The following article comes from the News Herald's Fri., Jan. 1, edition. We all love optomistic news like this!
SCARLET SIMS / News Herald Writer
PANAMA CITY — Panama City’s economy will be a shooting star during the next two years, local business leaders and economists said Thursday.
“The future is really bright for Panama City,” said Rick Harper, director of the University of West Florida’s Haas Center for Business Research and Economic Development. “2010 is the year to be pulling out of the economic trough. It is really the recovery year.”
This past year hit Bay County hard. Median home and condominium sale prices have plummeted, foreclosures are up and unemployment is high. Last month, Bay County reached 10.7 percent unemployment and it may go higher, economists say. Harper said Bay County’s economic woes are bottoming out. Next year will be better, especially the second half when the economy begins to rebound, he said.
Bright spots persisted in 2009 and will continue next year, said Beth Oltman, Panama City Beach Chamber of Commerce president. Area leaders pointed to Southwest as the No. 1 event impacting the business community in 2009. Southwest Airlines’ decision to be the low-cost carrier for the new international airport means Bay County is poised for growth, they said.
“We’re all living on the hopes of the new airport,” Oltman said.
Southwest is drawing the interest of other companies wanting to locate at the new airport’s industrial park, setting the stage for a better 2010. Harper said Southwest will draw tourists and military contractors.
“Southwest is going to be huge for Panama City and South Walton,” Harper said.
More companies mean more jobs, said Kim Bodine, Gulf Coast Workforce Board executive director, in an e-mail. She expects the local recovery to have fits and starts, but joblessness should lessen in 2010. Southwest’s decision increases the area’s visibility and opens the market for more visitors, which will immediately help the tourism market.
“It really broadens our reach,” Bodine said.
Bay County must work to bring more jobs to the area to recover fully from the worst recession in at least 20 years locally. Banks must be confident in loaning money, the county or state must offer incentives for new companies to locate in Bay County and the county must do what it can to be a business-friendly community, Bodine said. The airport is a great start, she said, but the workforce should still consider retraining or improving skills to meet future business demands.
In the short term, this spring’s tourism turnout is expected to be strong, Oltman said. Bodine hoped to expand existing businesses or bring in enough new companies to offset job losses when the tourism season ends.
“With the opening of the airport in May of 2010, this region will begin to see a surge of activity that we have probably never experienced and will assist us in a rapid recovery from the economic downturn,” said Bay County Chamber of Commerce President Carol Roberts in e-mail.
That growth probably won’t be strong until 2011, but when it hits, it will be faster than Tallahassee’s recovery and most of Northwest Florida, Harper said.
“I think the stage is set for robust growth in Panama City,” Harper said.
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