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ECONOMIC COMMENTARY
in the 239
[ECONOMIC COMMENTARY]
WHY RECESSIONS REPEAT
MATERIAL IMPROVEMENTS VS. MONETARY INTERVENTIONS
By Christopher Westley
It’s important to study the economy of the 1930s—because those who ignore economic history are doomed to repeat it.
I thought about this when Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz published work (with Bruce Greenwald) presenting statistical relationships between technological improvements in agriculture and unemployment in the 1930s. In it, he asked: What turned an otherwise normal market correction into a long, grueling depression characterized by persistent double-digit rates of unemployment?
His answer: It was, at least in part, agricultural technology causing all those workers to become displaced. Absent that, unemployment never would have skyrocketed while the U.S. job market would have maintained higher percentages of workers who worked on the farm. Surely, the economy of the 1930s as we know it never would have occurred. So goes mainstream neoclassical research, where truth is only what can be measured and then fit into mathematical models. The problem is that these models are only as good as their assumptions, and that when real important information is not measurable, it is simply ignored.
There is abundant evidence that Stiglitz’s findings about the Great Depression reflect statistical correlations, and not causations. This is especially true since other countries made the transition from farm to manufacturing without significant employment stress. Stiglitz’s theory also lets the Hoover and Roosevelt administrations—whose disastrous interventions hindered the price system from reallocating resources as efficiently as what took place in other countries—off the hook.
Think about it. By the first half of the 20th century, there’s a surplus of agricultural output for the first time in human history. This surplus, happily, places downward pressures on food prices and increases workers’ purchasing power and choices. Then along come Hoover and FDR with policies to keep ag prices higher than they otherwise would have been, or at some level reflecting their price levels prior to the explosion in ag output. The economic results of these interventions are predictable:
• The quantity demanded of farm output falls (because prices are kept high).
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• Ag unemployment skyrockets (because of reduced demand for output). • Millions of people who would otherwise have been able to support themselves and their families working in agriculture become destitute. • Ag surpluses resulting from the artificial (and violently enforced) price increases lead to bizarre secondary interventions requiring government to destroy food at a time when millions earned starvation wages, if any at all.
I tell this story to remember the context in which economic ideas are promulgated today. Economists such as Stiglitz are paid well to provide intellectual heft to market failure arguments that justify an expansion of the government relative to the market. So, it makes sense he would argue that technological improvements can lead to a decade-long depression at a time when many people, economists and non-economists alike, question the practicality of fiscal and monetary interventions that were unprecedented in the 1930s and unprecedented in our own time.
In the process, Stiglitz damns technology, ignoring its role in allowing mankind to emerge from solitary, poor, nasty and brutish lives. Technological improvements in the farm sector particularly caused much of the material progress in the 20th century, since they enabled the ag sector to increase productivity with fewer workers, who then moved to the cities to work in other industries—industries that hadn’t even existed 50 years earlier—and caused aggregate GDP to explode. Absent this phenomenon, there would be no middle class today.
And today, severe structural imbalances characterize western economies fed by coordinated, off-thecharts intervention in market forces, much of it justified by the pandemic. Economies are only as good as the theories undergirding them. Our hope for the future is based on good theories being rediscovered—and the rejection of many of those promulgated by court intellectuals.
Christopher Westley is dean of the Lutgert College of Business.
PAST ECONOMIES
It is important to study the economy of previous decades because those who ignore economic history are doomed to repeat it.
THE MENTAL FACTOR
HELPING WORKERS STAY WELL IN STRESSFUL TIMES
BY JUSTIN PAPROCKI
THE MENTAL FACTOR
After Hurricane Ian hit, the management team at Sunshine Ace Hardware reached out to their 316 employees. The team asked about employees’ safety, their families’ safety, their homes. Then they just asked a simple question: How are you?
It’s a simple question but a loaded one. Mentally, the American worker has not been doing well. Stress levels have already been high because of the pandemic and its repercussions—and locally, the hurricane that made landfall on Sept. 28, 2022, significantly exacerbated the issue.
Sunshine Ace has tried to make the mental health of its employees a priority over the last few years. So in addition to physical safety after the storm, the company focused on mental well-being, too. It turned out that while all employees were safe, 12 had lost their homes.
Sunshine Ace already had an account set up with the Community Foundation of Collier County that can provide grants to employees in times of need, and was exploring other ways to help its employees financially. But the event has been traumatizing to many employees, even the ones who escaped harm or were relatively safe. The company worked to connect employees to mental health resources, including exploring the possibility of bringing in therapists for on-site sessions.
“We want to make sure they feel like they’re not alone,” says President Michael Wynn.
Sunshine Ace is among the businesses that are putting the once-taboo topic of mental health out into the open. The health scares of the pandemic, mixed with a hostile political climate and the financial strain of ongoing inflation, have created an atmosphere that’s unsettled the nation. About 76% of American workers showed symptoms of at least one mental health condition in 2021, up from 59% in 2019, according to Mind Share Partners, a nonprofit that focuses on promoting mental health awareness in the workplace. Anxiety, depression and burnout were the most common conditions noted—but obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorders and PTSD were among the conditions that were becoming more common (see pg. 35). The workplace isn’t the only cause of all of these issues. But the vast majority of respondents reported at least one issue from work negatively affecting their mental health, whether their work was emotionally draining or
ONCE TABOO
Sunshine Ace is among the businesses putting mental health out into the open, and Michael Wynn wants to make sure employees don't feel alone.
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interfering with their home life (see pg. 32). Plus, when people are experiencing symptoms, they’re experiencing them for longer. In 2019, only about half of respondents reported a symptom that lasted for longer than a week. In 2021, it was 80%.
Pre-Ian, Sunshine Ace and other businesses partnered with the David Lawrence Centers in Naples for its Mind Your Mind campaign, launched early last year after the nonprofit’s leadership noticed the decline in mental health across all sectors during the pandemic. DLC has hosted seminars on workplace mental health and provided support to employers on what they can do to take care of their teams. “There is no overall health without mental health,” says CEO Scott Burgess.
The old workplace mindset about mental health was this: Don't talk about it. And many businesses felt that was the way to success, too; that any change in culture could make the business less successful. But the result of that way of thinking is the promotion of a toxic workplace that will drive people away, said Bill Greene, a principal with Mind Share Partners. "If you continue with that mentality, you will lose people,” he says.
