2018 Santa Rosa County Business Journal by Rowland Publishing, Inc.

SPONSORED REPORT

SANTA ROSA COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL 2018

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SANTA ROSA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

AN 850 BUSINESS MAGAZINE SPECIAL REPORT

A contractor works on the turbofan engine of a TH-57 Sea Ranger helicopter at Naval Air Station Whiting Field. The station, in Milton, is considered the busiest air station in the world.

EMPLOYMENT

COST OF LIVING

EDUCATION

OUTDOOR RECREATION

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SANTA ROSA COUNTY

A CHOICE LOCATION OF CHOICE Santa Rosa County capitalizes on its assets by DAVID TORTORANO

uality of life is a pivotal consideration for people when they choose where to reside. And it accounts for Santa Rosa County’s status as one of the fastest growing counties in Florida, the fourth fastest growing state in the country. Santa Rosa County is a primarily rural area with two state parks and ample outdoor recreation opportunities. Located between Florida’s western-most county, Escambia, and military-focused Okaloosa County to the east, it is where many who

work in Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach and at Hurlburt Field and Eglin Air Force Base reside. The reasons are clear. Santa Rosa County is home to highly rated schools and two college campuses. It is rich in affordable housing, both single- and multifamily, in the country and on the water. It has a robust and varied retail sector and plenty of dining options. No sector of the county’s economy exceeds more than 20 percent of the total. Both private- and public-sector employ-

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ment are key components. The county is home to unique high-tech businesses including AppRiver, a supplier of electronic communication and cybersecurity solutions, and Avalex, which produces special aviation mission equipment. The U.S. Navy trains pilots in Santa Rosa County, and the Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, favored by the world’s top athletes, is in Gulf Breeze. And, the county is looking for more. Last year, the Santa Rosa Economic Development Office hired a consultant to help it determine the direction the county should take to create more jobs so that residents who commute to jobs in neighboring counties will have options enabling them to work closer to home. “We’re growing at a rapid pace, nearly 2 percent annually,” said Shannon Ogletree, executive director of Santa Rosa Economic Development. “People are starting to think of the county as a location of choice.” He said the push is on to supply the amenities and jobs required “so people can be employed here.”

PHOTO BY DEBBIE COLOMBO / ISTOCK/ GETTY IMAGES PLUS

Santa Rosa County promotes quality of life and natural beauty among its assets. Seen here, Blackwater River meanders past Milton on its 58-mile journey from the Alabama state line to Blackwater Bay.

ogistics population location distribution industry transportation electricity results certificatio workforce manufacturing red tape experience zoning connection location implementatio iason permitting aviation skill population aviation incentives development expediting water si selection access trained personnel gas acreage ownership logistics workforce red tape locatio ndustry transportation electricity results certification labor water distribution manufacturin zoning connection location experience logistics implementation telecom liason tax developme permitting skill incentives population transportation development expediting access site selectio access trained certification gas acreage owner water site selection access training pers`onnel resul ndustry owner logistics location distribution red tape acreage electricity aviation transportatio results implementation workforce manufacturing zoning connection certification indust ocation distribution electricity certification results workforce manufacturing experience zonin connection site selection red tape industry skill transportation electricity results developme access tax personnel water acreage owner logistics population location distribution skill indust workforce electricity transportation certification results manufacturing red tape experienc zoning connection location implementation liason aviation permitting skill population aviatio ncentives development expediting waterrunning access site selection personnel gas acreag Hit the ground with atrained skilled, ownership logistics workforce red tape location industry transportation results labor certificatio water distribution manufacturing electricity connection location zoning experience aviatio motivated, and ready workforce.

Let Us Work for You

Our labor force of over 74,000 puts ready-to-work people in your sights. More than anything, we’re committed to expanding our workforce through Santa Rosa County’s excellent education system and extensive Career Pathways programs. Low labor costs and a skilled, motivated workforce make Santa Rosa County an ideal partner for growing your business.

