2018 Bay County Business Journal

SPECIAL REPORT

2018 BAY COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL AN 850 BUSINESS MAGAZINE SPECIAL REPORT

PORT PANAMA CITY | ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT | HIGHER EDUCATION | NEW CITY MANAGER GROWING STRONG | GKN AEROSPACE | BAY PARKWAY | INTERNATIONAL TOURISM PHOTOS BY DESIREE GARDNER (HARDIN), MICHAEL BOOINI (GROWING STRONG) AND COURTESY OF PORT PANAMA CITY

BAY COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL

PORT PANAMA CITY

ROOM TO GROW East terminal project enlarges port’s footprint, bolsters warehouse capacity

by STEVE BORNHOFT

A

s lawmakers in Tallahassee were working to draft legislation to establish Triumph Gulf Coast, Inc., and provide for the disbursement of reparations from the oil and gas giant BP, Wayne Stubbs was paying close attention.

It became clear that the state would be looking to fund projects that would contribute to diversifying the economies of counties affected by the Deepwater Horizon disaster, projects that would add to the public infrastructure and create jobs.

“As the Triumph program was coming together, I was confident that we could arrive at a strong application, given the goals that were emerging,” said Stubbs, the executive director at Port Panama City. “I felt like we could check all the boxes.”

The port was in the midst of a strong postrecession resurgence to the point where it was experiencing growing pains and had purchased 70 acres from WestRock paper company in August 2016 to allow for the construction of a second port terminal. Work on the first phase of the $60 million terminal expansion project had begun.

“Ships arriving to load product from the paper mill are getting bigger and, of course, they have bigger drafts,” Stubbs said. “They needed to have greater volumes of cargo available to pick up. So, WestRock was motivated to work with us here at the port in order to maintain service to their customers. We were

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Given its loyalty to long-term tenants, including pipe manufacturers, Port Panama City had limited operating room available for expansion. Director Wayne Stubbs, at right, was gladdened when the port acquired breathing room in the form of land purchased from WestRock paper.

motivated to buy land from them because we were running out of capacity at our western terminal.”

The space crunch was so great, in fact, that the port, Stubbs concluded, had no choice but to begin the project long before Triumph funding was assured.

“We had to proceed with the project in order to stay on schedule with regard to commitments we were making,” Stubbs explained. “We had a tight window for

PHOTOS BY TODD DOUGLAS

purchasing the land from the paper mill. We had to have a presence there before we could appeal to the Corps of Engineers for cooperation in deepening the channel from 30 to 36 feet. And, if we had waited two or three years until we knew that we had all the financial support we hoped for, the shipping activity could have gone away.”

Indeed, by the time the opportunity to apply for Triumph funding came about, the state Department of Transportation and Economic Development Council had committed to contributing $22 million to the expansion. The Corps was in for $5 million.

The port borrowed $12 million for land acquisition and drew down cash reserves for additional purposes; its total contribution to the project is $23 million. From Triumph Gulf Coast, it sought $10 million.

“It would be wrong to say that we were counting on Triumph funding, but we were for sure hopeful that we would get some help from them,” Stubbs said.

Absent Triumph assistance, the port would have two options: expand the project timeline and “pay as you go” or borrow more money.

“The port’s indebtedness is $27 million,” Stubbs noted. “If we had to borrow 10 more million, that would mean leveraging the port more than we want to and it would limit our ability to maintain momentum and invest and grow.”

In making the application to Triumph, the port sought funds specifically for completing construction of a 260,000-square-foot forest products warehouse; building a new bulkhead; and channel dredging. It sought to convince Triumph board members that the need for the project was acute and that economic benefits arising from the project would be significant.

An executive summary in the application noted that cargo activity at the port increased by 300% in the last 15 years. At the same time, the port has continued to provide facilities and space required by two large industrial tenants: Oceaneering, a manufacturer of large umbilical seafloor cable that encases hydraulic and electric line and fiber serving various functions, and Berg Steel, a 38-year tenant that manufactures large-diameter pipe.

“As we approached capacity at the western terminal, it would have been nice

Wood pellets have become a growing factor in port operations. The renewable fuel is used by power-generating plants in Great Britain. Underway is construction of a forest products warehouse to help meet the demand.

to have had all the space that Berg and Oceaneering occupy, but they produce more of a regional economic benefit than cargo operations,” Stubbs said. “We didn’t want to displace them. Berg is investing heavily in their plant and adding to its product line to avoid dramatic ups and downs in business. We are committed to giving both Oceaneering and Berg the support they need.”

Still, cargo is essential to the viability of the port.

“You need to achieve a certain scale,” Stubbs said. “Ports that don’t are going to be in trouble.”

The Port of Pensacola, leveled off at about 300,000 tons of cargo annually and struggling, has had to consider accommodating new activities including a research center on port property.

“In Panama City, we were at 500,000 tons in 2000 and, if you stay there, you will have a hard time surviving,” Stubbs said.

The good news is that Port Panama City is growing its cargo business across the board.

Copper, which today accounts for about a half-million tons of business annually, had dipped to 200,000 tons during the recession.

Pine wood pellets, growing too, account for some 800,000 tons annually and are shipped primarily to the United Kingdom where they are used not for household consumption but to fuel what used to be coal-fired power plants. The appetite for wood pellets is growing in Japan and Korea, as well.

“The theory is that a tree soaks up carbon as it grows and releases the same amount when it is burned, making it carbon-neutral,” Stubbs noted. “In the case of coal, you’re just taking it out of the ground and burning it.”

Plus, wood is a renewable biofuel.

The port is working to build its regional container trade and is focused in that regard on nearby markets and smaller, independent container lines versus Panamax ships that are as large as can slip through the Panama Canal and sail to ports in Asia. It is adding facilities to support refrigerated containers and is doing a growing business in cucumbers and bell peppers from Mexico.

Stubbs hopes that NAFTA issues do not interfere with the good thing the port has going with Mexico, and he finds himself checking headlines related to tariffs, retaliatory tariffs and other trade actions every day.

Steel, in particular, among products handled by the port, has been affected. But, generally, Stubbs is sleeping better these days.

The port’s $10 million Triumph application sailed through the pre-application phase, gained board approval and then, on June 12, the Triumph board signed off on a final contract authorizing use of the money. Those developments made Port Panama City the first applicant to receive Triumph funding.

Stubbs found it significant that every member of the Triumph board made time to tour the port in order to better understand its activities and its application. The support

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Bay County economic development director Becca Hardin sees the East Terminal project at Port Panama City as “transformational.” Added capacity at the port, she says, will give her more opportunities to promote among business site selectors.

supported by purchases made by those 1,256 jobholders. And 571 indirect jobs were supported by the nearly $42 million in local purchases made by businesses supplying services at port terminals and by businesses dependent upon those terminals.

