by Melissa Wells

The recovery plan worked. Business in Polk County is not only good, it has never been better. In 1998, 20 companies relocated or expanded, adding a capital investment of $137 million and 2,178 new jobs. International trade accounted for $3.3 billion in sales, 150 athletic events pumped as much as $150 million into Polk's economy, and film production added another $20 million. These are heady days, making it just a bit difficult to remember what happened 15 years ago, when the citrus and phosphate industries, mainstays of Polk's economy, took a nosedive.

Roger Gunderson, president of Susquehanna Wood Components, chose Lake Hamilton for his firm's second operation for its central location and quality labor force.

"It has been my statement that the best thing that ever happened to Polk County was 21 percent unemployment," says Gene Engel, of Gene Engel Realty in Lakeland, referring to the economic downturn of 1984. "Nobody wants to see that happen again. Basic elements were set into motion when we realized we couldn't live by the citrus and phosphate industries alone. (What has happened) boils down to solid marketing, and today we have the lowest unemployment rate since those numbers have been recorded." Currently, that's 4.1 percent.

Perhaps it is the central location that makes Polk so attractive to businesses. Or maybe it's the fact that the county sits at the center of a 100-mile radius that counts a population of seven million.

"There's not any single factor, but a whole host of different factors that build a very powerful case for locating a business here," says William McDermott, president of the Central Florida Development Council Inc. "As a distribution point, we are probably one of the best locations in the state, situated between two major metropolitan areas and two major airports. That makes us an attractive location for any type of business."

Even speculative industrial space is being absorbed almost as quickly as it comes on line, thanks to local expansions and corporate relocations. And new hotels are springing up everywhere. There's so much growth that it raises the question of whether the county is having any difficulty keeping up with it.

"The major hurdle is for city and county government," Engel says. "Our roads, water and wastewater systems are impacted. We're in great shape for water. What's most needed is road maintenance and funds for new roads, then continued expansion of wastewater capacities. These are the things that come with growth that have to be addressed."

Work is under way on roads. A section of Interstate 4 is being expanded now, and the new Polk Parkway, which doglegs around Lakeland, is due for completion by the end of 1999, a year ahead of schedule.

The Lakeland Center in downtown Lakeland features 90,000 square feet of corporate meeting space in four separate venues, including the Youkey Theater, Jenkins Arena, the 24,660-square-foot Sikes Hall, and an exhibition hall.

Corporate moves east
Several firms have found eastern Polk County an attractive setting for their Florida operations. One of them is Berwick, Pa.-based Susquehanna Wood Components, which is manufacturing trusses in a 12,000-square-foot facility in Lake Hamilton.

"We had Florida customers doing large projects who asked us to open a satellite branch," says Roger Gunderson, company president. "With the amount of building going on in Florida, we felt there was room for another truss manufacturer, and we determined that Polk County would be an excellent location. We also were impressed with the availability of experienced labor."

Another is Dual Tech Inc., a producer of specialty tow truck bodies, which is moving its headquarters within eastern Polk to a new $1-million, 20,000-square-foot plant in Lake Hamilton. "We thought about moving to Panama City or Alabama, but preferred to stay in Polk," says Dual Tech president Don Roberts. "The Central Florida Development Council helped us find property on U.S. Highway 27 and get the zoning change. They walked us through development of the facility and obtained a grant from the state for funds to build a road from Highway 27 to the property."

Canadian-based Schulte Ltd. has opened a 5,000-square-foot wholesale sales and service center in Lake Wales for the distribution of large farm equipment throughout the southern United States. The firm chose Lake Wales for "its central location," says Jim Carnago, a principle at Schulte Ltd. "We wanted our Florida operation to be as centrally located as possible. The building that we are operating in is the right size for us, and it has the right image."Y

State Farm Insurance continues to expand its presence in Winter Haven. Early last year it consolidated Florida operations in its $30-million, 465,000-square-foot regional office. The auto insurer currently employs 1,900 people, 300 of them added just during 1998.

Mindful of these expansions and new operations, Citrus and Chemical Bank is increasing its presence in Winter Haven, renovating a 28,000-square-foot former NationsBank to add a drive-in ATM, and converting second-floor space to meeting rooms available to the community.

"We're very excited about getting that building," says bank chairman and CEO George Harris. The community bank, which has $325 million in assets, has eight offices in the county. "Our reasons for continuing to expand here in Polk County are that we know the people in Polk, we know the political structure and, with the growth occurring in this area, we can expand, too."