74,000 LABOR FORCE

34,000

AREA MILITARY RETIREES 2,400 MORE EVERY YEAR

CAREER ACADEMIES

Ready to Get Started in Northwest Florida? Contact Shannon Ogletree today. (850) 623-0174 • shannon@santarosa.fl.gov or visit SantaRosaEDO.com 2018 S A N T A R O S A C O U N T Y B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L / 23

JAY

NORTH

CENTRAL MILTON

ESCAM BIA BAY

PENSACOLA

GULF BREEZE

BLAC

KWAT ER BA Y

PACE

BAY EAST

NAVARRE

SOUTH

The Three Santa Rosas

A part of that effort is education. Santa Rosa Career Pathways provides information to help students choose studies that align with their desired careers and available and anticipated jobs. Santa Rosa County’s Career Academies provide skills needed to compete in a global economy in fields ranging from information technology and cybersecurity to aviation, health care and more.

FAST GROWTH Santa Rosa County, in terms of growth rate, is in the top 5 percent of counties in the United States. Part of the Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent Metropolitan Statistical Area, it is 1,011.61 square miles in size. Its population in 2016 was estimated at 170,497, an increase of 27,514 over the previous 10 years. That growth was more than double that of the Pensacola metro area. The county’s population grew 44.8 percent between 2000 and 2016, from 117,743 to 170,497, according to the U.S.

Family-friendly communities and good schools are helping drive Santa Rosa County’s growth rate, which is among Florida’s highest 10-year growth rates for counties.

Census Bureau. In the six-year period between 2010 and 2016, it grew by 11.47 percent. The average annual growth rate has been 1.8 percent per year over the past five years. The county experienced growth from 2011 to 2016 in most age groups with the fastest growth occurring in the 30-39 and 60-69 age groups. Santa Rosa County attracted 17,688 people, or 10.5 percent of the total population in 2016. Sixty-three percent of these residents have some college or a post-secondary degree. Santa Rosa has gained more new residents as a percentage of its total population than Baldwin County, Alabama; Beaufort County, South Carolina; the Pensacola metro area, the state of Florida, and the United States as a whole. The University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research projects Santa Rosa County will near 180,000 residents by 202t0 and 200,000 by 2025. The largest city is the county seat of

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Milton, a former lumber town incorporated in 1844 and one of the oldest in Florida with a 2016 population of 9,839. Milton, home of Naval Air Station Whiting Field, is located inland, north of East Bay on the Blackwater River. The city of Gulf Breeze, which sits on the western edge of the Fairpoint Peninsula between Pensacola and Pensacola Beach, had a 2016 population of 6,466. Linked to larger Pensacola via a three-mile bridge, it’s one of the most affluent communities in Santa Rosa County. On the north side of the county, the only incorporated town is Jay, which in 2016 had 590 people. Two of the hottest growth centers are not incorporated towns, but Census Designated Places (CDP), a term used by the U.S. Census Bureau for population concentrations. Santa Rosa County has 31 CDPs, ranging from tiny, rural Cobbtown to coastal Navarre. In 2015, Navarre had a population of 32,949, up 1.1 percent from the previous year. In 2017, Navarre’s

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SANTA ROSA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

The county has three distinct regions. South Santa Rosa spans the coastal area between Gulf Breeze and Navarre, all tied together by U.S. 98. Navarre Beach on Santa Rosa Island, a barrier island south of the mainland, is also part of South Santa Rosa. Central Santa Rosa lies north of the bays and includes the county seat of Milton and fast-growing Pace, north of Escambia Bay, linked by U.S. 90 and Interstate 10. The Old Spanish Trail that once linked St. Augustine and New Orleans crosses through this area. To the east of Milton is the Wildlife Management Area. North Santa Rosa is forest and farming country with Jay the only incorporated town. The area is traversed by State Road 4, which links Jay to the communities of Berrydale and Munson and goes through the Blackwater Wildlife Management Area.

SANTA ROSA COUNTY

county’s neighbor to the north is Escambia County, Alabama, which had a median household income of $32,330. There are 18 Santa Rosa County population centers with median incomes higher than the county as a whole. The incorporated city with the highest median household income was Gulf Breeze at $84,423, followed by Milton at $46,040 and Jay, at $37,917.