The 1,256 holders of direct jobs received a total of $58.9 million in wages and salaries, an average of $46,892 per person. The re-spending of this income created another $115.8 million in income and consumptive expenditures.

The capacity of the east terminal warehouse will be between 35,000 and 45,000 tons of wood pulp and linerboard, depending on the product mix. The annual capacity of the warehouse will range between 420,000 and 540,000 tons.

The east terminal project is projected to support 148 direct jobs and 163 induced and indirect jobs. The projected total of — Wayne Stubbs, Executive Director, 311 jobs will easily satisfy the Port Panama City Triumph board’s job-generation requirement of 250 positions.

At capacity, the project is projected to The port, the consultant found, handled create $17.8 million of personal income more than 2 million tons of commodities in and local consumption expenditures and fiscal year 2015. That activity accounted for $151.6 million of direct business revenue to 2,844 direct, induced and indirect jobs in local firms providing handling and support the Panama City area. Of that total, 1,256 services related to the approximately 534,000 direct jobs were tied to marine cargo and tons of forest products throughput. vessel activity.

“It takes a long time to get everyone to Further, the consultant calculated, 1,017 agree on things related to a project of this induced jobs in the regional economy were

“… the port has been recognized and appreciated as a big contributor to the economy. Panama City was built as a port city, and the industries that are here wouldn’t be here without it.”

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size,” Stubbs said. Indeed, the terminal expansion is four times larger than any single capital project previously undertaken by the port. “It was helpful that the port has been recognized and appreciated as a big contributor to the economy. Panama City was built as a port city, and the industries that are here wouldn’t be here without it. A community can rule out a lot of potential new industry if it can’t offer some port capacity nearby.

“The Triumph dollars were the last dollars in, and that is something the board was looking for,” Stubbs said. “We had a lot of skin in the game.”

Becca Hardin, executive director of the Bay County Economic Development Alliance, views the east terminal project as “transformational.”

“The port is expanding its footprint. Not only is it adding warehouse space, it will give them additional berth space and, from an economic development standpoint, we will have more port-related property and capacity to market,” Hardin enthused.

“We applaud Wayne Stubbs and the Port Authority board for having the vision and the drive to see the project through to fruition.”

Bay County benefits, and so do surrounding counties.

“The industries we support provide an outsized benefit to the region,” Stubbs said.

“In order to export 800,000 tons a year, the pellet plant in Jackson County has to purchase 1.5 million tons of fiber at maybe $30 a ton. That puts about $45 million a year into the area economy.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF PORT PANAMA CITY

of Allan Bense of Panama City, a Triumph board member and, at one time, the speaker of the Florida House, was especially helpful.

Over the next 13 years, the seven-member Triumph board will dole out approximately $1.5 billion that the state will receive from BP. The disbursements will be spread among the eight Panhandle counties most affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill — Bay, Escambia, Franklin, Gulf, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Wakulla and Walton. Minimum spending levels have been established for each county.

The award made to Port Panama City has strings attached. The port is required to hit at least one of three targets related to jobs generation, growth in the tonnage it handles and growth in the revenue it earns.

“We plan to hit all three metrics as a matter of pride,” Stubbs said.

To do so, it will both take advantage of the new capacity that will result from improvements and ride momentum that has been building in recent years.

A consultant, Martin Associates, was retained by the port to establish baseline economic impacts and to assess potential economic impacts of the east terminal project.

It released its report in November of last year.

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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

BIG MO

In Bay County, one economic development project is leading to another … and another

by STEVE BORNHOFT

T

here was a time when Becca Hardin worked as a small-market broadcast journalist. These days, the world is her market.

She travels extensively, making frequent trips across the pond, as the product of Bay County’s growing reputation internationally for being a receptive, progressive and effective place to do business. That is a reputation that Hardin, as executive director of the Bay Economic Development Alliance, works both to enhance and capitalize upon.

Recent months have seen announcements involving companies, one headquartered in Paris and the other in Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico, of plans to establish their first U.S. operations in Panama City.

In May, the EDA, along with Gulf Coast State College, unveiled plans by Butterfly Training, which has seven locations in Europe, to gain a toehold in the U.S. by making Bay County its eighth. The company will employ just three people in the U.S. initially and a projected 10 within three years.

“But,” said Hardin, “Butterfly is an important win for us. This gives us another international company and, with it, more international attention.”

The Bay County-Butterfly connection resulted from Hardin’s aircraft business recruitment missions to Europe and her attendance at international airshows. It didn’t hurt, either, that the EDA, in 2017, landed a British

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Gulf Coast State College president John Holdnak and Bay County Economic Development Alliance executive director Becca Hardin stroll the halls at the school’s Advanced Technology Center, which stimulates entrepreneurship. Both Holdnak and Hardin recognize that when counties grow their own businesses, those enterprises tend to stick around.

PHOTO BY DESIREE GARDNER (HOLDNAK AND HARDIN)

company, GKN Aerospace, as a tenant at the Venture Crossings industrial park adjoining the airport in West Bay. Butterfly Training designs and produces e-learning solutions related to airport security, safety and dangerous goods. Its customers, more than 2,000 in total, include airlines and aviation manufacturers. It offers curriculum in 10-plus languages in more than 15 countries and trains in excess of 50,000 people per year. Its catalog includes over 100 products, designed for customers including what Hardin called the “big boys” — AIRBUS, Boeing, American Airlines, FedEx, Air France and other familiar names.

Their entrance into the U.S. market will provide Butterfly Training the proximity needed to develop clients throughout the North American aviation sector.

“Entry into the U.S. is an important step for our company,” said Olivier David, founder and CEO of Butterfly Training. “Bay County is proving to be an ideal location for our U.S. headquarters. We know we are well positioned for success.”

David anticipates that Gulf Coast State College and its Advanced Technology Center will be a big factor in that anticipated success.

He noted that the college is providing substantial training to students in digital media and computer sciences programs. “We look forward to working closely with GCSC instructors and students in the development of new products for leading aviation companies,” he said.

GCSC president Dr. John Holdnak sees his school’s partnership with Butterfly Training as mutually beneficial.

“It’s a win-win,” he said. “Our mission at Gulf Coast State College is to prepare our students for productive careers and train them to successfully enter the workforce. Through the partnership between Butterfly Training and GCSC, our students will be able to take advantage of practical, hands-on experience in the very skills and abilities expected from them upon graduation. Students and faculty in our Digital Media degree programs will now have the opportunity to work alongside Butterfly Training professionals in the actual creation of products utilized by international aviation companies.”

