but it also is a time of great opportunities," said Eric Godet. "This won't last forever." The question is, "What are we doing today that will prepare ourselves for when we get out of it? Those who are going to benefit are those who are doing the groundwork now and laying the framework.

Dale Brill: "Tourism was down in 2008 by 2.8 percent and down 13 percent in the last quarter of last year." However, travel within the state is up 29.9 percent. People are staying within the state or driving to destinations that are 3½ hours away. They are spending less money, taking a long weekend instead of a two-week vacation. "The two-week vacation is virtually dead," he said.

"You have to do everything smarter. If the tourism industry is marketing today the way it did five years ago, it's going to be in serious trouble," he said. However, "We have to turn the state into a non-tourism based economy."

"That's happening now," said John Adams. "Did you know that 53 percent of the state is covered with timber? Most people don't know that. We are exporting plywood and lumber. Let's look at the hubs for distribution. In the last 30 months, $3 billion in outside capital - hard money - has come into the state.

Businesses are looking for new areas right now, Adams said. "They're going to be coming from Jacksonville, right up to your community, looking for distribution hubs." He cited major developments in Jacksonville, particularly in the port, that can help Columbia County.

"Florida has the greatest network of airports in the world. This is a comparative advantage," Adams said.

"Our big export hub is Latin America. Exports from Florida are up 21 percent, $100 billion to $134 billion. Export jobs are in here. Plywood and wood products are going to Mexico and South America. Wood products is not a glamorous business, but it is a heck of an industry."

"I think our housing is starting to come back," said Sanchez. "I'm really optimistic on housing. We are so much better shape than other states. Michigan lost 10 percent of its population in the first seven years of this decade."

He noted that Florida's population is approaching 19 million and new arrivals are buying homes. We're getting inventory off our shelves. That's what is going to drive us back as our population steadily - not drastically - increases."

During the question-and-answer period, John Kasak asked about the property insurance problems. "Citizens Insurance is underfunded. The governor is running name-brand insurance companies out that can pay their bills and want to stay but can't get a rate increase."

"This is an issue that is obviously important to the banking industry," said Sanchez. "We need private insurance here. I don't take a lot of comfort in these Florida-based insurance companies. Some of these small companies serve just one area of our state and that's putting too many eggs in one basket. If that area is hit, they'll probably go under," he said.

"We're going to have to accept higher premiums," Sanchez said. "You know, in Florida, before Hurricane Andrew in 1992, it was cheaper to insure a home in Florida than in Minnesota - It just got out of whack. Hurricanes had not hit before '92 and we sort of forgot about them. It is a big challenge for our state.

"We've got to sit down and talk to these (insurance) folks. If we were to have a major hurricane in one of our major urban areas - everything we're talking about here is not going to matter anymore. We might be able to make one hurricane. The question is, what if we had two - one in Miami and one in West Palm - or one in Miami and one in Tampa. From everything I read, I don't think we will be able to survive both of those," Sanchez said.

"From the Florida Chamber standpoint, one of the drivers in the business climate is competitiveness," said Godet. "It's time for us to look at property insurance and find a way of stabilizing that process that really works. In the early years, we probably weren't paying enough, especially for someone in the South living on the beach.

"We also need to focus in health insurance and stabilize that.

"These are things we need to look at as a state. We've gone from one of the most affordable states to live in and for businesses to move into, to one of the more costly. These are the kind of things we need to look at in terms of how do we shore up our state so when we move out of this situation, we're prepared to have the kind of growth we were tracking before.

"We also need to look at property tax relief, taxpayer fairness and worker compensation," Godet said.

Aaron Nickelson of Westfield Realty Group commented, "I know Columbia County being a small rural community needs this type of stuff you're talking about to in order for us to see the kind of growth that will bring this community and this area to compete on the level more of the Gainesvilles and the Ocalas. So, as a board, and as guys that are out associating with these development groups and with these corporations, what does a small community like ours have to do to in order to see some of that growth come to Columbia County?

"I think you have huge advantage," Godet said. "Columbia County has a track record of attracting large corporations. Timco is one of them. The key is quality of life, which is one of the Chamber's drivers. You have that quality of life, affordable housing, project ready sites. It is import to get that word out.

"This must be the only area where I see two major highways intersect and it's not developed - it has to be the only one on the country. This is a goldmine!" he said.

"When you have a community that is ready to receive anyone who comes through, it's amazing what can happen. It's a natural area.