Haines City has come in for its share of corporate attention, too. Paver Module of Florida Inc. chose Haines City for its third facility. The 10-year-old Pompano Beach-based firm, which has 20 employees in the county, manufactures interlocking concrete pavers at its 25,000-square-foot plant. Its other facility is in Fort Myers."What attracted us to Central Florida is that seven million people are within a 100-mile radius," says Guy Gravel, Paver's president. "This is one of the most modern and efficient (paver manufacturing) plants in the world. We have brought the best equipment from Germany and are 20-percent more efficient than our Pompano plant because of this state-of-the-art equipment."

Gulf Coast Avionics Inc. is building a 28,000-square-foot office and hangar at Lakeland-Linder Regional Airport.

Ytong Florida Ltd. started operating in Haines City in 1997 and by the end of 1998 the company had increased its business eightfold and expanded its staff by 50 percent to 75 workers. The firm manufactures an aerated concrete product that is suitable for use as construction material in a variety of applications. "We chose Florida for our operation because the quality of sand here is very high," says Doug Crooks, Ytong's vice president of sales and marketing. "Haines City is the center point of Florida, within easy reach of 80 percent of the population of the state. The opportunities with concrete block construction in this area make this a natural fit for us."

Robert Patillo Properties of Atlanta likes the fit his company found in the northeastern section of the county. There the firm is developing Florida Central Park, which will ultimately bring two million square feet of industrial space to Davenport, about 20 miles west of Orlando. The 150-acre industrial park, located on U.S. Highway 27 one mile north of Interstate 4, is building structures unique to this area.

The first speculative 283,000-square-foot flex warehouse features 36-foot ceilings, cross-dock space and a 130-foot turning radius for trucks. At press time, the warehouse was in the final stages of negotiation with a single tenant. A second 294,000-square-foot warehouse is also under construction. Both will be complete by early summer. And plans are being drawn for a third, 315,000-square-foot warehouse that may be built by year's end.

"There has never been a product like this in northeast Polk County," says Kevin Hoover, vice president of industrial properties at CB Richard Ellis in Orlando. "Highway 27 is a major trucking artery. This is a great opportunity for companies involved in statewide distribution."

Center of the Universe
Lakeland commercial real estate developers The Ruthvens have had a year of robust activity. Not long ago the firm leased a new spec warehouse in Lakeland that is the length of three football fields. There are just two tenants: Zephyrhills Water and Coastal Unilube.

"We have leased over 400,000 square feet this year," says Greg Ruthven. "We're at the center of the universe. We have a good location and a good work force in this area."

Zephyrhills Water will use their 178,000-square-foot warehouse for distribution of bottled water products, and Coastal Unilube has consolidated Tampa and Leesburg warehouses into a 53,000-square-foot building at Ruthven Business Park. The firm, a subsidiary of Coastal Corporation of Houston, has set up 30 tanks in the warehouse for the distribution of lubricant products. "We chose Lakeland because it is centrally located for distribution throughout Florida," says Coastal Unilube president Kent Farmer, echoing the sentiment expressed by so many Polk County business leaders.

Polk County's citrus industry is booming because of investments by Brazilian owners and increased demand for juices worldwide.

"They have put in lots of bells and whistles to get this environmentally right," Ruthven says about Coastal Unilube. "It is a state-of-the-art way to handle oil."

Another new Ruthven Business Park tenant is Keymark Corporation, a manufacturer of aluminum extrusions for residential construction. Keymark, which moved into a 94,000-square-foot build-to-suit facility, expanding from its headquarters in Fonda, N.Y., employs 75 workers.

"This is a good place to do business," says Keymark's Joe Crenna. "Lakeland is central to our market. It was easy to get our business up and running because of the cooperation from the county and Lakeland."

Other firms that have recently set up shop at Ruthven warehouses include Pinckney Molded Plastics, which moved from Howell, Mich., to manufacture bread and milk trays for its new account with Publix Super Markets Inc.; FFM, a division of MBM Inc. of Rocky Mount, N.C., which distributes products to Checkers and Hardee's; and Monterey Mushrooms, another Publix provider.

The Ruthvens, buoyed by all this activity, recently bought 28 acres on Drane Field Road in Lakeland to build another 424,000 square feet of industrial space, starting with a 160,000-square-foot warehouse that Greg Ruthven says will be under construction within six months.

Prime Hospitality Inc., Fairfield, N.J., has recently built a $7-million, 128-room AmeriSuites Hotel adjacent to the Lakeland Center.