Jorge Gonzalez, Chairman of the Bay Economic Development Alliance and

Butterfly Training, with several offices in Europe, has made Bay County its first location in the United States. The business, which develops e-learning curriculum related to airport security and safety, is working closely with Gulf Coast State College students.

president and CEO of The St. Joe Company, said he is confident that “this project will further enhance Bay County’s international exposure to aviation companies located throughout the world. With Bay County and the entire region’s recent economic development successes, our communities are continuing to see substantial growth and progress in our regional economy.”

Increasingly, Bay County is becoming no place for an isolationist.

Also in May, the EDA announced that a leading automotive supplier would be establishing a U.S. headquarters and first U.S. manufacturing operation in Bay County.

Temp of America, Inc. (Air Temp), a subsidiary of Air Temp de México, is setting up shop in Panama City at the site formerly of Boyd Brothers Printing.

Founded and headquartered in Mérida, Air Temp produces automotive parts that include condensers, radiators, heat exchangers, evaporators and other components. Air Temp is a leading Tier 1 supplier to Volkswagen, Nissan, Ford, Peugeot, and to other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). It has been named Volkswagen supplier of the year five times.

As of June, the company had begun modernizing the old Boyd property for its manufacturing. It will be making a capital investment of approximately $6 million and create 50 new jobs for skilled employees, Hardin said.

“Air Temp had been using Port Panama City for years, and their plan to place their U.S. headquarters in Bay County is an extension of that relationship,” she added.

Hardin and Panama City Mayor Greg Brudnicki were part of a Bay County delegation that visited Air Temp in Mérida two years ago.

“Discussions heated up after the visit, and we were able to find a facility that was perfect for their needs,” Hardin said. “To have a Mexican company announce in our community we think is a great win.”

“We are excited about opening our new operation in Bay County and investing in manufacturing in the United States,” said Jorge Habib, president and CEO of Air Temp and a dual citizen of the U.S. and Mexico.

“To create a sustainable future, we must invest in creating high-skilled manufacturing jobs and growing our skilled workforce for the future,” Habib said.

“In working closely with BayEDA, Port Panama City, CareerSource Gulf Coast, local governments and other entities, we have found that Bay County is the best location for our new manufacturing operation.”

As it happens, Mérida and Panama City have been sister cities since 2003.

“We look forward to Air Temp’s example of success for other companies looking to invest and create quality jobs in our community,”

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Gonzalez said. “Our community should be proud of the team that partnered with Air Temp to bring advanced manufacturing to Panama City. It is good to have a new corporate partner as we continue to experience positive economic momentum.”

“Air Temp is the first auto parts manufacturing company to locate in Bay County,” said Port Panama City executive director Wayne Stubbs. “Their decision was based on the shipping connection between our port and the Port of Progresso in Mérida. We commend them for making this very strategic and timely move and expect others will follow their example.”

FOR THE PORT, A TRIUMPH Hardin has been heartened by recent developments at Port Panama City, which in June became the first applicant to secure Triumph Gulf Coast money from a pool of dollars paid to the state of Florida by BP as compensation for damage caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster.

The $10 million award will be used to complete construction of a forest products warehouse, a bulkhead and other improvements.

“It’s an outstanding example of a transformational project,” Hardin said. “It will expand the port’s footprint, and give them more berth space. And that means we will have more property to market for industrial purposes.”

Hardin complimented Stubbs, saying, “He had been working on that project for years. You

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have to hand it to him for having the vision and the persistence to see it through to completion.”

Generally, Hardin said about Bay County’s economic development efforts, “We’ve got momentum, and that’s a good thing.”

That momentum has taken various forms: » On July 25, the EDA and the city of Lynn Haven announced that Pennsylvania-based Revint Solutions, a revenue recovery business that serves health care providers nationwide, is establishing a regional headquarters and a new 150-employee service center in Lynn Haven.

Revint will occupy space at the Tyndall Federal Credit Union Building. It plans to retain an established operation in Gulf County, while recruiting and training new employees for the Bay County operation. As of the day of the announcement, Revint had already hired 15 employees to begin training. Once fully operational, Revint will add approximately $6 million in annual payroll in Bay County.

“In Bay County, we found partners who were willing to assist in our quick timeline, a skilled workforce and the willingness of the community to help our company expand,” said Revint president Kyle Hicok. Revint offers a revenue safety net for all types of health care provider organizations, providing solutions to more than 1,600 organizations in the U.S. It helps recover in excess of $475 million in underpaid or unidentified revenue for its clients annually. » Florida State University Panama City has added a mechanical engineering major that,

Airmen in Las Vegas work on an MQ-9 Reaper.

Tyndall Air Force Base in Bay County has been selected as a site for a new wing of the unmanned aircraft.

PHOTOS BY TODD DOUGLAS (PORT) AND PHOTO BY SENIOR MASTER SGT. ROBERT SHEPHERD (U.S. AIR NATIONAL GUARD)

Paper products have been a significant part of Bay County’s economy for decades, and Bay County’s paper mill has long been a Port Panama City customer. The mill illustrates the historic co-dependency between it and local industries.

Hardin said, “helps create a culture that will support continued advanced manufacturing recruitment.” » GKN Aerospace hired a general manager who is living in Panama City. As of July, it had hired 40 employees on its way to 170 and had administered two training courses. “We hope to see product coming from the factory soon,” Hardin said, but exactly what that product will be remains proprietary. “They have a 25-year federal contract, and we don’t care what they are making as long as they are creating jobs,” Hardin said. Most of the jobs at GKN require security clearances. » The U.S. Air Force has chosen Tyndall Air Force Base as the site for a new wing of MQ-9 Reapers. Airmen are projected to begin arriving at the base in eastern Bay County in 2020 with the first aircraft expected to arrive two years later. The wing eventually will comprise 1,600 airmen, Hardin said. » Eastern Shipbuilding Group successfully conducted its Final Critical Design Review (FCDR) with the U.S. Coast Guard for the Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) Program on June 29, the company reported in a news release. Eastern Shipbuilding’s contract with the Coast Guard includes options for production of up to nine vessels and has a potential total value of $2.38 billion.

“We’ve got a lot of big things going on,” Hardin said, “and success breeds success.”

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Engineering students at FSU-PC have a history of performing well in nationwide rocketry competitions. “Team Renegade” finished 11th in the country at the NASA University Student Launch Initiative held in Huntsville, Alabama, in May.

HIGHER EDUCATION

GROOMING THE NEXT WORK FORCE Gulf Coast State College and Florida State University Panama City are strengthening their ties with emerging industries

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ith new degree programs and a strong commitment to affordable tuition and workforce development, Gulf Coast State College and Florida State University Panama City continue to be key players in the effort to grow and diversify the Northwest Florida economy.

This fall, FSU Panama City will launch two new engineering programs — a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in systems engineering — expected to have a direct and long-term impact on the local workforce.