PROPERTY/COST OF LIVING

A technician works on a multi-channel HD recorder at Avalex Technologies, which designs and manufactures rugged surveillance equipment for aviation and ground vehicles in its plant in Gulf Breeze.

population was estimated at 42,000. In addition to Navarre, another hot growth center is Pace, to the west of Milton, with a population of 21,997. The county has a labor force of about 75,000 people and more than 220,000 people in the workforce live within a 45-minute drive of its industrial parks, according to Ogletree.

EMPLOYMENT/INCOME

Santa Rosa County has a median household income higher than the median household income of its neighbors, Florida and the United States. According to census data, the county in 2015 had a total of 2,585 employer establishments and 11,232 non-employer establishments. The Santa Rosa Economic Development website reflects that the largest employers in the county are state and local governments, with more than 4,000 workers, followed by the federal government and military, with more than 3,000. The next highest

is Walmart, the county’s largest private employer, with nearly 1,300 workers. The health care industry is also a big employer. Baptist Health Care Systems has over 600 workers and Santa Rosa Medical Center has nearly 500. Add health care consultant The Studer Group’s 166 workers, the Andrews Institute’s 150 and Lifeguard Ambulance Service’s 130 and it is clear health care is a major part of the county’s economy. Data USA provides a snapshot that makes comparisons relatively easy. It shows that, in 2015, Santa Rosa County had a median household income of $58,932, higher than the median household income of the United States, Florida and the Pensacola-Ferry PassBrent Metropolitan Area. In that year, it also had a higher median household income than its immediate neighbors. Escambia County to the west had a median household income of $46,001, and Okaloosa County to the east had a median household income of $55,880. The

Santa Rosa County’s median residential property value is $161,400, according to Data USA’s 2015 figures. One city, Gulf Breeze, and 13 unincorporated places had property values higher than the county’s median. A diversity of lifestyles leads to a wide difference in home values. Navarre Beach on Santa Rosa Island just south of Navarre had a 2015 median property value of $391,900. The next highest was the incorporated city of Gulf Breeze, with a median property value of $311,900. The Mulat Census Designated Place had a median property value of $311,400. Four other population centers had a median property value between $200,000 and $300,000. But, within each of those CDPs, there are high-cost and lower-cost options impacting the median property value. According to Data USA, the largest share of households pays property taxes in the $800 to $1,500 range. The homeownership rate is 72.6 percent. The county has a relatively low cost of living compared to neighboring areas and the national average. According to Sperling’s Best Places, where a cost-of-living index of 100 represents the U.S. average, Santa Rosa County’s index is 96.10, owing to relatively low housing costs. Grocery, health and transportation costs also are all below the national average, and utilities costs are right at the national average. The crime rate is low. According to the 2017 County Health Rankings, Santa Rosa County, between 2012 and 2014, saw 143.6 violent crimes per 100,000 people. Escambia County had 735.9 and Okaloosa had 435.1 during the same period. Residents do a lot of commuting. On average, employees in Santa Rosa County have a longer commute time (26.3 minutes) versus a national average of 24.8 minutes. In addition, 2.13 percent of the workforce has “super commutes” in excess of 90 minutes, according to Data USA.

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SANTA ROSA COUNTY

MILITARY MIGHT If you ask residents to name the most familiar landmark in the county, chances are good they will point to Naval Air Station Whiting Field, one of the Navy’s two primary flight training bases. Established in 1943, the 12,000-acre complex provides training for the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Air Force and for allied nations. Primary flight training student aviators flying T-6 Texan II trainers use North Whiting Field. Advanced helicopter training students in TH-57 helicopters use South Whiting Field. The county also has outlying fields used for training: NOLF Choctaw and Holley, both in Navarre, and Spencer in Pace. NAS Whiting Field is the busiest air station in the world, accounting for nearly 1.5 million annual flight operations including primary flight training of more than 1,200 students. Whiting logs more than 160,000 flight hours per year, about 14 percent of USN flight hours. Santa Rosa County and Whiting Field are in the middle of a heavily militarized area. To the west is Naval Air Station Pensacola, the so-called “Cradle of Naval Aviation,” and to the east is Hurlburt Field, home of the Air Force Special Operations Command, and Eglin Air Force Base, one of the largest bases in the nation and the

place where the Air Force develops aerial weapons. It’s also home to the F-35 integrated training center. All that military activity not only has an impact on the economy, but leads to future residents. Many of the military personnel, once they retire, wind up living in Santa Rosa County and other counties in the region. The county has 204 defense contractors, that is, businesses who have won contracts to do work for the military; those contracts call for defense products or for services as common as lawn care. The total value of the 1,685 defense contracts awarded to businesses in the county between 2000 and 2016 was $480,789,171. In 2016, alone, 124 contracts totaling $46,584,365 were awarded to contractors in Santa Rosa County.

