Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Booming Naples Florida Economy Helps Businesses And Careers Grow Fast

By Jony Mozen


One of the Gulf Coast's most beautiful cities is Naples in Collier County, FL. The Naples Florida Economy is heavily dependent on tourism, which in turn fuels the growth of retail, real estate and other business sectors. Then there's also the fact that the city and surrounding metro area are a paradise for retirees, whose heavy spending and retirement nest eggs push the economic growth even higher and help create more jobs.

The ten miles of soft white sand beaches are a big draw for tourists. The Everglades being so close helps too, and so do the pier and a host of other landmarks and attractions. All this adds up to make this city one of the most popular destinations for visitors in Florida. That's kind of a big deal considering that Miami and Orlando get all the families on vacation and the international visitors.

The Travel Channel has voted the beach here as the best one in America, but visitors actually have more choice because there are six beaches in the area. If that's not enough, there are more than 80 championship golf courses to keep residents and the huge flock of retirees happy and interested.

It's not all a fairy tale, though, because this city and every other beach community on the Gulf Coast have suffered badly in the not-so-distant past. The housing crash and the subsequent recession hit the Sunshine State really hard. Millions of properties were foreclosed and new developments came to a screeching halt. Then the BP oil spill piled on and ruined tourism for another two years.

By Jan 2010, the city's unemployment rate had shot up to 12.2 percent. It took a couple of years to reverse the slide, but things started improving by leaps and bounds in 2012. The tourists came back in droves, the economy improved and wealthy retirees have once again started pumping money into the retail and real estate sectors.

Among the 200 largest metro areas in the country, it is Naples that has the highest rate of job growth now. Unemployed has dropped to a meager 5.4%, while median incomes for households have risen up to $56,759. The 4.1% rate of job growth that puts the metro area at the top nationally is predicted to continue at this rate or higher through 2016.

Needless to say, such growth doesn't happen by itself. The year-round sunshine, Naples Bay and the white sand beaches are no doubt invaluable assets, as are the Everglades. But it takes a whole lot more than natural beauty and tourists to convince businesses to make investments and create a large number of jobs.

It's the low taxation and other business-friendly policies that companies say they liked when choosing where to locate. Officials representing the city and county work with the State of Florida, Greater Naples Chamber and other organizations to help provide businesses with everything needed to grow and create new jobs. The best part is that hiring and retaining valuable employees is very easy because of the great work-life balance and the high quality of life. Employees relocate here not just for a job, but because they want to build a home and a career in Naples.




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