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FloridaWest CEO Scott Luth provided an update on Tuesday on The Bluffs project, an advanced manufacturing park near Cantonment.
Joe Baucum/jbaucum@pnj.com
FloridaWest Economic Development Alliance unveiled a new resource on Tuesday for marketing The Bluffs project that could push the organization closer to recruiting new companies to the advanced manufacturing park near Cantonment.
The organization premiered a new marketing video for The Bluffs during a virtual tour of the site at the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority Central Water Reclamation Facility. The Bluffs, an area consisting of four sites along a five-mile corridor north of Nine Mile Road, is among FloridaWest’s main priorities for strengthening the region’s economy. It includes more than 2,500 acres available for development.
If built out to maximum capacity, the impact from companies relocating or expanding to the region could result in as much as $400 million in new local wages.
“This is the first time that the public has seen this,” said FloridaWest CEO Scott Luth, following the video’s premiere. “This is our primary marketing video to generate interest. So we’ll be using that at different trade shows. We’ll also be posting that on our website, once we roll out our new Bluffs website in the next 30 days.”
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To date, Luth said his organization has submitted about eight proposals to consultant teams that specialize in scouting new locations for businesses looking to move. Out of those proposals, three companies expressed interest in relocating to The Bluffs, and from that group, one company is still entertaining the possibility.
Luth declined to name the company, but he said the deadline for the business’ decision on The Bluffs is unknown. He explained that in some cases, his organization receives an answer within a year. But in other examples, such as Mobile-based VT Mobile Aerospace Engineering’s commitment to expand operations to Pensacola, the company’s choice requires several years to make.
More: FloridaWest CEO responds to Underhill’s plan to defund organization
“The companies dictate the timeline in which they make decisions,” Luth said. “So we are just continuing to make sure that we are in the decision process for the company. Obviously, they’re looking at other sites across the United States as well.”
The nonpartisan Florida TaxWatch released a report in March that estimated job growth from recruiting the maximum amount of companies to The Bluffs would result in about 6,000 new positions in Pensacola’s manufacturing sector. But FloridaWest, in an announcement of its new state funding, projected a full build out could result in as many as 15,000 jobs.