QuarterlyE c o n o m i c D e v e l o p m e n t

An official publication of the Volusia County Economic Development Division

Speedway ready for the green flag following $400 million DAYTONA Rising renovation

First Quarter 2016

Economic Development Quarterly goes digital!Welcome to the first all-digital edition of Volusia County Economic Development Quarterly, a publication of the Volusia County Division of Economic Development. After 14 years as a printed publication, EDQ is now offered exclusively as a digital publication, so you can read it on your electronic devices at your convenience. As always,we welcome your comments, suggestions and story ideas. Email Joanne Magley, jmagley@volusia.org.

the new motorsports stadium makesa stunning visual statement even fromthe outside along International Speedway Boulevard. nearly a mile ofsuperstructure features sleek panelingand colorful sponsor graphics sur-rounding five fan “injectors” and the“neighborhoods” fans discover onceinside the complex. there are morethan 1,200 video screens in the com-plex, so fans need not miss a momentof the on-track excitement when theywander from their seats. Inside thestadium, fans will find a seeminglyendless expanse of colorful seating,101,500 permanent, wider, more com-fortable seats. More than 60 luxurysuites with trackside views and a completely revamped experienceawait corporate guests and sponsors.the massive project generated ap-proximately 6,300 jobs, $300 millionin labor income and $85 million in taxrevenue.

“the thing about this project is: We’reon schedule. We’re on budget,” saidJoie Chitwood III, Daytona Interna-tional Speedway president. “I’m notsure whether other projects of thissize and magnitude could say that.”throughout the DAytonA Risingproject, the team at Daytona International Speedway has put a premium on communicating its plansand progress with the community,drivers, teams and owners, the newsmedia and of course, the fans. Colorful events marked each stage ofconstruction beginning with a uniquebulldozer race among drivers to breakground. Later, when 40 escalatorswere being installed, the green flagdropped on an escalator race, whichmay be the only one of its kind in the history of escalators. A lightingceremony was held as the gigantic

Daytona International Speedway signwas illuminated for the first time. thesign features letters that are morethan 13 feet tall and span 355 feet inlength. throughout the construction,which was halted periodically forscheduled racing events, residentsand visitors who bought a ticket forthe Speedway’s daily tours got asneak peek of the project at variousstages of construction. While the complex is the first state-of-the-art motorsports stadium, it’s aperfect venue for non-racing events.Already, it is scheduled to host Coun-try 500 this Memorial Day weekend, athree-day festival featuring some ofthe biggest names in country music.And, the Ferrari World Final will be inearly December. other events arebeing considered, but for today, thefocus is welcoming the world toSpeedweeks and the Daytona 500.

Speedway ready for the green flag following $400 million DAYTONA Rising renovation

What a difference a few years, $400 million, and millions of hours of labor can make. With Speedweeksabout to begin, excitement is building over the grand debut of the new Daytona InternationalSpeedway. Completion of the DAytonA Rising project — the re-imagining of an American icon thatis Daytona International Speedway — has resulted in the world’s first motorsports stadium. the project broke ground on July 5, 2013 and was completed in time for the Rolex 24 At Daytonalast month. Since then, punch list items have been addressed and the motorsports stadium is readyto welcome loyal nASCAR fans for the 2016 edition of the Daytona 500 on February 21. the spectacular new complex is a 21st century salute to the dream and determination of William “BigBill” France, whose vision for the original Speedway came to fruition when he built the original Daytona International Speedway in 1959. Since then, nASCAR has become a wildly popular and exciting spectator sport with fans around the world.

Landing JetBlue did not happenovernight and it did not happen without a countywide community effort. In fact community support wasa major factor affecting JetBlue’s decision to serve DAB. It all began in2000 when airport and community officials made their first pitch to JetBlue at the airline’s headquarters in Connecticut. Since then, there havebeen dozens of meetings and hun-dreds of phone calls to support thecase for serving DAB. In 2012, thepresident of JetBlue visited DAB,after which efforts to win JetBlue’sconfidence intensified, and in 2015the decision was made to begin non-stop service between JFK in newyork City and DAB.At welcoming ceremonies at DaytonaBeach International Airport, VolusiaCounty Manager Jim Dinneensummed up the sustained and county-wide effort to land JetBlue, adding tothe to the outstanding service alreadyprovided American Airlines and DeltaAir Lines. “this truly has been a community effort, and your presence here showsthe community’s enthusiasm for thisnew nonstop service to new york. Italso shows what we can accomplishwhen we work together,” said Dinneen, who recognized Lesa France

