CRESTVIEW — A Gulf Power report indicates the Crestview area excels in economic and community development assets, and doesn’t suffer from most of its listed challenges.
The newly released “Community and Economic Development Assessment" is part of the electric utility’s ongoing efforts to strengthen area economic development.
CHALLENGES AND ASSETS
Some “economic development challenges” the report lists, including “no commerce park planning” and “congestion on U.S. 98," don’t affect the Crestview area.
However, the area does suffer from “limited modern building inventory” for businesses looking to move into an existing facility.
Bob Sikes Airport and county airport officials’ pre-certification program remain the area’s biggest assets, Councilman Tom Gordon said.“The advantage of Bob Sikes Airport is we have Bob Sikes Airport, but the disadvantage of that is we don’t have paved access to Bob Sikes Airport,” he said.
"… But they’re building Foy Shaw Boulevard, which will open up Bob Sikes Airport and provide access to Highway 90 and Interstate 10."
Two of the three “community development challenges” affect the Crestview area. These include consensus building with the county’s eight other municipalities and “underdeveloped performing arts potential.”
SHOAL RIVER RANCH LURE
The Shoal River Ranch property, one of the report’s six economic development assets, is poised to be Crestview’s next big business lure, Gordon said.
“The Shoal River property has so much potential. The potential is so great, we don’t know what to do with it yet,” he said. “… You’d have access to I-10, you’d have Highway 90, the railroad line, and you jump across the street and you have access to Bob Sikes Airport.”
The jobs attracted to airport industries, the Okaloosa Air Park, the Crestview Technology Air Park and, in the future, the Shoal River Ranch property, are high-paying, Gordon said.
“Those kind of jobs aren’t $10,000 a year jobs,” Gordon said. “Those are careers. You can retire on that and stay here, and your kids can stay here and work. Our kids can’t get many jobs like that.”
Gordon said he hopes the new City Council being seated tomorrow evening heeds the report’s findings.
“I hope the new council acts on it, because it’s loaded with good information," he said.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ASSETS
•Strong military presence
•Stable, healthy economy
•Natural beauty
•Airports/certified site
•Strong tourism
•Development of Shoal River property
CHALLENGES
•Limited modern building inventory
•Low public funding of economic development efforts
•Lack of diverse industry base
•No commerce park planning
•Congestion on U.S. 98
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
ASSETS
•High performance K-12 schools
•High skilled workforce
•Engaged leadership
•High employment
•Low poverty rates
•Low crime rates
CHALLENGES
•Difficult to build consensus with nine municipalities
•Large percentage of low-skilled service industry workers
•Underdeveloped performing arts potatential
Source: Gulf Power’s “Community and Economic Development Assessment"
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Report: Airport, ranch give Crestview strong economic outlook