Mind Share Partners started pre-pandemic with the intention of reducing the stigma around mental health discussions in the workplace. There’s the human element of just making sure your employees are in a good place, but it’s also a productivity issue. Mind Share Partners found that poor mental health leads to an increased number of employees leaving jobs, taking more time off and being less productive when they are at work. About half of workers in 2021 reported leaving a job in part due to mental health challenges, a 34% increase from before the pandemic. If there’s good news, it’s that more businesses are becoming aware of mental health’s importance and ways to promote it, Greene said. The tricky part is finding ways for those promotions to take hold.
Take Employee Assistance Programs, for example. Many companies offer EAPs, which can connect employees with mental health professionals for little to no additional cost to the employee. However, utilization of these services is still low. The Society for Human Resource Management estimates that fewer than 10% of employees actually take advantage of their EAPs. Why?
The problem is largely cultural, according to Mind Share Partners. Many employees fear that contacting a mental health professional through their EAP or even discussing a mental health issue with their boss could be seen as a negative in the eyes of their employer. To combat that, a culture shift needs to happen from the top down, Greene said. Some of this comes in the form of policy changes that can make the business a better place to work—offering flexible work schedules, expanding personal-time-off programs or shifting more money into EAPs or mental health programs. But according to Greene, it’s also part of a mentality.
Leaders need to set the tone and not be hesitant to share their own stories regarding mental health challenges. It’s not just having an EAP,
THE MENTAL FACTOR
but encouraging it and even going a step further and organizing group discussions about mental health or mindfulness sessions (see pg. 33). They need to foster team building and positive interactions that eliminate the competitiveness or toxicity that can thrive in a workplace and deteriorate individuals’ mental health. At Sunshine Ace, the Wynn family developed 10 core values that emphasize respect and positivity in the workplace, beginning with "Love, Laugh, Work Hard." They back that up with employee appreciation events, team-building exercises and peer-recognition awards. The goal is to create a positive work environment. But it’s when trust and respect has been built among employees and between workers and management that barriers start to break regarding mental health discussions, Greene said. “The best solutions are a collective effort,” he says.
Greene said managers often can get intimidated about even starting conversations that might involve mental health. They don't want to seem intrusive, or they might be afraid of saying the wrong thing. Greene advised approaching these situations with curiosity and compassion. Keep everything fact-based and work-focused. Don't say, “You seem to be in a bad mood.” Say, “I've noticed you haven’t been participating in meetings” or “I've noticed you
Percentage of workers who say a workplace factor has negatively affected their mental health
Emotionally draining work Challenges with work-life balance
Lack of recognition Poor communication
Lack of growth opportunities Job insecurity
Source: Mind Share Partners’ 2021 Mental Health at Work Report in partnership with Qualtrics and ServiceNow
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POSITIVE ENVIRONMENT
At Sunshine Ace, the Wynn family developed 10 core values that emphasize respect and positivity.
haven't been showing up on time the last few days.” It's a way to start a conversation that could lead to getting a person help. "Sometimes small conversations can make a big difference," he says.
MENTAL HEALTH IN TIMES OF CRISIS
After a traumatizing event, it's not business as usual. Much of the focus following a storm such as Hurricane Ian is on the physical damage, but don't forget about the emotional toll these events take on people, even if they weren't directly affected.
Bill Greene of Mind Share Partners offers advice for business managers on how to handle the tricky task of navigating a traumatizing event while still trying to remain productive. Acknowledge the impact of the events as soon as possible. Recognize that your employees are hurting. Share your own personal story of how that particular event affected you. Make it clear that you understand they may need time to recover. "Talk to employees as people—not just employees," he says. Create room for compassionate conversations. Reach out to employees to discuss the event. Listen to their needs and respond. Attempting these conversations can seem awkward, especially if it's not commonplace in your workplace to discuss outside-of-work events. But they can be crucial in building trust and understanding among your team. Conflict can arise if certain people are called to take on additional tasks, so consider having discussions in group settings so people can understand what their fellow employees are going through.
Part of this is recognizing that employees need space to process things. People may not realize the full extent of how something may affect them immediately. Be open to the fact that needs may change over time. "The tail end of these events is a long one," Greene says. Focus on proactive solutions. These can be different things for different employees. The focus should be on how to get the work done while also meeting the team members’ needs as people. That could mean an adaptive work environment, flexible hours, additional time off, possibly even re-delegating tasks temporarily. If you have an Employee Assistance Program, remind employees about its mental health benefits. You can only do so much. It’s hard enough to run a business or manage people on a daily basis, but attempting to navigate a traumatic event on top of that can be too much. Don’t feel like you have to be a therapist and manager all in one. Connect people to resources so the burden isn’t all on you. "It's not on the managers to fix everything," Greene says.
BUILD MINDFULNESS INTO YOUR CULTURE
What do I need to do to show up and be my best self? Melissa Severance asked herself this question a while back. She was
IMPORTANT PAUSES
Melissa Severance, who started her own HR consulting business that focuses on mindfulness at work, stresses the importance of taking short breaks throughout the work day to recharge.
successful in her career in human resources, but she had run into a rough patch in her life that left her struggling to find peace at work. She’s since ventured out on her own, starting an independent HR consulting business and extolling the virtues of mindfulness at work.
Mindfulness is the practice of staying present in the moment. In the workplace, it’s a way to increase focus and lessen stress. Companies such as Google and Aetna are finding ways to incorporate mindfulness techniques into their workday. This isn’t necessarily hosting yoga classes in the middle of the day—although many companies do that—but can be little things that might make a big difference in how employees work.
Severance likes to talk about Very Important Pauses. These are just short breaks multiple times a day when you put aside work to recharge. The key is finding what works best for you. Taking a 15-minute mid-afternoon walk may benefit some people. Maybe it's downloading something like the Calm meditation app and finding an exercise you can do in your office a couple of times a day. “The purpose is to disrupt your stress pattern,” she says.
This shouldn’t just be an individual thing, but a shift in company practices to allow people to feel comfortable taking breaks. She said she’s found that companies taking advantage of this find that employees are more focused when they are working.