And Loftin Real Estate and Partners Development, Orlando, are partners in a 156,000-square-foot speculative warehouse built on the Hillsborough County side of County Line Road to accommodate the growth in the area.

Saddle Creek Corporation added 120,000 square feet to its facilities, bringing its total to 1.43-million square feet in Lakeland. The expansion came about because the E. & J. Gallo Wine Co. chose the city as its Florida distribution center. "We're a third-party provider of logistic services," says David Lyons, Saddle Creek's chairman and CEO. "We'll be shipping Gallo wine products to their distributors throughout the state."

A former Tampa business, Jim Hardee Equipment Company, moved its operations into Lakeland's 40,000-square-foot former Kidron Manufacturing facility. The manufacturer of dump truck bodies has annual revenues of $7 million and 30 employees. "We originally planned to build in Hillsborough County, but ran into too many restrictions," says Casey Hardee, vice president of sales. "Then we started looking elsewhere and found this facility in Lakeland that had everything we needed. Every agency in Polk County came to shake our hands and ask what they could do to make our move and business successful. This has been an easy transition."

The county is helping the firm find qualified employees. "We need experienced fabricators, welders and installers," Hardee says. "The county is working with our operations manager as a job placement service for us."

A company that remanufactures transmissions, AutoSTAR Industries, has opened a 100,000-square-foot plant in Lakeland. Based in Jacksonville, the company has annual revenues of $30 million and employs 75 at its new plant. "We acquire crashed vehicles from insurance companies and completely disassemble them, inspect, certify and computer catalog all recoverable parts," says Padraic E. Mulvihill, AutoSTAR USA LLC's corporate secretary. "We're a wholesale distributor. Lakeland is within one-day delivery time of six million residents who are operating more than 3.5 million vehicles."

Airport build-up
The Lakeland-Linder Regional Airport is a busy area these days. Rooms To Go is building an 880,000-square-foot warehouse and recently purchased another 13 acres to expand the facility by another 192,000 square feet. And GEICO Corporation, the nation's seventh largest auto insurer, which started its Lakeland operation with 34 people a few years ago and now employs more than 700, is building a $20.5 million, 297,000-square-foot call center at Lakeland Airside Center.

Europa, a British aircraft manufacturer, has moved into a larger facility at the airport and is in the process of renovating it, and Eagle Pneumatic Inc. not long ago signed a $400,000 contract to expand its plant and offices near the airport. The firm, with 30 employees and annual sales of $4 million, manufactures the air- and vacuum-driven carriers used at bank drive-up windows.

The International Sport Aviation Museum at the airport has started construction on a $10.5-million expansion that will triple its square footage to 28,000. The museum is expanding to accommodate the Howard R. Hughes Around the World exhibit, which includes maps, blueprints, designs and film footage of artifacts of the eccentric millionaire's personal aviation collection. "We're the only location in the world to receive this exhibit," says Gene Engel. "We have can after can of films that have never been seen before."

Meanwhile, the airport is updating its own facilities with construction of a 26,000-square-foot terminal that will tie into a road interchange on the Polk Parkway. A new control tower will follow. "The construction projects planned through 1999 will help position the airport to take advantage of opportunities tied to Lakeland's key location," says airport manager Gary Quill.

Downtown Lakeland has come in for its share of construction and corporate moves, too. The city's daily newspaper, The Ledger, last summer opened its new $72-million, 180,000-square-foot headquarters. "This is the largest capital investment the New York Times Company made outside New York," says Steve Scruggs, executive director of the Lakeland Economic Development Council, "and the largest capital investment in downtown Lakeland ever."

SunTrust Bank is building a new 60,000-square-foot office downtown, and hotels are springing up everywhere. La Quinta, AmeriSuites and Hampton Inn have all built in Lakeland in the past year. The Sheraton Four Points Hotel added 30 new suites on top of its parking garage, and Suburban Lodges of America Inc. recently announced it will build a $4-million, 130-room lodging on South Florida Avenue. Atlanta-based Jameson Inn plans a 68-room hotel at I-4 and North Socrum Loop Road, their third hotel in Lakeland in as many years.

A $7-million restoration of the Terrace Hotel is bringing the 1924 property back into full swing as a luxury hotel with 73 guest rooms, 15 suites, a restaurant, lounge and conference center. The facility, closed since 1986, and was acquired three years ago by the FCA Corporation. The renovation project includes restoration of the historic building back to its original decor. Why all this hotel activity?