“These new programs are coming to FSU Panama City because of the strong demand from local industry and support from the FAMUFSU College of Engineering,” FSU Panama

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City Dean Randy Hanna said. “With community partners such as the Navy base, Tyndall and GKN, our students will have unlimited options.”

The mechanical engineering program prompted the creation of an Engineering the Future Endowment — which has a goal of $1 million and $150,000 in initial commitments from the Gulf Power Foundation and the St. Joe Community Foundation. The endowment will be used to fund scholarships, update campus labs and provide professional development opportunities for students and faculty.

The new systems engineering program was developed jointly by the FSU Panama City and FAMU-FSU Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering with support from the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City.

Another new offering this fall is a master’s

degree program in law enforcement intelligence, which includes advanced coursework in criminal justice, economics, and political and military science along with a semester-long project with a law enforcement agency.

“The law enforcement community has been asking for it,” Hanna said. “We are excited about being able to meet that opportunity.”

To fully support the new programs, Hanna has hired an additional 10 faculty members.

In addition, he has increased the number of academic advisors across the campus.

“We’re making sure our programs remain academically strong,” he said. “The advisors and tutors and career coaches, they help students and make a difference in their lives.

Retention is critically important — not only for enrollment but for student success.”

PHOTO PHOTOS

BY BRUCE

BY TODD PALMER DOUGLAS

by KARI C. BARLOW

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START HERE, GO ANYWHERE From a funding perspective, GCSC will start the upcoming fall semester in a better position than the previous year. In 2017, when lawmakers cut $30 million from Florida’s state college system budget of more than $2 billion, GCSC was left with a $1 million shortfall.

“That hurt,” GCSC President John Holdnak said. “That was tough to swallow. … Our incredible faculty and staff were able to retool, make the appropriate adjustments, and get the job done.”

Although forced to eliminate a number of positions across campus, he avoided a direct impact on the college’s roughly 8,300 students. This year lawmakers restored almost 7 percent of the 2017 cut, allowing GCSC to once again forego a tuition increase.

“We are committed to keeping college affordable as long as we can,” Holdnak said.

“It’s been about seven years since we raised tuition, and it’s not on our horizon for next year.”

In keeping with that mission, one of his top priorities is increasing the number of Northwest Florida high school students pursuing higher education.

Holdnak is especially proud of the GCSC Navigators program, which has placed a fulltime college employee on every public high

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Graduate students at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering participate in research in conjunction with the Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion in Tallahassee. This fall, the Panama City campus of FSU will add degree programs in mechanical and systems engineering.

school campus in Bay, Gulf and Franklin counties for the sole purpose of guiding students through high school and on to some level of post-secondary education. “(Students are) coming out thinking they’re done and moving into dead-end jobs, many of which are going to be automated out of existence during the first portion of their lives,” he said. “They’re going to need something. If we can help figure out the direction they want to go, they are going to be productive members of society … and that rising tide will float all boats.”

In addition to helping the K-12 system keep more students from “falling through the cracks,” GCSC Navigators have made those local school districts more aware of what GCSC has to offer their students, Holdnak said.

With roughly 40 percent of GCSC’s enrollment comprised of occupational programs — ranging from the health sciences to public safety — the college is committed to supporting the regional workforce by providing companies such as GKN with a pipeline of skilled workers.

“For many, we are their first choice for an education after high school, and for others we are their last chance,” Holdnak said. “As an open-door institution, we will take you from wherever you are educationally, and we will support and nurture you until you get to wherever you want to go. Our college slogan or motto for around 40 years is ‘Start Here – Go Anywhere!’ ”

WORKING TOGETHER In the past year, GCSC and FSU Panama City have also embraced the power of joining forces to make higher education a reality for more residents along the Emerald Coast.

“With FSU-PC literally in our backyard, we do many joint activities with them,” Holdnak said. “We have a great relationship.”

In October 2017, Hanna and Holdnak formed the Seminole-Commodore Alliance, which is designed to make it easier for GCSC students earning associate degrees to transfer to bachelor-degree programs at FSU Panama City, obtain scholarship money and interact with FSU professors earlier in their college careers. Students who have an associate degree and a minimum transfer GPA of 3.5 will be guaranteed admission to FSU Panama City and guaranteed a scholarship.

“It shows our commitment to the twoplus-two system, and it shows our willingness to work together, which ultimately benefits students,” Hanna said.

The Seminole-Commodore Alliance also extends to campus life, allowing students from both schools to participate in common activities, clubs and intramural sports.

“And participation in student activities is directly tied to student success,” Hanna said. “There really shouldn’t be a distinction between the two campuses. They’re both right here next to each other, and the students should know each other.”

PHOTO BY BRUCE PALMER

Hanna said FSU Panama City, which served more than 2,600 students during the 2017-18 academic year, is getting noticed by more students than ever before.

“We anticipate having the largest freshman class that we’ve had since we started our freshman initiative,” he said. “… We tell students — especially those from our area — if you want to live in Northwest Florida, what better way to do it than at FSU-PC where you can take classes that are small, you can have internships in your community that, in many cases, lead directly to jobs — and the view isn’t bad, either!”

FSU Panama City’s low tuition rates also make it an attractive choice, Hanna added.

“We work hard to keep higher education here at Florida State affordable,” he said. “I’m a big believer that students, especially at the bachelor’s degree level, not take out student loans, that we should work hard to help them get out of college with the smallest amount of debt possible.”

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CITY MANAGER

SETTING THE STRATEGY Panama City taps McQueen as head administrator

by ERIN HOOVER

T

he City Commission’s five members vote on city policy, but it’s the job of the city manager whom they appoint to carry out municipal business, includingsupervising some 500 city employees.

“This is one of the most important decisions that we have made as commissioners in the past 10 years,” said Billy Rader, who has served on the City Commission since 2007.

“Yes, moving City Hall is big, of course. But having the right personnel on board and the right leadership, I liken it to Bobby Bowden leading the Seminoles. You have to have a good leader.”

In February, Panama City began an in-house search following the resignation of Jeff Brown and termination of his contract by the City Commission. The city manager search had drawn over 80 applications from across the country by April, when commissioners made an announcement: They would only be interviewing one candidate.

The candidate was local. And he had a standout resume.

Maj. Gen. Mark McQueen applied for the city manager position with 30 years of experience in the United States Army Reserves.

At the time of his application, he was the commanding general of the 108th Training Command headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, responsible for more than 8,000 soldiers in 44 states and Puerto Rico.

Asked why he wanted to serve as city manager in interviews, McQueen recalled Bob Buford’s book Halftime, in which the author suggests that as in sports, “halftime” in life presents an opportunity to game-plan one’s second half.