EDUCATION SEEN AS KEY

For any company, whether it’s one already in the county or one that might be considering the county for an office or plant, the quality of the workforce and area schools is important. The four-year graduation rate for Santa Rosa County’s class of 2016 was 85.7 percent, exceeding the rate for Florida or the United States.

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At Pace High School’s Biotech Academy, students earn science credits while training in biotechnical skills used in industrial, medical, agricultural and research facilities.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SANTA ROSA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

NAS Whiting Field is one of the Navy’s two top flight-training programs. Here, a pilot is seen with a TH-57 Sea Ranger helicopter at South Whiting Field.

The county has seven high schools, seven middle schools, 17 elementary schools and nine specialty schools, including Locklin Technical Center. The University of Florida offers two bachelor degree programs at Pensacola State College’s Milton campus. The area surrounding Santa Rosa County has 13 colleges offering certificates and degrees up to the doctorate level. Figures from the Census Bureau show 90.2 percent of residents in Santa Rosa County are high school graduates; 26.9 percent have one or more college degrees and 18.6 percent are veterans. Santa Rosa County has the highest concentration of former members of the military in the nation with over 35,000 in “325” zip codes, according to Ogletree. In today’s competitive workplace, cutting-edge and relevant career and technical education is a smart investment. Santa Rosa County’s Career Academies prepare students for college and careers by providing them with the skills needed to compete in a global economy. They can obtain specialized training in areas including information technology, cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, aviation, culinary arts, health and medical and more. These rigorous curricular opportunities make students ready for highly skilled, high-wage careers, engage them with hands-on learning and reduce high school dropout rates.

First Place Partners ESCAMBIA/SANTA ROSA

WHERE YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE WHO WE ARE

WHAT WE LOOK LIKE

We have a unique mission — the only organization dedicated to supporting economic development and promoting growth for Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.

We have a board of directors elected annually by the membership. We have three levels of membership — voting members, associate members and publicly funded organizations. We will be a 100 percent privately funded, 501(C)(6) organization.

We will work closely with Florida West and the Santa Rosa Economic Development Department to provide resources — both financial and intellectual — to support existing business creation and expansion, to attract new business to the area and to be a voice for economic growth. We will work to coordinate efforts and collaborate engagement of government, education and the business community to promote economic growth.

BENEFITS OF JOINING

Our 2018 board of directors: Keith Hoskins, President Donnie McMahon, Vice President Ed Carson, Secretary David Bear, Treasurer Kara Cardona Fred Donovan, Jr. Mark Faulkner Donna Tucker Carleton Ulmer

Escambia and Santa Rosa counties are one Metropolitan Statistical Area — one economy. They have one interstate, one university, one state college, one commercial airport. They have common medical facilities, workforce development organizations and one population that crosses county lines tens of thousands of times a day. Having one economic development support organization not only makes sense, but it also means a much more efficient use of financial resources, talent, site inventory, etc. Bottom line — it means we will be more competitive in growing jobs for the regions.

