2017 Welcome to Southwest Florida Success Awaits Local executives reveal their sometime bumpy road to success
Welcome to Southwest Florida! A s a new resident, you re undoubtedly researching or tackling the various responsibilities involved with a relocation: finding a home, schools, health care, bank and all of life s other necessities. On the flipside, there is likely curiosity about the amenities that will fulfill your lifestyle needs, whether that involves dining, entertainment or recreation. And all of that creates some challenge: Where do you find all of this information in the most complete and time-efficient way? Gulfshore Business magazine s inaugural issue of Sourcebook in print and online is designed to provide useful material that will help you acclimate, enjoy and succeed. Here s a sampling of what you will learn in our new publication. LIVING WELL Southwest Florida offers an active and diverse lifestyle. The environment is abundant with natural wonders, from the Gulf of Mexico and its miles of white-sand beaches, to the lush Everglades and tropical wildlife. All of this can be enjoyed year-round thank to our subtropical climate. Then there are all of the recreational and sporting choices. Golfing, fishing, boating, paddle boarding, kayaking, tennis, pickleball and hiking are among the many possibilities. Athletic events are also plentiful. The Boston Red Sox, Minnesota Twins and Tampa Rays all play Spring Training games here in their own ballparks, and each has a minor league team you can follow as well. In addition, semi-pro hockey and college hoops attract throngs of fans. Entertainment and culture also add to the lifestyle mix. Venues such as Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall and Artis Naples feature national touring acts musical and theatrical and there are several community theaters to choose from. Art is also plentiful with dozens of galleries and shows. Round that out with an array of dining experiences casual to formal featuring a multitude of cuisines prepared by fine chefs. 2 G U L F S H O R E B U S I N E S S S O U R C E B O O K 2 0 17
COMMUNITIES FOR ALL The region encompasses Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties and includes the communities of Naples, Immokalee, Ave Maria, Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Estero, Bonita Springs and Punta Gorda, where more than 1 million people reside. Housing includes single-family homes and condos that range from just under $100,000 into the millions of dollars. Quiet historic neighborhoods, urban dwellings, gated communities and waterfront properties are part of the inventory. And home ownership is rewarded through homestead exemptions that allow residents to reduce their property taxes. After a decline during the economic downturn, housing construction has bounced back and is expected to grow along with the population. BUSINESS AND EDUCATION Although Southwest Florida is home to major employers such as Hertz Corp., Chico s, hospitals and school systems, small business accounts for more than 90 percent of the jobs here. This dynamic is driven in large part by opportunities for entrepreneurs serving our robust real estate, construction, health care, manufacturing, agriculture, legal, technology and creative sectors. Launching a venture is always risky, but there is plenty of assistance available though organizations such as the Small Business Development Center at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), SCORE, local venture capitalists and a variety of incubators and accelerators. Regional leaders also work with higher education institutions, such as FGCU and Florida SouthWestern State College, as well as public schools to nurture and train our future workforce needed to fill skilled jobs at growing companies. Aside from the educational resources, economic development also gains a boost with our airports including Southwest Florida International and a handful of foreign trade zones that help businesses gain access to global markets. EXPERT ADVICE We ve enlisted first-person testimonials from those who have arrived here over the past few years to provide tips on how they adjusted to their new environments. You ll also hear from long-time residents and professionals who will pass along useful advice about this vibrant region. PLUS This issue includes lists top employers, chambers of commerce, demographics and real estate data, to name a few for easy, concise reference and contact information. We re confident that Sourcebook will deliver what you need to know and make your transition to Southwest Florida much simpler and enjoyable. GB Sourcebook is designed to provide useful material that will help you acclimate, enjoy and succeed. GULFSHOREBUSINESS.COM/SOURCEBOOK 3