WAYS TO PROMOTE MINDFULNESS AT WORK
Rework the schedule. Instead of scheduling an hour-long meeting, make it 50 minutes to give an extra 10 minutes for people to take a break. Also, take a true lunch break—don’t eat at your desk, don’t check emails. Allow yourself time away from work in the middle of the day. Set limits to work-life balance. This means no emails after hours. And vacation days are truly time away from work. Schedule meditation or yoga sessions. Companies have started reaching out to yoga or meditation practitioners for optional sessions. It’s not just a break, but a way to promote team bonding.
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Percentage of workers who showed symptoms of a mental health condition (2021, 2019)
Anxiety Depression
Burnout Eating disorders
PTSD Phobias
Mania Aggression
Delusions Hallucinations
Sexual disorders
Problem gambling OCD
N/A
THE MENTAL FACTOR
Source: Mind Share Partners’ 2021 Mental Health at Work Report in partnership with Qualtrics and ServiceNow
Work when it’s time to work. This can be challenging as we tend to get too distracted by the beeps coming from our phone or the dings of new email from our laptop. But part of mindfulness is being conscious of the moment. So when you need to finish that report, turn off the phone and don’t check email. Refuse to get distracted. You’ll find you’ll become much more focused and productive once you ditch multitasking.
View mindfulness as one piece of creating a culture that promotes good mental health, Severance advised. “It’s not just one fix,” she says. “It all needs to work together.”
More and more people are seeking low-stress environments now, so not taking these sorts of steps are putting you at a competitive disadvantage, she said. “If you don’t change,” she says, “you will be behind the 8 ball.”
A FISHERY STORM
HURRICANE IAN’S LINGERING THREAT TO SWFL’S COMMERCIAL FISHING INDUSTRY
BY TIM ATEN
Credit
A FISHERY STORM
A hurricane or tropical storm in open waters that seems to affect only marine life and poses no threat to land is often called a “fish storm.” Hurricane Ian, on the other hand, was a fishery storm, posing a serious threat to the livelihood of commercial fishermen along the Gulf Coast of Southwest Florida. After the storm devastated many of the coastal fisheries, docks, marinas and fish houses in the region, local fishermen worry that these damaged properties will be targeted for redevelopment and not be rebuilt.
Once fish house owners sell their properties, this will never be a working waterfront again, said Casey Streeter, whose Island Seafood Co. locations on Matlacha and Sanibel Island were seriously damaged by Ian.
“This is a dire situation. No one is going to come back and start a fish house if these ones go out because there’d be no reason to,” Streeter says. “The thing is with these properties, unfortunately, they’re more valuable not as a fishery. The property that I own is valuable—not as a fishery, but I want to keep it as a fishery. It needs to stay as a fishery.”
The leveled waterfront property would be more valuable as multimillion-dollar condominiums, hotels and other high-end developments. Streeter’s fish market in Matlacha took an incredible blow and was wiped out.
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DIRE SITUATION
Casey Streeter, a commercial fisherman who operates fish houses in Lee County, worries that local fisheries won't be rebuilt after being damaged by Hurricane Ian.
A FISHERY STORM
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COASTAL COLLAPSE
A great deal of the Gulf waterfront in coastal Lee County was almost completely devastated by Hurricane Ian's high winds and storm surge last fall.
“In all reality, our infrastructure’s gone,” he says. “It’s the part that no one really thinks about, but it’s the most critical part. Because if you don’t have docks and you don’t have ice and coolers and freezers and the infrastructure for boats to pull up and execute whatever fishery they’re in— whether it’s blue crabs or stone crabs, grouper, snapper, the shrimp boats— if you don’t have that, you don’t have a fishery.”
Florida's Gulf Coast has experienced many hurricanes, but Ian wasn’t like anything local commercial fishermen had seen before. “I don’t think any of these storms in other places have wiped out all the infrastructure as they did for us,” Streeter says. “In Lee County, we definitely lost three of the deep-water working waterfronts, and on the island, we lost three out of the four fish houses that were executing fisheries. So, we took a major hit. It’s going to be really difficult to get these fisheries back online as they were until we get that infrastructure, until we get docks in and until we get refrigeration.”
At his local shop, Streeter had to tear out everything that made it a
LANDLOCKED
Scores of boats in the Fort Myers Beach shrimping industry were grounded last fall when storm surge from Hurricane Ian pushed them inland.
Dennis Wright Credit
STAYING ALIVE
Pat Kirk of Kirk Fish Co. in Goodland says local commercial fishing is a dying industry that is important enough to be saved.
fish house. “It’s just a shell of a building now—no ice houses, no docks, no nothing," he says. “We’re in a hard spot right now and we definitely need some help from our governor. We definitely need some congressional federal help for our fisheries.”
Government aid
Kirk Fish Co., based in Goodland, survived the storm and was able to open as scheduled Oct. 15, but owners of the local fish house say the state needs to help sustain the commercial fishing industry after this unnatural disaster.
“They need to help keep these important industries alive,” says Pat Kirk, who married into the Kirk family 34 years ago, joining a local seafood business her husband’s family started in Collier County in the early 1950s. Selling stone crabs, blue crabs, shrimp and fish only during stone crab season, Oct. 15 to May 1, Kirk has seen the commercial fishing industry take some serious hits over the years from Mother Nature and government restrictions.
“It is a dying industry, but we are hanging on as much as we can because it’s a huge, important industry and we don’t want people to forget that fishermen feed you,” Kirk says.
To help Southwest Florida recover from the storm’s significant impacts on the commercial and recreational fishing industry, Gov. Ron DeSantis requested in mid-October that the U.S. Secretary of Commerce issue a federal fisheries disaster. This declaration provides access to federal funding to allow offshore, nearshore and inshore fisheries to rebuild.
“Our marine fisheries have sustained huge impacts as a result of Hurricane Ian and those impacts are far-reaching,” DeSantis said. “I am committed to ensuring that Florida’s fishing industry stays afloat, and that includes supporting the Floridians who make their living on the water.”
A few weeks after the storm, the governor also waived an eligibility requirement of the Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program to allow sole proprietors in the marine fisheries industry with businesses in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee and Sarasota counties to receive critical assistance. Administered by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, the $50 million program provides short-
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A FISHERY STORM
A FISHERY STORM
Hurricane damage batters local shrimping industry
Like everything else on Fort Myers Beach, the shrimping industry got wrecked Sept. 28 from Hurricane Ian. But unlike most everything else, the shrimping industry already was facing immense challenges—from rising fuel prices to inflation to pricing pressures from international competitors.