HOW TO JOIN When you get right down to it, Economic Development is up to us — the people who live, work and play in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. Working with government and education, the private business sector has a vital role to play in job attraction, retention and expansion. Now is the time to join First Place Partners, the private sector economic development organization for Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. Learn more about membership by contacting John Hutchinson at johnlucashutchinson@gmail.com or call (850) 324-0099. 2018 S A N T A R O S A C O U N T Y B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L / 27

SANTA ROSA COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

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The Santa Rosa Economic Development Office visits with site selectors and targeted companies and works with existing companies to target potential suppliers. Santa Rosa EDO won several Excellence in Economic Development Awards from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). The honors were presented at an awards ceremony during the IEDC Annual Conference in Toronto, Canada. Santa Rosa EDO in 2017 won a bronze award for the santarosaaviation.com website, which promotes the county’s benefits for the aviation industry and a silver award for santarosacareerpathways.com website, which showcases local career opportunities and the educational pathways to them. It won a gold Excellence in Economic Development Award for its 2017 Aviation Industry Brochure project. The county has three certified sites. A site that is certified through a program conducted by Gulf Power is deemed shovel-ready. Certification helps eliminate risk when a company is looking for property. Archeological studies, an examination of topography and title searches help ensure that properties are appropriate for development. One certified site of about 90 acres is located within a half-mile of Interstate 10 and is visible from the interstate. Another certified site is located directly on the interstate. The county is creating new brochures showcasing its certified sites. Early last year, the Santa Rosa County EDO began a push to attract more aerospace and aviation operations by leveraging NAS Whiting Field, several aerospace companies and its location between two aerospace-focused neighboring counties. It’s also part of the much broader Gulf Coast aerospace corridor, which spans the area between Southeast Louisiana and Northwest Florida and includes a diverse range of aerospace activities, from space to aircraft construction. It created a special aerospace/aviation section on the Santa Rosa Economic Development website (santarosaaviation.com), and launched an email campaign to site selectors and aerospace/aviation companies. It also carried out a postcard campaign targeting site selectors and aerospace/aviation companies. One project the county is developing is Whiting Aviation Park adjacent to NAS Whiting Field. A key amenity is that tenants may use the runways at the Navy base. Ogletree said the county is seeking Triumph Gulf Coast funds — designed to mitigate losses from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill — for the project. Signs are good in the county. Boat builder Fabbro Marine recently expanded, doubling its plant in Milton to more than 75,000 square feet in size. In Gulf Breeze, Avalex has added employees, and so has Gulf Cable in the industrial park near Milton. Another new development is Pace Crossroads, a new retail center. Dick’s Sporting Goods is an anchor tenant. The target industries for Santta Rosa County are aerospace, logistics and distribution, medicine and medical devices. It’s also interested in more agricultural activities, including more research opportunities. Ogletree said he’s also interested in landing a “white table cloth” restaurant. David Tortorano is a writer with the Gulf Coast Reporters League. His story was commissioned by the Santa Rosa Economic Development Office.

PUBLIC LANDS INVITE RECREATION

With two state parks and other public lands to explore, Santa Rosa County is rich in outdoor recreational opportunities, including paddling, biking, camping, hunting and fishing.

COURTESY OF SANTA ROSA COUNTY TOURIST DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

by DAVID TORTORANO

Blackwater River State Forest is named for the 58-mile long river that begins in Alabama and meanders through the forest and Milton, then into Blackwater Bay. SANTA ROSA COUNTY, with seven miles of Gulf front on Santa Within the forest is the 600-acre Blackwater River State Park, Rosa Island, has two of Florida’s 164 state parks: the 590-acre about 15 miles northeast of Milton, near the small town of Harold. Blackwater River State Park, established in 1967, and the 11,000The forest, with a topography best described as rolling, is known acre Yellow River Marsh Preserve State Park, established in 2000 for its longleaf pine/wiregrass ecosystem. When combined with the — one of the state’s last remaining tracts of wet prairie. Conecuh National Forest to the north and Eglin Air Force Base to The Blackwater Wildlife Management Area, the Blackwater the south, it’s the largest contiguous ecological community of its Carr Unit and the Blackwater Hutton Unit comprise more than type in the world. 200,000 acres in Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties, adding up Longleaf pines once covered more than 60 million acres in the to one of the largest state forests in Florida. The Blackwater Carr Southeast coastal plain area, according to the park service. Today, Unit is a 600-acre section of the Blackwater State less than five percent of that ecosystem remains. Forest, four miles northwest of Holt and Highway Blackwater River, with an average flow rate of 2 90. The Blackwater Hutton Unit is 7,600 acres north to 3 mph and average depth of 2.5 feet, is one of the of Highway 90, five miles east of Milton. few shifting sand-bottom streams that remains in its The state forest’s natural stands of longleaf pine SANTA natural state for nearly the entire length of the river. ROSA are among the best remaining examples of the longIt’s a popular place for canoeing, kayaking and tubing. COUNTY leaf pine/wiregrass ecosystem that once covered Coldwater Creek, which eventually meets up much of the Southeast. The forest is a critical habitat with the Blackwater River, is spring-fed and is cold, for plants and animals, and its water resources offer clear and shallow, with a swift current. That makes opportunities for hunting, fishing, wildlife viewing, paddling upstream a rigorous workout, while the hiking, biking, camping, swimming, horseback downstream trek is fast-paced. riding and paddling. Although there are some private homes and docks, The Yellow River Wildlife Management area the area is generally rural. The river flows past pine Blackwater River WMA includes more than 28,000 acres between Milton and hardwood forest, hammock, sandhill and scrub. Blackwater River WMA - Hutton Unit and Crestview. The river from which it gets its name Wildlife includes deer, woodpeckers and other birds. Yellow River WMA Escambia River WMA is 92 miles long and runs through Alabama and Along the way there are sand bars for picnicking or Eglin AFB (Cooperative) camping. Florida, emptying at Blackwater Bay. 2018 S A N T A R O S A C O U N T Y B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L / 29