Simple. "There has been pent-up demand for newer properties and financing has been available," says Scruggs. And there's a specific cause, too. "Sports activities are generating new hotels," says Gene Engel. ""I've been here all my life, and I've seen Lakeland grow from a small town to a city. And we have a branch campus of the University of South Florida, and Florida Southern College has the largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world."

Sweetened citrus
While the collapse of the citrus industry in 1984 might have scared Polk County leaders into making infrastructure and permitting decisions that paved the way for the current boom, it never really died, of course, and in fact citrus is sitting pretty. Brazilian investors purchased Cargill in Frostproof and Cutrale in Auburndale. Citrus Suko in Lake Wales has made substantial improvements at its facilities. And the Haines City Citrus Growers Association has undertaken a $1.5-million restoration.

The Cutrale facility, owned by Sucocitrico Cutrale of Araraquara, Brazil, is adding a new three-million gallon storage facility. It has increased processing from 20-million to 40-million boxes for export, primarily to Europe and the Far East. "Ten years ago that was a lackluster segment of our economy," Morrow says. "New owners have poured millions of dollars into these citrus plants. Whoever would have thought about training citrus workers with computers? The upswing of this industry brings back one of the vertebrae connected to our economic backbone and keep things solid."

Oranges and grapefruit come to the plants on trucks, and given Polk County's reputation as a distribution center, it's no surprise that truckers are doing well, too. The local trucking industry is performing well. Common Carrier in Auburndale is the nation's 14th largest trucking company and Watkins in Lakeland ranks at 15th. "Gray Trucking in Lake Alfred is strong, too," says Morrow. "Scotty's is in the transportation business. They have more trucks than stores. So is Wal-Mart. They have 400 trucks coming in and out a day." Wal-Mart had announced plans for a 183,000-square-foot SuperCenter in Auburndale, but decided to postpone it for budgetary reasons.

Finally, to cope with a growing population and an expanding corporate scene, the health care industry is also in a growth mode. Winter Haven Hospital is in the midst of a major expansion. Heart of Florida Hospital in Haines City recently opened with 60 beds and it already needs 20 more. And Columbia is building a 60-bed hospital in Bartow.

Polk County on the line
Polk is becoming a call center location, too. In addition to GEICO's airport center, which will handle sales, service and claims from throughout Florida and overflow calls nationwide, others are getting into the act.

ICT Group Inc., based in Langhorne, Pa., opened a 35,000-square-foot call center with 275 employees last year, and is already planning its expansion by adding 25,000 square feet to its facility to accommodate 1,275 employees. "The call center in Lakeland is among our most progressive in terms of both technology and the level of customer service," says Derrick Vlad, ICT's senior vice president of marketing and corporate development. "By the time we finish our expansion, it will be our biggest site anywhere in the organization."

The telesales and customer service management firm, with annual revenues of $100 million, has 34 call centers, including five in Canada, one in Dublin, Ireland, and one in London. ICT chose a Lakeland location because of its proximity to two international airports.

"We are aware that there are 60 call centers in the Tampa Bay area," says Tony Ortiz, vice president of operations at ICT. "We're not the first in the Polk County area, but we're a significant employer at this point. We've been very happy with the quality and availability of labor. We've had less turnover than what we might have expected and the response and support of the community has been strong."

Accent Marketing has also been pleasantly surprised with the quality of employees at its new call center in Winter Haven. The Louisville, Ky.-based firm handles inbound calls for Sprint long-distance residential phone service at its first Florida operation. Accent chose Winter Haven because of a long-standing relationship with executives at Scotty's, the home improvement retailer. In fact, the firm, which employs 80, is operating in 12,000 square feet at Scotty's headquarters and plans to expand into another 10,000 square feet. "We have had 100-percent attendance for training classes and zero turnover," says Linda Rabenecker, vice president of customer service. "I've never seen that happen in my five years of running customer service centers. I like the diversity of the local workforce. They are young, old, all races and a great group of people working as a team."

This is Accent's fourth call center. "It has been our best experience at starting a center," says Tom Hansen, founder and chief executive officer. "We're thinking about opening another call center within 20 miles."

Officials have noticed that the local workforce is commuting less to jobs in Hillsborough and Osceola counties. "As many as 20,000 people commuted to jobs outside the county," says Ron Morrow, executive director of the East Polk Committee of 100. "That population used to leave because historically the jobs weren't here for them. Now the opportunity for decent jobs is here."