Before Fort Myers Beach shrimpers can tackle any of those challenges, they must get their boats back into the water. The storm grounded 43 boats, most of which landed on San Carlos Island, just across Estero Bay from Estero Island. Two months after the hurricane hit, fewer than a handful of boats had been returned to the water.
“Every boat that gets in the water is a huge economic impact to the community,” says Tracey Gore, who with her husband Henry coowns Gore Seafood. “If it’s one, two, three boats, four boats, each one is going to be a big impact.”
The Fort Myers Beach fleet has a $50 million annual economic impact, said Gore, a former mayor of Fort Myers Beach.
“Then with that money, we buy everything locally,” she says. “Fuel, supplies, net repair, welding, groceries, lawyers, accountants, seafood markets, freezer trucks, repairmen, our homes and taxes we pay toward government projects and infrastructure, etc. We hire locally and keep the working class working. Our industry is second only to tourism, and our working waterfront commercial fishing industry is part of the character and charm that locals love and draws tourists here.”
The Gores’ boat, the Lexi Joe, named for their daughter and son, was the second to be lifted by a crane on a barge from the land back into the bay. The process took 10 days.
“She’s 120 tons,” Tracey Gore says. “So, it’s just getting the crane to be able to safely put her back in the water.”
To make matters even more challenging, the shrimpers aren’t just reeling from the lack of boats in the water. They are struggling to find places to unload them, even if they were floating. “The other thing here is we don’t have any docks,” says Chris Gala of the Trico Shrimp Company. “That’s going to be another challenge. We have to figure out some way to tie them up. Maybe anchor them here? We don’t know.”
The Southern Shrimp Alliance exists as a sounding board for industry concerns and also to seek solutions. It encompasses the eight shrimp-producing states in the southeastern United States, from North Carolina along the coast
Dennis Wright
Credit
south and then westward to Texas, with Florida in between.
“Florida’s shrimp season is happening now,” says Deborah Long, Alliance president. “A lot of boats from Texas have traveled to Florida to fish their area. They go to where the seasons are. You had a lot of Texas boats in Fort Myers, as well. So, it wasn’t just the local fleet that was affected.
“Some of these boats, they ended up all piled up on top of each other at the end of the dock. It’s quite a feat of engineering to unentangle them.”
To make matters worse, the industry had been struggling over the past 10 years because of international pricing pressures.
“A flood of imports have come into the market,” Long says. Some of the international companies have been dumping shrimp to increase domestic prices even more, Long and other shrimpers said.
“This has repercussions,” Long says. “Many of the major importing companies have been found to be dumping. There has been a longstanding trade dispute within the industry. It has driven a lot of the shrimpers out of business.
“When you’re talking about the hurricane damage, you have to realize that a lot of these shrimpers have been affected for years on the costs of doing business. Fuel is extremely expensive. Many of them have foregone insurance on their vessels. That puts them in an even worse predicament today. There’s a good question as to how many of these folks will come back. And how many will have to do different jobs.”
Trico and Jenson & Ericksen are the two largest Fort Myers Beach shrimping companies. Joe Andrews of Jenson & Ericksen said if fuel prices weren’t so high, maybe the fleet could have been spared from the damage—because the fleet would have been elsewhere.
“Usually in the summer, we would send our boats to Texas,” Andrews says. “But this year, because of the price of shrimp and the price of fuel, we decided it wasn’t worthwhile to go. I guess I wish we would have gone.”
Many shrimpers already have moved on to other places and jobs, he said.
“Everybody survived, and there were no serious injuries,” Andrews says. “Many of the crews were displaced. They’re homeless. But most of them have moved on to other places and found employment elsewhere. They’ve gone to different ports. Others have moved on to develop different skills and find different careers.”
But Andrews refuses to give up.
“We’ve done it so long, that’s what you do,” he says. “You get up in the morning, and you go to the dock and try to make sense of it all. If we can get them put back in the water without tearing them up too badly … we have a demand for local shrimp. And, quite honestly and quite simply, we have the best shrimp in the world.” —David Dorsey
A FISHERY STORM
term, zero-interest loans to small businesses that experienced economic injury or physical damage from Hurricane Ian.
The federal fisheries disaster declaration for Florida brings in resources to try to make the devastated fisheries whole again. “But they’re federally flawed at a federal level because they take maybe two to three years to receive the money," Streeter says. “So, anyone who’s in dire straits—like I lost all my retail options and my business—I’m not going to make it two to three years to receive the benefit I have coming to me.
“What I would like to see—our state has a $20 billion surplus—I would like to see some immediate funds come in to get our infrastructure fixed. I hate to say we’re on our last leg, but that’s a pretty close analogy of where we’re at right now.”
Farmers of the sea
"We’re very concerned as a country to keep our farmers around, to keep people coming into farming and all these other things, but we’ve done a very poor job as a society embracing our commercial fishermen who are out there producing food for our country and our businesses so that they can be profitable,” Streeter says. "The way I look at it is, if the state of Florida had 12 farms left, we would do everything we could to protect them. The state of Florida has 12 real deep-water working waterfronts—maybe not even that, to be honest with you.”
Florida leads the nation in the number of saltwater anglers employed as the farmers of the sea. They generate an estimated dockside value of more than $240 million in commercial food fish sales, and the state’s commercial fisheries generate $3.2 billion in income while supporting 76,700 jobs, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Hurricane Ian had a devastating effect on the local fishing industry through damaged boats and marinas, loss of refrigerated product from power outages, cancellation of charter trips and destruction of waterways and infrastructure. The disaster was a complete loss for some commercial fishermen, who lost their businesses, income and even homes, in some cases.
Streeter worries that local seafood production won’t be what it was before the storm. “I see my boats as my community’s boats because, honestly, these fisheries are theirs," he says. “We just have the ability to go harvest it for them. We want to continue to do that, but without help we won’t be able to do that.”
Recasting the shoreline
In light of the population boom and march of progress and redevelopment along Southwest Florida’s coast, it’s not a stretch to imagine fishery dock
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space being converted into residential towers with waterfront views.
