Steve Powell, president of Aercon Florida LLC, chose the former Ytong plant in Haines City for the manufacture of autoclaved, aerated concrete building products.

Oh, they still talk a lot about the cold weather in the barbershops and elsewhere, because after all, agriculture is second only to tourism among the state’s largest industries. But in economic development circles in the state’s eighth-largest county, the most interesting conversations these days seem to focus on how they will compete to lure the next big high-tech company there.

They wonder how they are ever going to get another Minute Maid to move a branch to Polk and create 600 more jobs. They talk of outdoing neighboring Hillsborough County for landing companies like McKesson Pharmaceutical’s new Lakeland operation, or the new parts distribution unit that Ford Motor Co. has opened down in Davenport.

Jobs, jobs and more jobs. That seems to be the major focus of a county that once was the phosphate-mining capital of the world but which today is home to lots of clean industry. And, oh yeah, they can’t stop building new homes in some parts of the county.

With 500,000 residents – up from 405,000 in 1990 – and a $13 billion economy that won’t quit, Polk has come a long way since the 1980s, when its unemployment rate was 20 percent and agriculture and phosphate were its primary industries. Today, the county is home to Publix Super Markets, one of the nation’s top companies to work for, according to Fortune magazine; Scotty’s home-building supply chain; furniture dealer W.S. Badcock Corp.; IMC-Agrico Inc., the world’s largest producer of phosphate crop nutrients and phosphate rock; and Comcar Industries, one of the largest trucking companies in the United States.

The Right Stuff
All of the above is thanks to a combination of aggressive economic development efforts, workforce initiatives and plenty of land to go around. Yep. If you want to learn a lesson in how to convert an environmental eyesore into a haven for enterprise, take a close look at Polk County.

In 2002, Aercon Florida LLC ranked among the new companies to choose Polk County for its new home. With parent company Aercon Industries LLC based in Indianapolis, this producer of autoclaved, aerated concrete building products, purchased the existing, 12,000-square-foot Ytong plant in Haines City in September 2002. Within two months, production was cranked back up and 16 employees were working in the plant.

Steve Powell, president, says the chance to start up in an existing production facility was alluring, yet the lack of a nearby rail system was not. Before choosing Polk, the company scouted several East Coast locations, all of which would have been built from the ground up near rail facilities.

“The availability of a base labor workforce with experience operating the facility was a major advantage when assessing the risk of a startup business at this location.”
– Steve Powell, president, AERCON Florida LLC

“Reasonable transportation rates to our markets in the eastern U.S. is a key issue, but we couldn’t justify the installation of a 2.5-mile rail spur to the plant site,” says Powell. “Fortunately, the state and local government stepped up to get the rail access in place.”

Powell credits quick work on the part of Polk’s business development team, Haines City officials and the state for rounding up the funding needed to construct a rail spur – a CSX line that runs through Haines City about two miles from the plant right to its back door. The project is currently out for bid.

“The work that the state and local government agencies did to obtain grants for the rail was vital to our selection choice. If it hadn’t worked out, we wouldn’t have purchased the plant to begin with,” says Powell, adding that other incentives to start up in Polk included additional state and local business incentives and an ample workforce made up of a number of ex-Ytong workers. By 2004, the company plans to hire at least 48 more workers.

“The availability of a base labor workforce with experience operating the facility was a major advantage when assessing the risk of a start-up business at this location,” says Powell. “The county government and business groups also played a key role. We’ve only been here a few months, but it’s already apparent that the community has put a major effort in economic development activities.”

Small Town,Big Ideas
Long recognized as one of Florida’s leading citrus producers and the world’s phosphate center, Polk has undergone a significant transformation in recent years. Credit Polk County’s government and private entities, both of which have put elbow grease into attracting and retaining quality employers.

Knowing that it would have to diversify its business base or risk stagnation, Polk County economic development officials sought to alter the agricultural-dependent model and expand into commercial, residential and retail business development.

“In the early 1980s, Polk County had an unemployment rate approaching 20 percent due to a downturn in the phosphate industry and back-to-back freezes in the citrus industry,” says Jim DeGennaro, director of business development for the Polk County Office of Economic Development. “Business and government leaders came together and decided that the county had to diversify its economy if we were going to move forward.”

The plan worked. Companies that have made Polk County home to their headquarters include Publix Super Markets, W.S. Badcock Corporation, Breed Technologies, IMC, Scotty’s, Florida Tile, Comcar Industries, Watkins Motor Lines, Gator Freight Ways, Florida’s Natural Growers, Colorado Boxed Beef, Ben Hill Griffin Inc. and Saddle Creek Corporation.

Saddle Creek, a major provider of warehousing and transportation services, has a 1.5-million-square-foot campus in Lakeland. The company, founded in 1966 in Lakeland by Chairman David P. Lyons, recently received “Warehouse of the Year” and “Advanced Logistics Technology” awards from Murray Inc., a manufacturer of mowers and go-karts, that uses the facility to supply its products to Wal-Mart. Criteria for the awards included inventory accuracy and zero claims.

Capitalizing on the county’s central location in Florida, it’s no surprise that the facility is expanding yet again. Officials at Saddle Creek have announced plans to build a 34,000- square-foot corporate office to accommodate 100 employees. “Saddle Creek continues its strong commitment to the Lakeland community and to Central Florida as a strategic distribution location,” says Bruce Ables, the firm’s president and chief operating officer.