SANTA ROSA COUNTY

FABBRO MARINE EXPANDS FOOTPRINT IN MILTON

Builder of Cape Horn boats expects major growth in new manufacturing facility

“ANY COMPANY IS PEOPLE, AND WE WOULD BE NOTHING WITHOUT ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO WORK AT THIS COMPANY.” TYLER CESAR, VICE PRESIDENT, FABBRO MARINE GROUP INC.

ix months ago, in December 2017, Fabbro Marine Group Inc. marked the end of three decades in business with a huge move. Literally. The company, which designs and builds the world-renowned Cape Horn fishing boat, vacated its location on Industrial Boulevard and settled into a sprawling new home on Jeff Ates Road at Santa Rosa County Industrial Park East. With Fabbro Marine’s success, it could land most anywhere in the world, but the family-owned boat builder chose to remain in Milton. “Santa Rosa County is receptive to manufacturing,” Vice President Tyler Cesar says. “It’s very close to the inter-

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state, and everything we make, we have to ship. … And this place is awesome. This is why we are here.” But the driving force behind Fabbro Marine’s decision to stay local was its employees. “Any company is people, and we would be nothing without all of the people who work at this company,” Cesar says. “And if we were to move, you take a huge risk of losing a lot of people. Like having a limb amputated — you would never intentionally do that. When we thought about it, there was no thought. We had to stay here.” Fabbro Marine was the first company to build on one of Gulf Power’s Florida First Sites, an initiative that offers

PHOTOS BY TODD DOUGLAS

by KARI C. BARLOW

When Fabbro Marine, designer and builder of Cape Horn fishing boats (above), outgrew its former facility, it chose to stay within Santa Rosa County. The new facility (at left) is in Santa Rosa County Industrial Park East.

project-ready industrial sites through third-party screening and certification. Shannon Ogletree, director of the Santa Rosa County Economic Development Office, praised the company’s decision to stay local. “It shows the county commissioners are committed to our existing companies,” he said. “They are just as appreciative of them as these new companies we are pursuing. … And we have a highly trained workforce with a military spin on it. Companies are able to take advantage of their training and their work ethic.” For Fabbro Marine, upgrading to a larger facility was a necessity because it had simply outgrown its previous “hodgepodge” of buildings in the original Santa Rosa Industrial Park, Cesar says.

“We were sitting on top of each other,” he recalls. “It was just insane. Remember those, I think it’s called a Chinese puzzle? Where you move all the squares around? We had to do that to get to something. It was always this strategy of, OK, if we move this back, then that can go over because we’re trying to get to this mold over here to build a boat. It was an extreme waste of energy!” In the new 78,000-square-foot facility, there’s more than enough room for its roughly 42 employees, equipment and the quality and innovation that have become the hallmarks of Fabbro Marine’s product. With its opening — and an investment of more than $5 million in the 20-acre property — the company is poised for major expansion. “We could triple in size, and that’s our plan,” Cesar says. “Every year, keep growing and keep growing. That’s what we’ve done for 30 years.”