“The people of Panama City have all supported me in my three-decades-plus of (military) service,” McQueen said. “I am who I am in the Army in part because of that

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commitment and support. It’s my time to give back to the city.”

By all accounts, commissioners were impressed — the News Herald called them “awed” — with McQueen’s answers during his interview. They voted to hire him in late April, and he signed a contract with a flexible start date between July 15 and October 1.

“He was my choice because he’s a problemsolver, a motivator and a leader. He can set the tone and the example for the city and for the city employees that we need,” Mayor Greg Brudnicki said.

The flexible start date was put in place in part to allow McQueen to donate a kidney to an acquaintance with the same rare blood type, a process he had already begun preparing for at his time of hire. He successfully made the donation in July.

McQueen anticipates a short overlap of responsibility, as he officially retires from the military on Oct. 26. “I’m going across the finish line sprinting,” he said.

Jared Jones, who has served as interim city manager since Brown’s resignation — and who McQueen praised for a job well done — will serve as assistant city manager under McQueen.

A LOCAL GUY WITH WORLDWIDE EXPERIENCE In 1988, Mark McQueen made what he thought was a temporary move to Panama City.

McQueen’s father was a career officer, an army aviator, and the family moved often.

He calls Enterprise, Alabama his hometown because he graduated from Enterprise High School. He was an ROTC Distinguished Military Graduate from Auburn University and went on to further service in the Army. In 1988, waiting to go back on active duty, McQueen answered an ad for a temporary, 60-day job at then-Gulf Coast

Community College working in job placement for disabled students.

The Army continued to delay, and he took a full-time position at the college. When he got the call, two weeks later, he asked to stay in the Army Reserve.

“I believe that it was God opening a door for me, pulling me in this direction,” McQueen said.

In Panama City, he met his wife, Karen, a teacher, and they have raised two children in Bay County. His daughter, Taylor, serves as an associate unit minister in Opelika, Alabama, and his son, Thomas, recently became a deputy with the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.

McQueen has served in every level of command and staff from company command through general officer. His deployments have included Operation Joint Endeavor in Bosnia, Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq. As deputy commanding general, United States Army Europe, he was responsible for the mobilization and deployment of reserves across 51 countries.

McQueen retired as commanding general of the 108th Training Command. For the past nine years, he also served as business administrator of the First Baptist Church in Panama City.

“The journey I’ve walked has been one of faith,” McQueen said. “When I look back at my life — my military, civilian, family and social life — I think all of these things have contributed to getting me ready for the second half.”

SETTING PRIORITIES McQueen is not the only agent to play a role in what his second half will look like.

He said that the city of Panama City has “enormous potential, untapped potential” to attract families and businesses, and that he hopes to “help develop a strategic vision and plan for the city and execute that plan to help the city realize its potential not just now but in the future, 2050.”

In his first 90 days, he plans to assess the city organization and its capabilities, a process he calls looking “down and in.” Next, he hopes to “look up and out” in creating a strategic vision and plan for the city.

The arrival of Mark McQueen as the new city manager for the city of Panama City is coinciding with work to convert a former bank building to the new location for City Hall.

“The people of Panama City have all supported me in my three-decades-plus of (military) service. I am who I am in the Army in part because of that commitment and support. It’s my time to give back to the city.”

PHOTO BY DOUG DOBOS/COURTESY OF CITY OF PANAMA CITY

— Maj. Gen. Mark McQueen, city manager, Panama City

“That won’t be a plan I do in isolation. It will be an integrated, collaborative process with community involvement, business, military and education leaders, and individuals in the fine arts community. Once we have the plan, we ought to be able to get after it,” McQueen said.

Brudnicki brought up, in particular, McQueen’s request for a contractually required 40-hour work week, at minimum.

“We need to make sure we’re serving our citizens,” McQueen said. “That means giving our best effort every day that we come to

work.” He said he plans to “meet and work alongside” every one of Panama City’s municipal employees, dedicating one day a month to working in a different department, such as picking up waste or riding along with police.

“I expect an adherence to high standards,” he said. “That’s quite frankly why I had that put in my contract.”

The City Commission has a great deal of confidence in McQueen.

“He’s been training and motivating people his entire career. He’s trained generals to be generals,” Brudnicki said. “The experience

and credentials that he brings to the table will be something that people who work under him will appreciate.”

Rader brought up the 500 city employees that McQueen will manage and the city’s considerable $100 million budget. “You can’t put a dollar amount on great leadership.

That’s what it comes down to. It’s so valuable to us. We sure need him.”

McQueen is hopeful about what Panama City and its citizens will be able to accomplish in coming years, though he acknowledged a need to build consensus among them.

“Panama City is a multifaceted entity with nearly 40,000 citizens and everyone has needs and requirements. As a result, everyone has a little bit of a different perspective. Mine is just one. My desire through that ‘up and out’ (process) is to garner input from many to make sure we know what our common objectives are. Once we get that, I think everyone will do his part,” he said.

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DEFENDERS OF THE WATERFRONT Panama City Growing Strong board members include (left to right) Teresa Sheffield, secretary/treasurer; Jim Lawrence; Robert Barnes, president; and Lesley Fontaine, vice president.

Board member Chris Moser is not pictured.

GROWING STRONG

BEAUTIFUL VIEW Citizens group hopes to define a shared urban vision

by ERIN HOOVER

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“T

he waterfront has been the main driver for our history and our heritage in this community,” began Robert Barnes, the president of Panama City Growing Strong.

It’s been a year since members of this allvolunteer organization first came together to advocate for greater citizen input regarding the future of the Panama City Marina. Bob Sonnenblick, the head of a Los Angelesbased real estate development firm, had submitted a plan, and a local group, Save the Panama City Marina, sprung up to oppose it.

“We wanted to have a voice, and not just a voice of opposition,” Barnes explained. “We made a decision early on to be supportive

of something happening on the marina, and we decided to expand that focus to the waterfront communities in general.”

City commissioners ultimately rejected the Sonnenblick plan, as they had rejected two others that had come before them since 2012.

Barnes calls the city “plan fatigued.”

“It’s a dangerous place to be, because you’ll accept a development that’s not right,” he said.

After defining its mission and vision, Panama City Growing Strong incorporated as a nonprofit organization in November 2017. They invite members to join at their website, pcgrowingstrong.org.

PHOTO BY MICHAEL BOOINI

“

HOMETOWN CROWD Barnes’s great-grandfather, Capt. Charles Anderson, lived in a house behind the current marina, where the federal courthouse is now located. Barnes spent a lot of time there as a child. Other co-founders of the organization — Teresa Sheffield, Lesley Fontaine, Judy and Bob Stapleton, Evelyn Fore, Jim Lawrence and Chris Moser — are also lifelong residents.