“Just like everything, I’m afraid that there’s going to be the big money people coming around and saying, ‘Oh, don’t rebuild that here. Let me give you a couple of million dollars for your waterfront property.’ I’m afraid that’s going to happen if it hasn’t already happened," says Kirk. “This is an industry worth saving. We fight tooth and nail in this industry to keep it going. It’s worth saving, for sure.”
The threat is real, Streeter said,
REBOUNDING
Phelan Family Brands owns and operates Island Crab Co., a Pine Island business that supplies seafood to its many regional restaurants, including Pinchers. noting that the fishing industry was challenging enough already without this additional struggle.
“So, there are obviously investment companies that are already coming out trying to work their way into these places and try to purchase them,” he says. “But as a community in Southwest Florida what you have to understand is nobody is ever going to put in a fish house again if these fish houses don’t get saved. We’re going to lose these industries.”
Grant Phelan, president of Bonita Springs-based Phelan Family Brands, which owns and operates Island Crab Co. on Pine Island and the Pinchers regional seafood restaurants, thinks the area will rebound but it just won’t be the same.
“We’ll come back and Southwest Florida will come back, but it’s going to be very different," Phelan says, noting that many businesses on Fort Myers Beach and other areas hit hard by the hurricane cannot be built back the way they were. “They’ll have to fall under the new codes. They’ll have to fall under new FEMA regulations. Anything that was destroyed 51% or more will have to come back to today’s codes and it will be different.”
The sights and smells resulting from Hurricane Ian's landfall are something Phelan will never forget. “I’ve been in Naples 35 years, since I was 12, and I’ve never seen something like this. Ever," he says. “They’ve always said the storm surge was going to come but it never did. This time they were 100% right. It came and it came in a massive way. I pray we never see something like this again. I hope it’s another 35 years that I live in Naples and I don’t see anything like this again, because it’s horrific.”
PRICED OUT OF PARADISE
COLLIER COUNTY SUFFERS FROM LACK OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING
BY JOHN GUERRA
Getty
PRICED OUT OF PARADISE
Bill Maples is a highly regarded director of outpatient wound centers. He and his wife, residents of the Galveston Bay area, enjoyed visiting Southwest Florida and its beaches. So like thousands of people who get a taste of life in our area, they decided to move here permanently.
He applied for a position at NCH Healthcare System, and they hired him. The next step: finding a place to live. “The more we talked to people around here, housing was an issue— even finding it,” he says. “We wanted to come to a short-term rental or lease to get to know the area before we bought a home. But coming in and finding a short-term lease wasn't the easiest thing.”
Maples found few housing options at sky-high prices. “We found a shortterm lease in the upper-$3,000-amonth range for a three-bedroom apartment,” he said. “It was complete sticker shock, but they allowed dogs.”
Maples is among the lucky ones. He is established in his profession and in his mid-40s, and he and his wife sold their home in Galveston and eventually used that money to purchase a home in Collier County. It was good news for NCH, a large employer that has hired nurses, wound care specialists, certified nursing assistants and other staff, only to lose them when the new hires can’t find a place to live. The result: They are short some 300 positions (See sidebar, "Companies building their own workforce housing," page 60).
Stories abound of people accepting jobs in Collier County only to find they can’t afford to rent a one-, two- or three-bedroom apartment, much less buy a home. That newly hired employee ultimately informs the school district, police department or hospital they can’t accept the job after all.
Pricing out employees
Hospitals aren’t alone; the Collier County Sheriff’s Office and other major employers can’t keep employees, either. The high cost of housing has created a worker shortage in the Collier County School District, too. The district’s website lists 250 job openings, including bus drivers and other non-instructional support staff. But it sorely needs teachers.
“The Board of Education of Collier County schools is trying to hire 60 teachers right now,” says Joe Trachtenberg, chairman of the Collier County Affordable Housing Committee. “There are loads of teachers who want to live here, but they look for apartments and leave because they are priced out of the market.”
When Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk told the Collier County Commission that his deputies had to live out of the county, the commission approved a pay raise to make rents reachable. The $40 million in raises took effect Oct. 1.
“Deputies have to commute from other counties to protect Collier’s citizens,” says an affordable housing official. “Before the raise, they made $40,000 to $45,000 a year. They are priced out of the housing market.” The sheriff’s website shows deputy trainee pay now starting at $49,505.
Lack of human infrastructure—the service people and providers of ba-
Brian Tietz
SKY-HIGH PRICES
After being hired by NCH Healthcare Systems, Bill Maples and his wife looked to purchase a home in Collier County, only to be left with sticker shock.
sic services—is a societal problem. A community without health care professionals, teachers, police, electricians, carpenters and other “human infrastructure” lacks basic services that make that community complete. Not enough teachers? Schools close. Understaffed emergency rooms? Poor health care. Not enough police? Higher crime rates.
Many of Collier’s workers commute from other counties where they have affordable homes. Exhibit A: I-75 during rush hour. The jobs-housing imbalance is so bad in Collier that 40,000 people—some 17.4% of the workforce—commute daily from outside the county. They don’t clog just create a county in which people can afford to live where they work.
The 2017 report opens with this: “Collier County has a statutory obligation to provide housing for its current and anticipated population. First responders, health care professionals, teachers and others have been priced out of the housing market and have to commute long distances. A vibrant and sustainable community needs to accommodate its workforce so that those people who educate our children and save our lives can live near where they work if they choose.”
The institute warned Collier County officials years ago that its shortage of nurses, police, teachers, construc-
I-75 South from Lee County, either. They come west across state roads 70 and 80, and into Naples down Alligator Alley. They come from Highlands County, Glades County, Miami-Dade County and affordable parts of Palm Beach County.
A plan unused
Collier County government officials can’t say they weren’t warned this was going to happen. In 2016, at the request of the Collier County Commissioners, the Urban Land Institute launched a broad study of the forces that make the county out of reach for so many professionals. The result: ULI’s Community Housing Plan to
PRICED OUT OF PARADISE
tion workers, service workers and other human infrastructure would only grow worse. Today, when a housing advocate declares that it should be possible for working people to live affordably and raise children in Collier County, he or she holds up a copy of the ULI housing plan.