Success Awaits Local executives reveal their sometime bumpy road to success. Successful executives tend to have an entrepreneurial spirit about them. They take risks, think big and figure out how to fill needs of customers, all while pumping up the bottom line. In Southwest Florida, there are many who fit that description and have shared their stories with our readers so they, too, can learn what it takes to stand out and prosper. HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF Jay Baker took a big chance in 1986. Abandoning a stable executive job with Saks Fifth Avenue, Baker and two partners Bill Kellogg and John Herma led a leverage buyout of Kohl s. At the time, the Milwaukee-based retailer was flirting with bankruptcy. Fourteen years later, Baker retired as president of Kohl s. He and his partners had transformed the company from a regional discounter into a national department store. Under Baker s watch, the chain grew from $280 million in sales to about $7 billion, going public in 1992 and expanding at a rate of 20 percent a year throughout the 1990s, when it was one of the hottest retailers in the country. The first thing is, there s always some luck, says Baker, who s lived in Naples full time since retiring from Kohl s. And if somebody tells you there s not some luck, then I don t think they re telling you the truth. So you got to be at the right place at the right time. You ve got to have some luck, but after that, you ve got to work. And that s exactly what Baker and his partners did, as they redesigned stores, recruited top brands to work with Kohl s, pushed to raise the profile of the business and worked incredibly long hours. I knew what my wife looked like because I had her picture, Baker jokes. Baker says passion was essential to his success. When the New York City native took his first job at Macy s after a stint in the U.S. Army, he found he loved retailing. He enjoyed the excitement, the competition and the daily report card (what sold, what didn t). There are opportunities out there, and you got to have confidence in yourself, Baker says. There s no such thing as immediate success. You ve got to work really hard. 4 GULFSHORE BUSINESS SOURCEBOOK 2017
Passion made the long hours and hard work easier for Baker and his Kohl s partners as they transformed the company. I always tell people that I had a lot of bad days at work, Baker says. Don t get me wrong. But I never didn t want to get up to go to work, and that s a good feeling. LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER Robbie Roepstorff was headed for the skies. After graduating from high school in 1970, she was set to become a stewardess. It was the tail end of the golden age of air travel, and Southern Airways, a now defunct regional carrier, recruited her to join the airline. Roepstorff s mother, however, had other ideas. She insisted her daughter go to college. The two cut a deal: Robbie would attend one year and then she could follow her jet-set dreams. Fast Facts A shrewd woman, Miss Edith, as she was known in Florence, Alabama, in the northwest corner of the state, knew what would happen. Roepstorff fell in love with college during her freshman year at Florence State College (now University of North Alabama), and the Southern Airways job never came to be. My mom knew me better than anybody, Roepstorff says. Truth is, they had a lot in common. While working a tile factory in town, Miss Edith took classes at night to learn about taxes. She eventually got a job with H&R Block and then formed her own tax business. She also owned a beer garden just across the Tennessee border. I learned a lot of my work ethic from my mom, says Roepstorff, who worked every afternoon and weekends at a dress shop in Florence while going to college. Roepstorff got to know a local banker in Florence while working at that dress shop. When she graduated from college and couldn t find work in her chosen field, social work, she asked him for a job. Starting off as a teller, she found she loved banking and could put to use some of the people skills she picked up in her social work studies. It just seemed to get in my blood, and I never looked back. In the late 1990s, Roepstorff and her husband, Geoff, were working at Heritage National Bank in Fort Myers when SouthTrust acquired it. SouthTrust wanted to keep the couple, but they weren t interested in staying with the regional bank. We knew we were community bankers, Roepstorff says. Then her husband proposed an audacious idea: Let s start our own bank. Today, the bank they founded, Edison National Bank and Bank of the Islands, is the oldest community bank in Lee County. Mother would say, You ve just got to rule out can t, Roepstorff says. If you enjoy what you re doing and have passion for what you re doing, then you ll do it. GB COLLIER COUNTY Major Communities: Everglades City, Golden Gate, Immokalee, Marco Island, Naples Population: 336,783 Median existing-home sales price: $320,000 Average apartment rental (two bedrooms): $1,002 per month Monthly taxable: $625.6 million Retail sales tax: 6 percent Public school students: 43,703 Total per pupil expenditures: $6,590 Graduation rate: 81.3 percent SAT mean score: 1460 Teachers with advanced degrees: 49.2 percent Teachers average experience: 13 years LEE COUNTY Major Communities: Alva, Boca Grande, Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, Captiva Island, Estero, Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, Lehigh Acres, North Fort Myers, Pine Island, Sanibel Island Population: 653,485 Median existing-home price: $175,000 Average apartment rental (two-bedroom): $897 per month Monthly taxable sales: $1.025 billion Retail sales tax: 6 percent Public school students: 75,861 Total per pupil expenditures: $6,224 Graduation rate: 74.4 percent SAT mean score: 1434 Teachers with advanced degrees: 35 percent Teachers average experience: 13.3 years GULFSHOREBUSINESS.COM/SOURCEBOOK 5
