By Melissa Sarmiento Allen
EBC Florida Bureau
LAKELAND, FL (Eagle News Service) — The I-4 Corridor is “at the heart of the new growth in Florida.”
This is according to Sean Malott, CEO and President of the Central Florida Development Council, who was among those who attended the 3rd Annual I-4 Commercial Corridor Conference held on Thursday, Aug. 9.
The event, held at Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland, was aimed at providing a venue to discuss the most recent market trends and data on central Florida’s current and projected economic state.
It was hosted and sponsored by Coldwell Banker Commercial Saunders Ralston Dantzler (CBCSRD).
“We’re here seeking to improve the economy. This is an opportunity for some of the smartest people in this geography [the I-4 Corridor] to get together and collaborate,” Gary M. Ralston, an owner and broker with CBCSRD, said.
According to Malott, over the next 15 years, Florida will grow by about 6 million people and roughly half of those will be in central Florida.
Ralston said the I-4 Corridor, which stretches across central Florida from coast to coast and consists of several major metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) including Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Lakeland-Winter Haven, and Orlando-Kissimmee, is “like the Mississippi River of transportation,” benefiting from the central location.
Dr. Jerry D. Parrish, Ph.D., Chief Economist and Director of Research of the Florida Chamber Foundation, also noted the number of people moving to the Corridor.
“There are an estimated 1,100 net new people a day moving to Florida and many are moving here [to the I-4 Corridor]. There are lot of great things happening here,” said Dr. Parrish.
As such, he said “there are tons of opportunities here.”
Dr. Parrish said that last month, Florida officially became a $1 trillion gross domestic product (GDP) economy, noting that if it was an independent country, it would be ranked the 17th largest economy in the world.
“Florida is creating one out of every 14 jobs in America right now,” Dr. Parrish said.
He said that over the past four years, Florida “has been growing manufacturing jobs at more than three times the rate of the U.S. growth rate, with some of the manufacturing sectors showing significant growth in the I-4 Corridor, such as those related to medical devices, aerospace, home building products, food, silicon wafers, and other high tech specialty products.
Malott added, “This particular area, being in the center of the state, is very attractive to logistics and supply chain so both e-commerce and manufacturing are very bright spots [for economic growth] here.”
“There’s a lot of space for growth in the I-4 Corridor,” said Malott. “This corridor is very unique and right now we’re just at the cusp of what is possible.”