Nearly every sector of the community was involved in creating the ULI report, from business leaders and chambers of commerce to developers and major employers. The housing plan was presented after 20 Affordable Housing Advisory Committee meetings, 30 housing subcommittee hearings and five public hearings held by ULI and county officials.
When it issued its report in 2017, the institute listed six core strategies and 35 recommendations that included increased wages for workers; building affordable apartments around commercial and light industrial centers; and streamlining affordable housing development by reducing review time for plans, landscaping, setbacks, etc.
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ACCOMMODATING THE WORKFORCE
According to the Urban Land Institute Community Housing Plan, Collier County's workers have been priced out of the housing market and are commuting long distances to work.
A small sample of the suggestions include: Increase density from the capped 16 units per acre to 20-25 units per acre in certain areas. Create local development codes to suit dorm-room-sized apartments in desirable, walkable neighborhoods. Increase the deferral of annual impact fees from 10 years to 30 years. Provide housing opportunities in/near commercial job centers. Use the housing trust fund that Collier County already has but is not using. Use impact fees, density fees and other planning costs that can be used for affordable housing. Extend public transportation, bike lanes and other infrastructure to low-cost land where affordable housing can be built.
Though Collier defers impact fees for cheaper housing and uses other short-term solutions such as the Tenant Based Rental Assistance Program, the county commission is not interested in doing what is necessary to solve the affordable housing problem, said Trachtenberg of the Collier affordable housing committee.
“I think the Urban Land Institute did a terrific job outlining the problems in Collier County and the proposed solutions,” Trachtenberg says. “Most of those were not implemented. Collier County still has the highest impact fees in Florida. The result: Things are much worse today than they were five years ago.”
Deferring impact fees
For instance, the present impact fee deferment holds back the fees for 10 years; Trachtenberg and his committee have asked impact fees be deferred for as long as the housing is affordable.
He also points to money that he says is just sitting there, ready to be used. In 2018, voters approved a 1% increase in the county’s sales tax. Of the $490 million it would raise, $20 million was to go toward land for affordable housing, Trachtenberg said. The
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How Lee County is (was) doing it
Collier County’s affordable housing advocates may blame county leaders for not tackling affordable housing shortages, but in Lee County, things are different. Elected officials are on board with incentives and funding, while many residents oppose giving too many breaks to developers.
Gulfshore Business spoke with Lee County leaders to see how they’re using federal grants and developer incentives to spur more affordable housing. Here are some of the incentives Lee County offers in its Local Housing Assistance Plan: Expediting approval of development orders, permits and other requirements for affordable housing projects;
Waiving utility connection fees and other permit costs; Adjusting zoning densities so a portion of apartments or condos can be rented at below-market rates; Reserving infrastructure capacity for housing for very-low-income persons, low-income persons and moderate-income persons; Supporting development near transportation hubs and major employment centers, i.e. mixed-use developments; and Preparing a printed inventory of locally owned public lands suitable for affordable housing.
Lee County Commissioner Ray Sandelli, who sits on the Lee County Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, said he and other commissioners know affordable rents are vital to a self-sustaining community.
When Sandelli talks about affordable housing, he’s talking about taking care of people and families who want to live where they work.
“We on the Lee County Board of County Commissioners understand the importance of affordable housing costs and rents to create a self-sustaining community,” Sandelli says.
The county regularly funds workforce housing projects. In June, the county commission agreed to give $2.5 million from the American Rescue Plan Act to Habitat for Humanity. The money will pay for infrastructure (water, sewer, electric, etc.) to build more houses in Hab-
Provided by Catalyst Asset Management, Villas of Gulf Coast, Brian Tietz
itat’s McNeill neighborhood near Pondella and Pine Island roads.
In July, the commission agreed to use $7.5 million from its American Rescue Plan Act Recovery and Resilience Program for two affordable housing developments in Fort Myers.
Though Joe Trachtenberg, who chairs Collier County’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, says he is envious of Lee County’s workforce housing efforts, some Lee County residents are not so thrilled with their county’s efforts.
Neighborhood organizations including Women for a Better Lee have gone public with their complaints about Lee County’s affordable development incentive programs. Noting that the Florida Legislature in recent years has diverted $2.5 billion in affordable housing funds to other programs, opponents don't like local taxpayers picking up the tab for impact fees, utility hookups, cheap land and other expenses they believe developers should pay. They decry the loss of mangroves in unincorporated areas where the county gives away prime land in exchange for promises of cheap housing.
The group points to the owner of an Estero apartment complex who was required to offer 63 affordable housing units in exchange for permission to build. The owner instead sold to another company for $90 million. He then paid the county $1.26 million for failing to build the affordable apartments as promised. The $1.26 million went into the county’s affordable housing fund for a project slated for Cape Coral.
Then came Hurricane Ian, which knocked all classes of housing off the market. To say it has exacerbated the affordable housing shortage in Lee County is an understatement. The latest damage estimates from Lee County’s Hurricane Ian Damage Assessment Map show that the storm eradicated 4,671 homes along Sanibel, Estero Boulevard, Fort Myers Beach and inland. Some 12,384 homes sustained major damage, which means some 17,000 homes may be uninhabitable for some time.
There are reports of extremely high jumps in post-storm rent. According to one apartment seeker who spoke to WINK News, Springs at Gulf Coast in Estero told her a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment was $2,301 a month. Two days later, the ask was $3,491.
There is unintended irony in all of this. Police, nurses and teachers are not the only human infrastructure professionals that can’t find affordable housing. Skilled tradesmen, such as heavy equipment operators, steelworkers, concrete workers, carpenters, roofers and electricians, also can’t afford the higher rents in Lee County. But they are exactly the workers Southwest Florida needs to rebuild its communities.
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commission has not yet agreed to write that check.
“One point irks me,” Trachtenberg says. “We are still unable to use the $20 million to the good of the affordable housing problem. The commission keeps telling us they’re working on it. If you ask the commissioners why they aren’t strongly advocating affordable housing, their answer [is], ‘Most people in Collier County are opposed to more development, especially this kind of development.’”
For example, the Collier commissioners in August discussed setting aside land in the mini-triangle for 114 more multifamily units to satisfy a growing population, but again, they will be priced at market rates. Trachtenberg criticized the decision.
“We are envious of the success Lee County has had with their affordable housing efforts,” he says. (See sidebar, "How Lee County is (was) doing it," page 56).