Board members come from different occupational backgrounds. Barnes is a certified registered nurse anesthetist; Sheffield has a master’s degree in social work. Jim Lawrence is an engineer, Chris Moser has a master’s in business administration and Lesley Fontaine is a homemaker and busy grandmother.

“The common thread among all of us that got together is that we’re lifelong residents, sometimes multiple generations, and we all grew up in the Cove or St. Andrews utilizing the marina and loving it,” said Sheffield, the organization’s secretary and treasurer.

Learning from communities that have grown successfully is part of the organization’s strategy, and they have invited experts from across the country to come to Panama City to speak, including Charles Marohn, the founder and president of a group called Strong Towns, and former Pittsburgh mayor Tom Murphy. The first event, featuring Marohn, attracted 80 residents, including Panama City’s mayor, two commissioners and the city planner.

Panama City Growing Strong connected with Quint Studer early in its learning process. Studer has been a key player in

Pensacola’s revitalization efforts, and he spoke to the group in April.

“Quint has been somewhat of a mentor to us,” Barnes said.

Currently, the group meets the second Tuesday of every month in space donated by the Panama City Marine Institute.

Barnes hopes that a marina hotel contemplated by The St. Joe Company does not become a cart before the visioning horse.

St. Joe, in a Sept. 6 letter to city officials, expressed interest in building a hotel of no more than five stories as a first step in downtown redevelopment.

About that, Barnes is cautiously optiTHE WILL OF THE PEOPLE mistic.

“St. Joe may be the perfect partner that Victor Dover, the principal of Dover, Kohl really moves the ball that others are now & Partners, visited Panama City to meet carrying to the goal line — if they are a good with the group in July. Over the last decade, steward who has Panama City’s quality of Dover’s firm has produced more than 200 life as their No. 1 priority,” Barnes said after charrettes — intensive hands-on sessions the St. Joe letter made headlines. where citizens share their collaborative “Another big unknown vision for their city, which is what the public’s opinion a design team synthesizes will be,” Barnes added. “Is into a plan that is presented the bitter taste of previous in an open public forum. deals still fresh in the Charrettes have worked mouths of many in our in Miami and other places community? Are there in Florida, and Barnes and shades of other recent others feel they could work agreements where the lack for Panama City, too.

— Robert Barnes, of openness in the process “We’ve learned from president, Panama clouded public opinion so our speakers that one of City Growing much that the deal had no the important things for Strong chance of ever coming to a community to do is to fruition? We don’t know identify a common, shared right now, but we are very excited to hear the vision,” Barnes said. “That involves citizens full scope of their plans and to work closely coming together and determining where we with St. Joe, the city and any other developers see our community going in the next 10, 15, that emerge as all of this moves forward.”

20 years.”

Meanwhile, Barnes is satisfied that Mayor Barnes acknowledged that the group’s Greg Brudnicki is giving serious considlong-term plans depend on what happens in eration to investing in and completing the the immediate future, particularly if they are strategic master vision process. able to hold charrettes.

“Our most immediate goal now is to “As a result of Victor Dover’s presentasupport and encourage the mayor to execute tion and continuing discussions with him, that process before any major development is his team, and others in his field of expertise, begun,” Barnes said. our knowledge of the process of developing Establishing and supporting citizen advia strategic master vision has grown dramatisory committees is written into Panama City cally,” Barnes said. “The implementation of Growing Strong’s mission. Barnes noted the end products will require administration that citizen advisory committees have been and oversight from our group well into the effective in Dunedin and Bradenton/Fort future.

Myers, Florida, and in Hampton, Virginia.

“As a certified planner who is a member “City leaders are elected to do the will of of our organization said, ‘Doing the master the people,” he continued. “They can’t know vision is the easy part. Making sure the what citizens want if there’s not input from vision is implemented well into the future the citizenry.” is where the hard work begins.’”

“We wanted to have a voice — and not just a voice of opposition.”

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GKN AEROSPACE

UP TO SPEED A new general manager readies GKN Aerospace for early production phases

by ERIN HOOVER

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I

t’s a big job to bring a large manufacturing facility up to production readiness. Nobody knows that better than Preston Mathis, new general manager at GKN Aerospace’s Bay County facility.

Bay EDA announced in February 2017 that GKN planned to make a capital investment of approximately $50 million and to create 170 highly skilled jobs in Bay County. Locally, the arrival of GKN Aerospace was and is considered a sign of more business to come.

GKN and its partners have certainly wasted no time bringing the site up to production.

Last November, GKN Aerospace took possession of the building site at

VentureCrossings Enterprise Centre, owned and managed by St. Joe, and in December, Mathis began working as general manager of the new operation — GKN’s first facility in Florida.

According to Mathis, GKN has been hiring and bringing in new employees since then.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF GKN AEROSPACE AND THE ST. JOE COMPANY (VENTURECROSSINGS)

Mathis brings more than 25 years in aerospace manufacturing experience to his work at GKN, with previous roles at Fairchild Republic, Communications and Space Corporation; at Eaton Aerospace; and at Honeywell Aerospace. He relocated with his family from Bradenton, Florida, to Panama City Beach for this position.

Since his arrival, Mathis’s priority has been to “support not only the facility coming up, and the team wrapped around that, but the hiring process — making sure we get the right talent, and once it comes in, working to develop our culture and our general operating procedures.”

Mathis said that St. Joe worked closely with local contractors to obtain the necessary permitting, “anything from standing the building up to getting the proper electrical in place.” He also credited strong collaboration with Bay County EDA and with Gulf Power.

The VentureCrossings Enterprise Centre is a Florida First Site, an initiative launched

by Gulf Power to create certified, projectready industrial sites.

“St. Joe has done not just a superb job but outstanding,” Mathis said. “I really can’t say enough good things about Jorge Gonzalez and his team.”

He added that Bay County EDA and its president, Becca Hardin, have been helpful when GKN has run into challenges. “They tell us who to go see, who to talk to, they make introductions. … When setting up a large facility, with the amount of money it takes, time is critical.”

With a staff of about 50, the GKN Aerospace Bay County facility is now in early production phases and doing qualification testing — building parts to test new equipment and validate the site’s manufacturing processes and procedures with its operators.

Mathis said that he expects that GKN Aerospace will employ 85 people in Bay County by the close of 2018, and that they will reach the target 170 employees total by the time the site is at full-scale production in 2020.

CareerSource Florida has been recruiting for GKN “24/7” to bring in qualified candidates, Mathis said. “People can apply nationally, but the majority of our successes have been from local applications who have gone through our training program.”