Kennedy, CEo of International Speedway Corporation, for her leadership in the effort recruit JetBlueto DAB. He thanked the VolusiaCounty Council members for theirsteadfast support of efforts to lureJetBlue, including approval of incentives. Dinneen also presidedover the dedication of the Dennis R.McGee Community Room at the airport, as a tribute to the former airport director and a key figure in theJetBlue recruiting initiative from thevery beginning. McGee died in 2015. Rick Karl, Director of aviation andeconomic resources for VolusiaCounty Government noted the impressive incentive package that wascreated in support of the recruitingeffort, which is common in today’scompetitive environment among airport cities. He noted that the package was varied, focused and creative. Landing fees were waived.Ground handling fees were waived.terminal rent was waived for the firstyear. Daytona Beach International Airport partnered with the DaytonaBeach Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, the West Volusia tourism Advertising Authority and the South-east Volusia Advertising Authority tofund a marketing campaign in thenew york City market, encouraging

people to fly JetBlue to DAB. Also,Daytona Beach International Airportfunded a targeted Central Floridamarketing campaign encouraginglocal people to support the new, non-stop DAB to JFK service on JetBlue.the Daytona Regional Chamber coordinated an innovative “travelbank” that affirmed the purchase tickets. “More than 25 businessespledged a quarter of a million dollarsin ticket purchases over the first twoyears of JetBlue’s service to DAB,” according to nancy Keefer, President/CEo of the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce. JetBlue is using the Airbus A320 aircraft for its DAB/JFK route. It seats150 and features free wifi service, acontinuous stream of video entertain-ment, expanded legroom and more.the aircraft got good reviews frompassengers on the inaugural flight toDAB.While efforts are focused on makingthe route a success for JetBlue, therehave been observations among thoseinvolved in the JetBlue initiative thatthe airline could consider increasedservice to and from JFK and the addition of a Boston flight from DABin the future if demand is strongenough.

JetBlue commences nonstop flights, Daytona Beach to JFK in NYC

there was magic in the air as Volusia County welcomedthe inaugural JetBlue flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in new york City to DaytonaBeach International Airport last month. After years of working to get JetBlue to add Daytona Beach International Airport (DAB) to its route map, the bigday arrived. the inaugural flight arrived ahead ofschedule, bathed in a water-cannon salute on the taxiway, and to a warm welcome by 500 people in theterminal building who helped celebrate the commence-ment of JetBlue service to and from DAB.Scott Laurence, Senior Vice President for Airline Planning for JetBlue, reacted in his comments to thecrowd. “We have opened in 93 other cities. none ofthem have been like this. We are overwhelmed. And ifthis continues, we are going to need more ribbon and more scissors and more events like this. this is absolutely outstanding.”

Scott Laurence, Senior Vice President for Airline Planning forJetBlue, addresses hundreds who assembled at DaytonaBeach International Airport to welcome the inaugural flightfrom JFK. Among those in the background are (from left) LesaFrance Kennedy, CEO of International Speedway Corporationand Dr. John Watret, interim president of Embry-Riddle Aero-nautical University.

the outpouring of community support forJetBlue service carried the day. JetBlue’sScott Laurence, Senior Vice President forAirline Planning, said of the 93 cities hisairline has opened, none topped the rousing welcome the air carrier receivedin Daytona Beach. “We’re overwhelmed,”he said, during a festive ribbon cuttingevent. Landing JetBlue service at our airport isamong the many significant economic development positives that are takingplace in Volusia County. there are count-less reasons to be positive as we focus onthe challenges and opportunities that lieahead. But while the JetBlue service iscause for celebration, it’s important tokeep in mind that economic developmenttakes hard work, a willingness to supportthe necessary financial incentives, and acohesive effort that includes governmentsand the private sector working in harmony toward the same end game.It should be noted that landing JetBlueliterally took years of sales calls andplenty of patience. In the end, the incentives supported by the VolusiaCounty Council (airport), a pledge of realmoney in the form of a travel bank bylocal businesses, and marketing dollars byour tourism authorities to make this dealwork. the one JetBlue flight a day willgenerate at least $1 million a year for theairport. If we want JetBlue to be success-ful and expand, we must pack the planeswith passengers.the JetBlue success story is noteworthybecause it illustrates what we can do as a community if we all work together. Economic development is a “team sport”and I believe our team has the right playersand the right game plan for continuedprosperity going forward. team Volusia,the CEo Business Alliance, the county andthe cities, our colleges and universities,our incubator and workforce organizationare in the game.As we look ahead, the amazing DAytonARising project is complete. We now have