Calculating what’s affordable
To measure the need for subsidized housing and spending on other social programs, municipalities begin by determining an area’s annual median income. According to the U.S. Federal Reserve, Collier County’s median income hit $81,895 in 2020. Two years
Brian Tietz
later, the median income of an individual in Collier is closer to $92,000.
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity says about 64% of Collier County jobs pay less than $33,250 a year—about $60,000 less than the county’s median income. At that salary, a worker spending half his salary on rent and utilities pays $1,385 a month for housing (rent and utilities). Under ULI’s guidelines, that worker is “severely cost-burdened” when it comes to housing. The median income does not include income taxes, social security and other deductions. When that’s accounted for, that leaves very little for car payments, gas, groceries and other expenses.
“If you make $50,000 like a cop or a teacher and you spend 30% on housing, you can only afford $1,300 a month rent,” Trachtenberg says. “There are few one-bedroom apartments in Collier for $1,300 a month. In Collier County, a two-bedroom is $3,000 a month, a three-bedroom, $4,000 a month.”
The economic opportunity office’s statistic—that 61.4% of Collier workers make $33,250 a year or less—also means
SEVERELY COST-BURDENED
Approximately 64% of Collier County jobs pay less than $33,250 a year, meaning those workers are spending most of their money on housing to live in Collier County.
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Companies building their own workforce housing
The human infrastructure/worker shortage has become so acute that some companies, such as giant medical device manufacturer Arthrex Corp., have warned Collier officials that lack of affordable housing makes it extremely difficult to hire and retain workers.
David Bumpous, senior operations director for Arthrex, told the commissioners in July 2019 that if they could not fix
the problem, the company would move some of its billion-dollar business out of the county, possibly to spots in the Carolinas.
Many corporate employers— some of whom postpone opening a second or third location or reduce their hours of operation to avoid employee shortages—are finding other ways to retain workers tired of paying sky-high rents. Some companies are going as far as building housing for their employees.
“The problem is too serious to wait,” says Joe Trachtenberg, who chairs Collier County’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. “I’ve suggested to large employers that they find existing properties, such as schools and motels, that they can quickly convert into affordable housing.”
The Florida Hospital Association and the Safety Net Hospital Alliance said Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Manatee and other Florida counties were short 11,500 registered nurses and 5,600 licensed practical nurses in 2019. The numbers have not improved.
NCH Healthcare Systems, one of the region’s largest employers, has seen too many new hires change their minds when they can’t find an affordable apartment or house.
“We have more than 300 open positions,” says Jennifer Hart, director of talent management for NCH. “We’re actively looking to fill positions in administration, nurses, respiratory therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists and clinical workers in physician’s offices. That has been the norm in recent years.”
Matthew Holliday, director of government relations at NCH, said the hospital shared its plight with the Collier County Commission and other local government officials.
“We told them anecdotally about the people who have accepted positions at the hospital, and when the new hires found out how much it cost to rent an apartment or condo, they declined the job,” Holliday says. “They looked at the cost of living here and realized they got more bang for the buck where they were living up north.”
The hospital system is taking the bull by the horns: It is building affordable apartments of its own that new employees can move into upon hiring. It purchased a Super 8 motel and renovated it for employee housing.
“NCH Healthcare is building 20 fully furnished studio and efficiency apartments in close proximity to our hospital,” Hart says. “The monthly rental rate will be lower than fair market value, fully furnished and [with] amenities such as a pool, community living area, a community kitchen with utensils— people can move in right away.”
Brian Tietz
The project was finished in September as Hurricane Ian was building in the Atlantic. The Tollgate Apartments, as NCH dubbed its new housing, also served as a temporary hurricane shelter during Ian.
“The project never slowed down, and we were able to move the employees and families (children included) into the Tollgate Apartments on schedule,” says Hart. “In addition, NCH offered temporary housing in the apartments for those employees and their families deeply impacted by the hurricane.”
NCH also created a new Housing Coordinator position and put Nadine Fraser in charge. It is Fraser’s job to help new hires find rental apartments or houses on the open market. If the new employee accepts a job, the next step is to send them options for rental apartments and other available housing and contact numbers. Fraser talks to the rental offices to smooth the way.
“We partner with seven apartment complexes in Collier County who waive or discount application and administrative and other fees for our NCH employees,” Fraser says. “Those fees can be from $100 to $400.”
NCH is not the only large employer considering employee housing. Ryan Carter, president of Scotlynn USA Division Inc. and Scotlynn Transport LLC, last year completed a multimillion-dollar headquarters in the Alico Road and I-75 area. The international transport company is diversified and must maintain a large staff of skilled office and administrative workers.
Hurricane Ian did some damage to the headquarters, but Scotlynn employees are using the company’s resources to help the area recover.
The company’s plan for employee housing, however, has not slowed. “A month or so ago, we had two employees who made $42,000 a year and could not qualify for a two-bedroom. That’s crazy,” Carter says.
The company hires interns to provide a career path for young people, “but there is no short-term place for them to live,” Carter says. “The places don’t exist, so we got creative. Florida Gulf Coast University has dorms they don’t use in the summer. We put 20 folks there, but it’s a short-term solution.”
Here’s an idea that Lee County Ray Sandelli has suggested for the county that Carter likes: letting industrial parks, hospitals and other large business campuses overlay residential buildings onto their properties. Industrial and business campuses already are zoned for concentrated populations. Building residential units would not require more density, and that number of people would not strain existing utilities.
“If the government is able to be flexible with zones that are commercial and industrial, we have room to build a 20,000-square-foot building for housing entry-level employees,” Carter says. “That will allow new hires to live there in the first six months to a year of employment so they can build up some savings. It also provides a good, close-proximity place for them to work and live.”
LOSING TALENT
Jennifer Hart, Bill Maples and Matthew Holiday, of NCH Healthcare Systems, have seen new hires change their minds about moving to the area due to housing prices. NCH is building its own workforce housing as part of a solution.
that 61.4% of Collier workers cannot afford even a one-bedroom apartment in Collier County. The institute warned Collier County officials that 11,000 more apartments or homes will be too expensive for the 61.4% in the next decades.