“They (Bay County EDA) tell us who to go see, who to talk to, they make introductions. … When setting up a large facility, with the amount of money it takes, time is critical.” — Preston Mathis, general manager at GKN Aerospace Bay County

Gulf Coast State College has worked with GKN on its training curriculum and provided training facilities. Additionally, in January of this year, the Florida State Board of Trustees announced two new engineering programs at FSU Panama City: a bachelor’s program in mechanical engineering and a master’s program in systems engineering to begin this fall. These partnerships in higher education have been critical for GKN in pipelining talent, Mathis said.

Mathis plans to work with multiple Bay County schools, elementary through high school, to establish a relationship between GKN Aerospace and schools’ STEM programs. “When you go to college, you might think about becoming an engineer. We want to be able to have those conversations and maybe offer encouragement,” he said.

In March, British-based company

Melrose Industries purchased GKN, which employs 58,000 staff worldwide, but according a spokesperson for GKN, the change in ownership will not impact GKN Aerospace operations in Bay County.

“Melrose has indicated that it has ambitious plans for GKN Aerospace. It has said it operates and invests in its companies for the long-term and this means a heavy focus on R&D, new product development, skills, training and customer relationships. GKN Aerospace has a great future ahead,” said Wesley Bates, media and communications manager for GKN Aerospace.

They will certainly continue to have willing partners in Bay County. According to Mathis, the collaboration that brought GKN to Northwest Florida has only grown since the company’s arrival: “Bay County has totally embraced us.”

A GKN employee in this supplied file photo inspects a winglet nearing the end of its manufacturing process. GKN is an aerospace contractor that has set up shop in Bay County near the airport. It holds a long-term contract with the federal government, but precisely what it is making in Bay County is being kept proprietary.

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Development, including the expansion of Pier Park and the installation of new traffic lights, has made for bumper-to-bumper, stop-and-go traffic on the Panama City Beach Parkway (Back Beach Road) in Bay County throughout much of the year.

ROAD WARRIORS

Panama City Beach, Bay County and St. Joe team up to fight gridlock on U.S. 98

by KARI C. BARLOW

W

hen it comes to solving the traffic woes across the Panama City Beach area — one of the state’s most popular drive-to vacation spots — government officials and private business owners are learning the value of working together.

“It wasn’t an overnight thing,” Panama City Beach City Manager Mario Gisbert said. “It’s taken years to get everybody on board.”

Those efforts — which have included countless meetings, interlocal agreements, vying for state grants and levying halfcent sales taxes — appear to be paying off as Panama City Beach, with the assistance of Bay County and The St. Joe Company, moves closer to constructing the second leg of Bay Parkway.

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“We’re all looking through the same type of vision,” Bay County Commissioner Philip “Griff” Griffitts said. “It’s definitely a win-win for the beach and the county.”

The $9 million project is expected to lay out roughly 3 miles of new roadway and be completed sometime in the next two years. An east-west alternative, Bay Parkway is designed to help alleviate congestion near the intersection of State Road 79 and U.S. Highway 98, known locally as Back Beach Road. “(Back Beach Road) is at capacity and then some,” Gisbert said. “The intersection of SR 79 and Back Beach Road is a failing intersection, and it has been for some time.”

The first section of Bay Parkway, a $3 million, 1.5-mile loop from State Road 79 to Pier Park North Drive, opened in early 2017.

But officials say it’s the second section that will be the gamechanger, finally offering motorists traveling into Panama City Beach on SR 79 a true bypass of a particularly crowded portion of Back Beach Road. Under the city’s plans, the second leg of Bay Parkway will extend eastward to Nautilus Street, which connects to Back Beach Road with a traffic light.

“It’s a tremendous benefit to the city,” Panama City Beach City Councilman Hector Solis said. “That whole Pier Park area gets really bogged down. All that traffic that comes down SR 79 can now bypass that 45-minute gridlock.”

PLANNING FOR GROWTH Panama City Beach Mayor Mike Thomas sees the continuation of Bay Parkway as not only a traffic solution but preparation for future residential and commercial growth.

“It’s a necessary thing,” he said. “For the last 20 years we have known it was needed.

You can’t live in an area as beautiful as this and expect it not to grow. … You’re always going to have traffic, trash and noise. We’re just trying to minimize it.”

Griffitts agreed, noting that Panama City Beach’s roughly 17,000 rental units are a sign that the area will only grow in popularity.

PHOTOS BY DEBBIE WARD/COURTESY OF CITY OF PANAMA CITY BEACH

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“It’s a good problem to have, but … we’ve got to maintain that level of transportation ease,” he said.

The Florida Department of Transportation also recognized the need for a bypass of U.S. 98, but it had placed the project on a 30-year long-range plan.

“The city felt we couldn’t wait 30 years,” Gisbert said. “It’s vitally important. It helps us with hurricane evacuation, driving to the airport. … And most of our visitors are coming from the north down SR 79. This saves everybody time!”

To fund the project, Panama City Beach plans to contribute roughly $3.5 million, pulled from the city’s general fund and its half-cent sales tax revenue. Bay County has committed to that same amount and has also applied for a $4 million FDOT Transportation Regional Incentive Program grant for fiscal year 2019.

St. Joe Company, which owns the property over which Bay Parkway will be built, has agreed to donate the land to the city in return for credits on development fees.

“As the area grows, it is important that we continue to work collaboratively with the local community to plan for infrastructure needs,” said Jorge Gonzalez, president and CEO of The St. Joe Company. “The next leg of Bay Parkway is the latest example of such planning

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and once completed, we think it will help to alleviate traffic congestion for both residents and visitors by providing an alternative parallel road for a segment of U.S. 98.”

Solis, who also serves on the Bay Transportation Planning Organization, said tapping the city’s half-cent sales tax revenue to extend Bay Parkway bypass makes good fiscal sense.

“We’re putting (the money) where it’s needed,” he said. “I can find no better way to improve our roads. It’s the best use, in my opinion.”

In mid-May, Panama City Beach officials also approved a $700,000 contract with Gortemoller Engineering for design services related to the construction of the second segment.

“Even though it’s not an FDOT road, we are building it to FDOT standards,” Gisbert said.

He praised the different entities involved

in the project for working together toward a common goal.

“All of our municipalities communicate really well, and we have a good line of communication with The St. Joe Company and with the FDOT,” he said. “That has been one of the good things.”

Gisbert said the FDOT has looked favorably on the Bay Parkway project because “it’s literally doing their work for them.”

Solis predicted the bypass will eventually become a state-maintained roadway.

“The long-term hope is that DOT would actually take over that road,” he said. “It’s just part of the natural growth cycle.”

Solis and Griffitts said the successful completion of the second leg of Bay Parkway could also give the area more leverage to push FDOT to accelerate the widening of Back Beach Road, a project that is on the books but still several years out.

