by David Chapman
Staff Writer
The economic landscape of the last several years has been pockmarked with double-digit unemployment rates, skyrocketing foreclosure figures and waned consumer confidence that’s stung the homebuilding and buying industry in Northeast Florida.
But the healing has begun, said several economic development officials, and with it comes optimism and results throughout the region that will lead to many industries – including the housing industry – to begin a rebound.
“In general, we’re doing better than the rest of Florida and that’s going to continue,” said Jerry Mallot, president of Cornerstone, the economic development arm of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Cornerstone is a Jacksonville and Northeast Florida regional economic development initiative and deals with regional marketing, prospecting and international trade partnerships to develop additional business.
While Mallot admits the economy of the past several years have been a rough patch, it hasn’t discriminated as cutbacks in small, medium and large businesses were widespread, leading to double-digit unemployment rates and helped lead to the spiral that compounded the housing industry setback.
Mallot, though, said the situation has stabilized and as businesses remain steady, they’ll begin hiring again. Cornerstone assisted in adding more than 3,000 jobs to the region in 2010, said Mallot.
“I hope we’re going to see that continue,” he said.
Mallot said he expects to see companies rehiring by fourth quarter 2011. While the national unemployment rate improved to 8.9 percent in February – down from 9 percent – the Jacksonville metropolitan area’s rate was 11 percent – down from 11.6 percent – in December 2010, according to the latest statistics from the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation.
The Jacksonville metro area is defined as Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties.
Mallot said he expects to see the double-digit figure drop to single digits by the end of the year.
The unemployment report shows that St. Johns County, with a 9.6 percent rate, has dropped into the single-digit range, mark but the economy is still a factor.
“In light of it, we’re still doing well,” said Nick Sacia, executive director of the Economic Development Council of St. Johns County. “We still have some residential movement. Comparatively speaking, we’re doing better than most.”
Tourism has always been a large economic driver for the county, he said, and things are looking up in the industry, especially when coupled with warmer weather on the way. Yet, while tourism and growth have been longtime economic drivers, the economic recession showed that diversification is key to sustaining the recovery.
“You take your lessons and learn from it,” said Sacia, referring to the economic downturn.
Sacia said he believes about 100 housing permits a month are being issued and that maintaining a high quality of life for the region is important to fuel growth.
“The potential is there, almost everywhere,” he said.
In Clay County, Danita Andrews, vice president of economic development at the Clay County Chamber of Commerce, is just as optimistic of the potential as her economic development colleagues.
Along with her team, Andrews has met with many of the business leaders in the area and said there continues to be a sense of guarded optimism.
And behind closed doors, Andrews said there’s been an uptick in the frequency of inquiries and prospects for bringing job-creating businesses to the region.
The latest unemployment figures showed Clay County with a 10.8 percent rate for December 2010 – down from 11.4 percent in November 2010.
“We haven’t stopped our economic development efforts,” said Andrews. “We keep churning away.”
The potential lies with the industries expected to bring jobs and the earnings that come with them, each of the economic development officials said.
Mallot points to the medical and life sciences industry that span the region and financial services and aviation and logistics-related projects that will bring people or enable current residents to earn wages and assist the homes industry.
Like Mallot, Andrews looks toward the medical and life sciences fields as those that thrived during the recession and will continue to do well in addition to burgeoning fields such as information technology and advanced manufacturing, among others.
Sacia said he’s especially optimistic of the boost expected from projects at Northeast Florida Regional Airport at St. Augustine.
The prospect of more jobs from those fields with solid wages leads to overall regional improvement – and in the housing market.
“There’s absolutely a correlation,” said Andrews. “Economic development adds diversity in our base and increase the tax base within our community. It helps our region grow,” she said.
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