‘HARD-CORE FISHING BOATS’

Chris Fabbro formed Fabbro Marine in 1987 in Pensacola, but his deep connection to boat building stretches back to his childhood in Akron, Ohio. “I have had a lifelong passion for boats,” he says, having grown up exploring the Portage Lakes, a network of eight glacial kettle lakes and reservoirs just south of Akron. “I lived on the water my whole childhood, and I built wooden race boats starting at age 11. My father’s family boated,

and my father, Robert, built his own race boat as a kid.” Escaping the harsh Midwest winters, the Fabbro family moved south and fell in love with the Emerald Coast. With Chris Fabbro as the main designer, they began perfecting their idea of a reliable fishing boat that could accommodate family outings and also withstand the rigors of a tournament. “It’s all about creating,” Fabbro says. “Making a boat is like being an artist. You’re creating a brand-new product, something that is completely unique.” He named the brand Cape Horn. “The name Cape Horn was probably the hardest challenge,” he says. “A name will make or break you. Since we wanted to build an indestructible boat capable of any sea condition, Cape Horn just came to mind. It’s the tip of South America. It’s the roughest, most unpredictable water in the world.” Fabbro spent years refining the lines and curves of the boats because he wanted a Cape Horn to be recognizable from a mile away when out on the water. “They’re handmade, completely handmade,” says Cesar, a Wisconsin transplant and lifelong fisherman who joined the company in 1989. “Very few things are still like that anymore today. And completely unsinkable. … In reality, there’s only a handful of boats made today that are unsinkable.”

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SANTA ROSA COUNTY

“IT’S ALL ABOUT CREATING … MAKING A BOAT IS LIKE BEING AN ARTIST. YOU’RE CREATING A BRANDNEW PRODUCT, SOMETHING THAT IS COMPLETELY UNIQUE.” CHRIS FABBRO, FOUNDER, FABBRO MARINE GROUP INC.

In a Cape Horn boat, the entire vessel is pressure-filled with foam, and every square inch underneath the floor is solid foam. “We would never go off shore in a boat that could sink,” Cesar adds. “Our boats are hard-core fishing boats, and that’s what they are designed for.”

LOOKING FOR FREEDOM

Today, the company also includes Greg Fabbro, vice president of production and Chris’ brother, and Scott Davis, chief financial officer. They are gearing up the company for increased demand, and that means growing its workforce. While the team loves to hire workers with experience, the majority of its employees are trained on the job. “Boat building is pretty much done the

way it was 50 years ago,” Chris Fabbro says. “Processes have been automated, but boat building is a hands-on type of manufacturing.” That attention to detail is why Fabbro Marine has customers across the globe, sending its boats far and wide. “They go everywhere — Australia, Turkey, the Middle East, New Caledonia, South America, Hawaii, Japan,” Cesar says. “The core customers are fishermen … but we are finding all these new people who are coming in.” An increasing number of casual boaters, newer to the activity and with discretionary income to spend, are buying Cape Horns. Cesar’s theory is that more people are looking for ways to experience freedom.

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“When you go offshore, it’s the last great frontier,” he says. “There are no speed limits. There are no fences. It’s a great feeling!” Although new Cape Horn models appear each year, Fabbro Marine does not spend time chasing trends. Instead, Chris Fabbro says, the company focuses its attention on what it believes are the key characteristics of a good fishing boat — rough-water capability, huge live wells, huge fish boxes and lots of fishing room. “Our success is sticking to a base philosophy from day one, preserving a unique look and not trying to compete head-tohead with the high-volume manufacturers,” he says. “These things are just core to what we are.”

PHOTOS BY TODD DOUGLAS

Fabbro Marine co-owners (top of page, from left) are CFO Scott Davis; Tyler Cesar, VP for sales and marketing; President Chris Fabbro and VP for production Greg Fabbro. The company employs more than 40 people, including (above, from left) lamination crew manager Jeff Russell, assembly crew supervisor Joe Griffis and laminate technician Chris Hyman.

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