the first motorsports stadium in theworld. this opens the door to a variety ofracing and other events. Across thestreet, the Speedway/nASCAR family isabout to launch the first phase of theonE DAytonA mixed use development.Lesa France Kennedy especially deservescredit for the role she played in convincingJetBlue to come and her willingness to invest in the community.tanger outlet Mall is coming out theground along Interstate 95 in north Daytona Beach. the Desert Inn on thebeachside is being transformed into afour star Westin property. I mention theseprojects because they all have somethingin common. It took the willingness of theVolusia County Council, and others, totake the actions necessary to set thetable for these projects.As elected officials, it takes politicalcourage to “put your money where yourmouth is”. the Desert Inn project comeswith a pledge by the county council to remove vehicles from the beach in frontof the project in exchange for an equalnumber of public parking spaces. thecounty council went one step further andvowed to create a two-mile, vehicle-freestretch of beach in the core area of Daytona Beach if any developer steps forward with the completion of a similarfour star hotel. this bold move by thecounty council is an economic develop-ment incentive to spur the rejuvenation of the beachside. It’s not, as some havesuggested, a veiled move toward a car-free beach.And speaking of the core beachside, thecounty council has given a conceptualthumbs up to a long-range endeavor toexpand the beachside boardwalk for twomiles. the county is working with the Cityof Daytona Beach and the private sectoron the myriad difficult steps we must taketo make this happen. If we can pull thisoff, and I believe we can, this will be atourism game changer of epic proportions.

And speaking of tourism, the communityhosted a record 9.2 million visitors in2015. Hotel occupancy was up, as was thenumber of events at our ocean Center.tourist tax collections were at an all-timehigh. In another example of setting thetable for our economic future, the countyand Daytona International Speedway arenow partners in the Daytona Beach ½Marathon. Being a longtime runner whohas participated in the biggest races inthe country, I am confident our uniquerace will grow into one of the area’s mostsignificant winter events. Recreation, eco-based tourism is a strongpoint for our county. the county councilnow has created more than 125 artificialfishing/diving reefs, and continues workon our amazing trails system. We havefine-tuned our beach management andare hoping to expand our enormouslypopular Marine Science Center. In closing, there are challenges we musttackle. We must find a cohesive solutionto the difficult problem of homelessness.the county is solidly behind the verypromising goal to turn the vacant HearstElementary school into a place wherehomeless families can turn their livesaround. And, we are developing a com-prehensive program to address the needsof homeless veterans. the homeless onthe street is going to require a compre-hensive, short- and long-term strategywith the same cohesive team approachthat led to the JetBlue success.In addition, this county faces the very realproblem of a lack of road constructionfunding. you can’t see or feel the problemnow, but I promise you it’s coming and it will have a serious negative on our future economic development initiativesif we don’t find a permanent, consistentsource of funding.I’m confident if we work together we canaddress these challenges.

Teamwork, milestones and the road aheadBy JIM DINNEENVolusia County Manager

JetBlue was bowled over! More than 500 people on January7 crowded the second floor of our airport terminal to greetthe inaugural JetBlue flight as it arrived from new york City.Daily, nonstop service between Daytona Beach and KennedyInternational Airport is a reality.

Jim Dinneen

“this has been designed as a firstclass family event from top to bottom,” said Jim Dinneen, VolusiaCounty Manager, an experiencedmarathoner and participant in numerous half marathons and otherevents. “With the first leg of thecourse being a lap of the track at Daytona International Speedway, andthen a stretch directly on the beach atthe midway point, this event is drawingparticipants from throughout Florida

and well beyond. It has the potentialto double and re-double in size withinjust a few years.”Dinneen said the response from thecommunity has been very positive.“We have had tremendous supportfrom the community, which is encour-aging. this includes the generous support of many corporate sponsorsincluding our presenting sponsors —Florida Hospital and Brown & Brown

— as well as our tourism advertisingauthorities in Daytona Beach, westVolusia County and southeast VolusiaCounty.” the event includes a dazzling medalfor finishers, upscale runner shirts formen and women, exhibits on race day and a breakfast for participantsfollowing the race.For information and registration, goonline to: DaytonaBeachHalf,com.