Historic Bok Sanctuary A majestic Gothic tower overlooks the Historic Bok Sanctuary. Central Florida Visitors & Convention Bureau For decades, Historic Bok Sanctuary (www.boktower.org) in Lake Wales has been considered one of Florida’s premier venues. With lush gardens designed in the early 1920s by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., the Sanctuary embodies the vision of its founder Edward W. Bok to change a once-arid sandhill into “a spot of beauty second to none in the country.” Acres of ferns, palms, oaks and pines create a continuous backdrop of shades of green contrasted by seasonal bursts of azaleas, camellias and magnolia blooms. These gardens, surrounding a serene reflection pool, are appealing not only to visitors but to more than a hundred varieties of birds. Not satisfied to let the natural beauty of the gardens dominate the acres Bok owned, he decided in 1927 to build a 205-foot Gothic tower as the focal point of the Sanctuary which would be crowned by a large carillon, similar to those he remembered in his native Holland. Bok commissioned architect Milton B. Medary to design and build the carillon tower. Medary drew his main inspiration from the Gothic towers and churches of Europe. Recitals< from the 60-bell carillon fill the Sanctuary daily.

And more companies keep coming. DeGennaro points to McKesson Pharmaceutical’s new Lakeland operation, Ford Motor Company’s new parts distribution facility in Davenport, and Lockheed Martin’s recent expansion as positive moves for a county once dependent on the phosphate and agricultural industries.

In addition, the Minute Maid Division of the Coca Cola Co. selected Auburndale over locations in Alabama and Georgia for its $130 million, 600,000 -square-foot bottling facility last year and Publix completed the relocation of its corporate headquarters to a new 320,000-square-foot complex in Lakeland, where roughly 2,300 people work.

“Phosphate and citrus brought us to the dance,” says DeGennaro. “But those industries are seeing a wind of change and consolidation. Fifteen years ago we had 15 citrus companies and 15 phosphate companies. We’re down to about five strong players in each category.”

A Power Player Also getting a facelift is Polk County’s infrastructure facilities. Last year, Governor Jeb Bush approved a 530- megawatt, $200-million expansion of the Progress Energy Andrew Hines generating plant near Bartow, which is just one of the 10 new power plants either planned or under construction in the county.

Polk also continues to improve its transportation lines, and in November 2002 expanded its InterCity Transit bus, which connects communities from Davenport to Frostproof with Winter Haven and Bartow.

“We’re a county with a small-town flavor< and big ideas,” says Gene Engle, president of the Central Florida Development Council. “Business and related activity has been good over the last few years – despite the overall economy – and we look forward to getting bigger and better this year.”

Luck of the Draw
Polk County has the luck to be strategically situated right in the middle of the Florida High Tech Corridor – a region where Central Florida economic development officials, the Florida High Tech Corridor Council and various educational institutions have put much emphasis of late, working to attract, grow and cultivate high technology companies there. Polk County’s location is already paying off: this year Lakeland will host eight Florida High Tech Corridor marketing committee meetings. “We’re thrilled because that positions us firmly in the center of the High Tech Corridor,” says DeGennaro, “and right at the center of the universe.”

As the county’s economic hub, Lakeland also played host to a number of significant developments and expansions last year, and expects more in 2003, says Steve Scruggs, executive director for the Lakeland Economic Development Council. Scruggs says key projects include an USCO/JC Penney’s new distribution center, which has committed to adding 600 new jobs in the next year, a GC Services call center and Cardinal Pharmaceutical’s 105,000- square-foot expansion.

Up next for Lakeland: a high-skill initiative that has already raised $400,000 to support a staff person and create a high-skill committee. That committee will comprise members from the medical community, infrastructure utilities colleges and school systems. “Everyone who might play a part in workforce development will be on the committee,” says Scruggs, “whose ultimate goal will be to attract higher skilled jobs for our market.”

A new University of South Florida campus in Lakeland will help, says Scruggs, who expects the proposed $100 million campus to help the entire county improve its workforce and attract higher-paying jobs.

“We’ve been very fortunate over the last 20 years in creating a lot of new jobs, but now we’re interested in higher paying jobs, like Minute Maid’s average wage of $40,000 per person,” Engle adds. “USF will be a tremendous partner in helping us reach those goals because it’s going to have to be through education that we can bring in and create higher-paying jobs.”

Full Speed Ahead Driving much of Polk County’s growth is a government dedicated to not only nurturing and expanding its own area of the state, but also establishing an identity that sets it apart from its two metropolitan neighbors, Tampa/St. Petersburg and Orlando.

Relying on its natural attributes, great location and government incentives that range from expedited permitting to industrial revenue bond incentives through the Polk County Industrial Development Authority, the county has grown its economic base impressively over the last decade.

That, says DeGennaro, has primed Polk for more development, based primarily on the sheer amounts of land that new, relocating and expanding companies can choose from.

“We remain primed for development,” says DeGennaro, who recently lent an ear to a Pinellas County colleague who bemoaned the fact that he was out of available land and forced to turn to infill development. “We certainly don’t have that problem here.”

DeGennaro expects the county to continue attracting distribution-based firms, but like Engle and Scruggs has his sights set on the kind of companies that will bring with them higher-skilled, higher-wage jobs. Whether they come will depend on Polk’s ability to turn out more educated workers to fill their ranks, he adds.

“It all starts with education, and we expect a big push to improve the graduation rate and deal with issues like adult literacy through the Polk County Workforce Development Board,” says DeGennaro. “Going forward, we’d like to form closer ties between the economic development side and the workforce and educational side as we strive for our goal of attracting higher-paying jobs.”