PHOTO BY DEBBIE WARD/COURTESY OF CITY OF PANAMA CITY BEACH AND ILLUSTRATED MAP BY CHARLES BAKOFSKY

Bay Parkway, which is being completed in phases, is a project designed to alleviate congestion on Panama City Beach Parkway in the area of Pier Park. The new road will extend from Highway 79 north of City Hall to U.S. 98 near the Colony Club golf course.

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INTERNATIONAL TOURISM A RISING TIDE IN PANAMA CITY Bay County sees growth, outpacing the state’s numbers

by T.S. STRICKLAND

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combined $24.7 billion — or 22.1 percent of total tourism revenue.

For this reason, state officials are eager to woo foreign travelers back to our shores. As they search for ways to do so, tourism marketers are increasingly looking to less developed destinations — like Panama City — to combat what they’ve termed “Florida Fatigue.”

The Sunshine State has been the uncontested leader among American vacation destinations for more than a decade. Of course, the downside of being on top is that gravity, inevitably, favors the underdog. Visit Florida’s data bears that point out.

Interest in traveling to Florida within the next two years dipped two points in 2017, according to the agency. The No. 1 reason cited by travelers who’ve opted not to return to Florida: “Been there, done that.”

“The rest of the world, when they think of Florida, they think of Miami and Mickey Mouse,” Leach said. “We represent something different, untapped and special.”

Bay County has recognized this fact for some time now — since at least 1999, according to Leach. The CVB has had its own foreign representation — in Germany and the U.K. — since 2010.

PHOTO PHOTOS

BY CHALABALA

BY TODD DOUGLAS / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS

M

ore and more international travelers are finding their way to Bay County — even as state tourism officials struggle to maintain their footing in a market undermined by unfavorable exchange rates and political turmoil.

“We haven’t struggled as much as other destinations have these last couple years,” said Jayna Leach, vice president of marketing for Visit Panama City Beach. “While the rest of the state is working to retain market share, we are still fresh to many of our international guests and have enjoyed sustained growth.”

In 2017, international visitors to Panama City spent more than $5.7 million with their Visa cards. That’s up from $5.4 million the prior year, and this year’s figures are on track to exceed last year’s numbers.

The gains are noteworthy when one considers that the state, as a whole, has lost international market share in recent years.

The overall number of visitors to Florida has increased by 33.4 percent since 2011 — cresting last year at a record 29.2 million travelers and nearly $112 billion in spending, according to Visit Florida.

At the same time, however, international travel to the state decreased — falling 8 percent since 2013. These losses have been compounded by the fact that, in terms of economic impact, international travelers punch above their weight.

In 2017, 14.2 million foreign travelers visited Florida. This number represented only 12.2 percent of the state’s total tourism volume. However, those same visitors spent a

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“This gives us greater exposure,” Leach said, “and we’re able to respond more quickly to the media.”

The county’s efforts have produced results.

Zandra Wolfgram is marketing director for ResortQuest by Wyndham Vacation Rentals, which manages nearly 3,500 condos and vacation homes in Northwest Florida and coastal Alabama.

She said she’d noticed a lot more foreign journalists visiting the area in recent years — as well as guests.

“International guests are fantastic,” Wolfgram said. “They book further in advance, stay longer, are active and engaged in their destination, and, because they have an extended stay, they spend more on activities, meals and shopping.”

Still, Wolfgram said international guests made up less than 1 percent of their overall customer mix. The bulk of these travelers are Canadian “snowbirds,” longterm, winter visitors who tend — Lino Maldonado, to return year after year.

VP of Wyndham For the mix to improve, Vacation Rentals, Wolfgram said, leaders must both increase demand through 2018-2019 chair of more effective marketing Visit Florida board strategies and improve air of directors access to the region.

“When we can market direct, non-stop flights from major international destinations, travelers will come in greater numbers,” she said.

Wyndham vice president Lino Maldonado, who also chairs Visit Florida’s board of directors, agreed.

“We need to think bigger than what our historical target has been,” he said. “We used to market to mom and dad who had a couple kids and drove here. International visitors are a great target. They stay longer. They plan vacations well in advance. They spend more money. They even buy suitcases to bring back what they purchase.”

Reaching these travelers, however, requires a change of strategy.

“We need to package experiences and become better at telling stories,” Maldonado said. “This traveler is not rate-driven. They are experience-driven. How can we capture our cultural experiences, share that story and encourage them to explore our destination? Pier Park is great, but, if we only send them there, we are limiting ourselves.”

“International visitors are a great target. They stay longer.

They plan vacations well in advance.

They spend more money.

They even buy suitcases to bring back what they purchase.”

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FOR LEASE

COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES ST. MARKS INNOVATION PARK Located 16 miles south of the Capitol and offering a bevy of amenities, St. Marks Innovation Park and the adjoining St. Marks Municipal Dock offer the perfect spot for your commercial property.

The site includes two buildings — a 2,600-square-foot office building and a 630-square-foot scale house. On-site infrastructure includes water, sewer, paved access roads and parking. Total acreage is 56 acres.

St. Marks Innovation Park

The eastern 8 acres of the property borders the St. Marks River and includes a loading dock for loading/unloading merchandise from barge to trucks. The western 47 acres of the property, with 30 acres of upland and 17 acres of wetlands, provides ample room for additional development.

The St. Marks Municipal Dock is located on approximately 3 acres of uplands with 250 feet of St. Marks River frontage and intake canal frontage of 600 feet. A submerged land lease is in place with riparian rights easement.

The concrete dock/pier is 1,440 square feet and extends 60 feet into the river. It is designed for forklift access with a turnaround. It also has a 14-foot, newly paved asphalt access road and gated security fencing.

St. Marks Innovation Park was designated as a brownfield in 2009, and tax incentives might be available to commercial businesses on a case-by-case basis.

Tallahassee International Airport is 21.3 miles away, and Interstate 10 is 25.7 miles away. State Road 363 is on-site.

St. Marks Municipal Dock

Address: 627 Port Leon Drive, St. Marks, FL 32355 ST. MARKS INNOVATION PARK Availability: For Lease | Size: 56 acres | Type: Office Building ST. MARKS MUNICIPAL DOCK Availability: For Lease | Size: 3 acres | Type: Land

Office Building

DOCK AMENITIES

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Gated Security/Fencing Water, Sewer & Utilities Hooked Up Room for Additional Parking Room for Construction/ Building

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1,440-square-foot dock extends 60 feet Extended barge basin/high water draft 15 feet Extends 52 feet wide for barge loading/unloading

FIND YOUR PLACE IN WAKULLA CONTACT INFO City of St. Marks | Zoe Mansfield | (850) 925-6224 cityofst.marks@comcast.net | cityofstmarks.com | PO Box 296, St. Marks, FL 32355

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Weight capacity holds 45,000 pounds Designed for forklift access/turnaround Dock extends into federal channel boundary Dauphins installed for stabilization/ barges