TOP 10 AIRLINES SERVING SOUTHWEST FLORIDA ALL AIRLINES FLY OUT OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (RSW), EXCEPT ALLEGIANT (PUNTA GORDA AIRPORT) SWFL PASSENGERS MARKET SHARE HEADQUARTERS SAMPLE YEAR-ROUND DESTINATIONS Delta delta.com 1.9 million 21.9% Atlanta Atlanta (ATL), Minneapolis-Saint Paul (MSP) Southwest southwest.com 1.8 million 21.6% Dallas Atlanta (ATL), Baltimore- Washington (BWI) American/ US Airways aa.com 1.425 million 10.4% (US Airways), 6.7% (American) Dallas Chicago-O Hare (ORD), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Allegiant allegiantair.com 992,990 100% Las Vegas Columbus, Ohio (LCK), Indianapolis (IND) JetBlue jetblue.com 981,000 11.5% New York Boston (BOS), New York- Kennedy (JFK) United united.com 725,000 8.5% Chicago Chicago-O Hare (ORD), Cleveland (CLE) Spirit spirit.com 600,000 6.9% Fort Lauderdale Cleveland (CLE), Chicago- O Hare (ORD) Frontier flyfrontier.com 383,000 4% Denver Chicago-O Hare (ORD), Denver (DEN) Air Canada aircanada.com 164,000 1.7% Montreal Toronto, Canada (YYZ) Sun Country suncountry.com 132,000 1.2% Minneapolis Minneapolis-Saint Paul (MSP) SOURCE: SOUTHWEST FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, CHARLOTTE COUNTY AIRPORT AUTHORITY. RSW FIGURES ARE FOR 2015. ALLEGIANT FIGURES ARE FOR JULY 2015-2016. 6 GULFSHORE BUSINESS SOURCEBOOK 2017
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS ALPHABETICAL ORDER PRESIDENT/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Bonita Springs Estero Economic Development Council 25071 Chamber of Commerce Drive, Bonita Springs, FL 34136 (239) 333-2332 bonitaedc.com Cape Coral Economic Development Office 1015 Cultural Park Blvd., Cape Coral, FL 33990 (239) 574-0444 capecoral.net/edo CareerSource Southwest Florida 9530 Marketplace Road, Suite 104, Fort Myers, FL 33912 (239) 225-2500 swflworks.org Charlotte County Economic Development Office 18501 Murdock Circle, Suite 302, Port Charlotte, FL 33948 (941) 764-4941 floridasinnovationcoast.com Southwest Florida Enterprise Center 3903 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Suite 5, Fort Myers, FL 33916 (239) 321-7085 swflenterprisecenter.com City of North Port Office of Economic Development 4970 City Hall Blvd., North Port, FL 34286 (941) 429-7001 cityofnorthport.com Collier Business & Economic Development 2660 N. Horseshoe Drive, Suite 105, Naples, FL 34104 (239) 252-8990 colliergov.net Enterprise Florida 800 N. Magnolia Ave., Suite 1100, Orlando, FL 32803 (407) 956-5600 enterpriseflorida.com Florida Economic Development Council 3802 Spectrum Blvd., Suite 141, Tampa, FL 33620 (850) 212-1056 fedc.net Fort Myers Community Redevelopment Agency 1400 Jackson St., Suite 102, Fort Myers, FL 33901 (239) 321-7100 cityftmyers.com/505/community-redevelopment-agency Lee County Economic Development Office 2201 Second St., Suite 500, Fort Myers, FL 33901 (239) 338-3161 leecountybusiness.com Independent Development Services Corp. 8280 College Parkway, Suite 204, Fort Myers, FL 33919 (239) 652-5588 idscorp.org Southwest Florida Economic Development Alliance 13300-56 S. Cleveland Ave., No. 256, Fort Myers, FL 33907 (844) 707-7935 swfleda.com Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council 1926 Victoria Ave., Fort Myers, FL 33901 (239) 338-2550 swfrpc.org Tiffany Esposito Dana Brunett Joseph Paterno Lucienne Pears Mike Love Ruth Buchanan Jace Kentner (interim director) Crystal Sircy (executive VP) Beth Kirkland Don Paight John Boland Thomas Wallace Eric Berglund Margaret Wuerstle GULFSHOREBUSINESS.COM/SOURCEBOOK 7
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Published annually and poly-bagged with the April issue of Gulfshore Business along with select Gulfshore Life subscribers. 14,500 copies distributed! In addition to Gulfshore Business s regular readership, 5,000 additional copies of the Sourcebook will also be distributed through area business hotels, airports, chambers of commerce and economic development offices to ensure that your advertising reaches all available business-to-business prospects. Publishing in April 2017 Reserve By: 3/20/17 Materials Due: 3/27/17 SPREAD FULL PAGE 1/2 PAGE $3295 $2195 $1425 Contact your account executive for more information. Rob Wardlaw, Associate Publisher Collier County (239) 449-4145 RWardlaw@gulfshorebusiness.com Debbie Coolman, Account Executive Lee & Charlotte Counties (952) 221-6880 DCoolman@gulfshorebusiness.com Please send all ad materials to Kathleen Hill at khill@gulfshorelife.com 239-449-4129 AN OPEN SKY MEDIA PUBLICATION 1421 Pine Ridge Road, Suite 100, Naples, FL 34109 P (239) 449-4111 F (866) 772-2142 gulfshorebusiness.com