Why housing is so expensive
Collier County’s gorgeous shoreline is home to some of the most valuable real estate in the nation. Its mansions and luxury resorts are attractive to wealthier Americans looking for a warm place to live, especially after the pandemic. Reading a book poolside is likely more inviting than spending a winter hiding from COVID-19 in a Pittsburgh or Baltimore apartment.
“People all over the country have various options when considering where they choose to live, and an in-
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DEMAND DRIVING PRICES
Many people from all over the country can live anywhere they want, and they are coming to Florida, willing to pay top dollar for the chance to live in paradise.
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creasing number continue to make Florida home,” says Lee County Commissioner Ray Sandelli. “As such, demand, as in any market, continues to drive prices up.”
Developers are in the business to make money for themselves or investors and have no incentive to build lower-cost housing when they can make such big profits building luxury houses and apartments. It costs about the same to build either. “The costs associated with development are similar,” Sandelli says. “Materials, labor and land have all seen notable increases due to such demand, which puts pressure on both buyers and the developers as all parties try to manage bottom lines and margins. Such pressures additionally make it increasingly difficult to meet the needs associated with the all-important workforce housing sector."
Vacation rentals and other short-term lease agreements sent rents into the upper atmosphere, even before Hurricane Ian hit Southwest Florida and destroyed housing stock. The damage in Collier is far less than that suffered by Lee County, so construction projects quickly resumed at the level before the Sept. 28 storm.
Of note, the Florida Legislature forbids local governments from regulating how much owners can get for rent, but the Collier County Commission did pass on first reading an ordinance that would require Collier landlords to give 60-day notice when raising rents more than 5%. It is expected to pass on second reading.
DESTRUCTIVE FORCE
Airbnb has influenced the market, but not in the best way. When people can rent their homes out seasonally for high prices, there is no incentive to rent to locals at affordable prices.
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That doesn’t mean landlords won’t charge what they can get for rent.
“Airbnb has been a destructive force in this market,” Trachtenberg says. “It’s not rare to see a waterfront house on Aqualane Shores rent for $100,000 a month. If people can rent their house out for $30,000 a month for January, February and March, why should they rent it out to a teacher for $1,000 a month?”
The human infrastructure shortage is not unique to Southwest Florida; ensuring there’s enough affordable housing in a community has become a professional specialty for city managers. Dan Rosemond is a former city manager who developed affordable housing in Indian River County and other Florida communities. He said municipalities rely on complex plans such as ULI’s when fashioning future communities.
“Managing growth and development is a formula-driven world,” Rosemond says. “The question that municipalities have to ask themselves is, ‘What efforts are they going to make to attract those people to live in the immediate geography?’ To have quality schools or adequate levels of service, you have to have housing they can afford. Either they won’t work in that location, or they’ll have to commute from a place they can afford.”
CHRISTOPHER ALAN HOMES, THE HOMETOWN BUILDER
IAN SCHMOYER PRESIDENT AND CEO
AUTHENTIC. CONVENER. MAVERICK.
For Ian Schmoyer, success is defined personally. As a founding member of Christopher Alan Homes in 2017, he has led the company to become the largest privately held homebuilder in Southwest Florida and one of the top 100 builders in the country. However, he credits his team with achieving this impressive milestone in such a short amount of time. “The story is our team,” he shared.
Under Ian’s leadership, Christopher Alan Homes operates with a peoplefirst approach that is fundamental to its culture and experienced by both employees and customers. As a result, the company continues achieving year-over-year growth, servicing more than 500 homes each year and expanding into master-planned communities and other regions of Florida.
And it’s not just about building homes, he noted. “It’s about how the team feels coming to work every day. It’s about families who are proud to choose us as their homebuilder. And it’s about supporting the community because we can, and it’s the right thing to do.”
Ian places a strong emphasis on employee engagement. He ensures that the team fully subscribes to the company’s vision and goals, as well as philanthropic activities. Community support is something Ian is very passionate about, and he channels that passion into a range of causes, from children’s healthcare and education to veterans’ assistance. He currently serves on the Lee Health Foundation Board of Trustees and is involved with several other local nonprofit organizations, including Behold Israel, Mission 22, and Lee BIA Builders Care.
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LEADERSHIP DEDICATED TO OUR COMMUNITY
COMMISSIONER RITA CUDDIHY
NAA Board Commissioner Rita Cuddihy is an experienced travel and hospitality professional, who recently served as the Area Vice President at Marriott International. She has also held several executive positions at several US based airlines.
Rita is dedicated to operating the Naples Airport with a commitment to enhancing the economy and the quality of life throughout the community. Her experience working with federal agencies and career background uniquely qualifies her for her leadership role in driving success and seeking workable noise abatement solutions for the community. Cuddihy works to ensure the airport continues to operate successfully while vigorously promoting our Fly Safe Fly Quiet (FSFQ) program.
LEADING NCH INTO THE FUTURE
PAUL C. HILTZ PRESIDENT & CEO
Committed to our Community
Since his arrival in 2019, Paul Hiltz has ushered in a period of transformational change at the NCH Healthcare System. With a focus on providing the best quality care to our community, NCH has strategically partnered with some of the best national organizations such as the Hospital for Special Surgery and Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. These collaborations will allow individuals to receive quality specialized care–right here close to home.
Thank you for your leadership and commitment to our patients, staff and community.
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YOUR NEW PHYSICIAN IS JUST A PHONE CALL AWAY
If you are looking for a doctor close to home, want more information about our services, or have a question about NCH, call to speak with one of our representatives about the many healthcare options and physician choices that are here for you, only at the NCH Healthcare System. Call us from 7am to 7pm, 7 days a week at NCH-7777 (239-624-7777)
Thirty-six years ago, Russell Budd envisioned creating an employer of choice that provided concierge-level service. He’s accomplished this by attracting an award-winning team, creating an exciting corporate culture, producing exceptional work, and consistently giving back to the community. His vision carries on through President & CEO Tim Dupre, who just celebrated his first anniversary. Tim leads the industry by encouraging a healthy work-life balance by adding unlimited Paid Time Off to an already attractive benefits package and continues building relationships in an atmosphere that values and respects team members. PBS knows that a happy team produces happy clients who rave about their luxurious results.
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We’re 15!
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SUCCESS THROUGH SUCCESSION Passing the torch at Sanibel Captiva Community Bank
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