Daytona Beach Half Marathon set for February 7

February marks the debut of the newly redesignedDaytona Beach Half Marathon, a 13.1-mile race thatalso includes a two-person relay and 5k that has beencreated by event partners Volusia County Governmentand Daytona International Speedway. Registrations areapproaching 2,000 runners, making this an emergingevent among the half marathons in the Southeast, withthe potential to become one of America’s premier halfmarathons.

the company’s origin dates back to1995, when its then-parent company,Masco, purchased Gale Insulation, alocally-based company. “In the next 10 years, great thingshappened,” said Robert Buck, topBuild’s President and Chief operating officer. “the economy wascooperating, so we experienced goodorganic growth, along with a majorroll-up and acquisition strategy. Wegrew to a nearly $3 billion companyover a 10-year period. our parentcompany (Michigan-based MascoCorp.) decided to spin us off, to become our own public, independentcompany in July and we were very excited about that.”

TopBuild CEO Jerry Volas hasbeen ranked No. 81 of a list of top CEOs for small-cap companies globally by ExecRank.based on 24 different perform-ance measures.

As a company with a broad footprintacross the United States, the decision

of where to locate its headquarterscould have been in a number of cities.nationally, topBuild has 8,000 associ-ates in 43 states. It has 260 locationsin the United States and is active in 99of the nation’s largest metropolitanareas. topBuild has two divisions —truteam, which manages installation,and Service Partners, which managesdistribution. the selection of Daytona Beach wasnot difficult, according to Jerry Volas,topBuild’s Chief Executive officer, although the company looked atseveral locations including some inFlorida.“When it came time for us to decidewhere we were going to put our newcorporate center, we had a lot of history here; we had a lot of successhere,” said Volas. “It’s a great commu-nity. We have more than 200 employ-ees who work right here in this officeand they like it here. So when you rollall that together, it was a pretty easydecision that we should make perma-nent roots here.”Consolidated-tomoka Land Co. soldthe property for the new headquartersto the Fisher family, which also owns

the company’s current building. DickMcnerney, a commercial Realtor®, negotiated the deal on the family’sbehalf.to ensure the selection of VolusiaCounty as site of the company’s newheadquarters, community leadersworked together to provide an incentive package of up to $385,000to underscore the appeal of the areafor the project. the incentives includecounty and state funds based on thecompany meeting its goal of addingat least 55 jobs here over five years.the team engaged in convincing topBuild to locate its headquartershere included the Daytona RegionalChamber of Commerce, the State ofFlorida, Volusia County Government,the City of Daytona Beach, and theCEo Business Alliance."topBuild is a publicly traded companywhose nySE stock symbol is BLD. Itjoins three other publicly traded companies in Volusia County —Brown & Brown, Consolidated-tomoka Land. Co., and InternationalSpeedway Corporation.

TopBuild picks Daytona Beach for company headquarters

the nation’s biggest installer and distributor of insulationand other building materials has broken ground on a65,700-square-foot headquarters off Williamson Boulevardin Daytona Beach. Community leaders joined company officials for groundbreaking ceremonies in December. Completion is expected later this year. the company currently operates from a 46,000-square-foot building itleases immediately north of Volusia Mall.

Jerry Volas Robert Buck

“this lab is designed to encompass research enterprises in aviation, space,engineering, unmanned systems, andenvironmental ventures,” said RodneyCruise, ERAU Vice President for Administration & Planning. “the 50,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art AdvancedAerodynamics Laboratory will includemany critical components that will sup-port a broad spectrum of research anddevelopment applications throughoutthe research park.” Among them are: • Composites center• Multiscale materials laboratory• Large article testing laboratory• Structural health monitoring facility• Smart materials laboratory• Space technologies laboratory• thermal and energy laboratory• Advanced dynamics and

control center• Robotics and autonomous

systems facility• Radar and communications laboratory• Circuits, sensors and

instrumentation laboratory• Computational sciences laboratoryIn addition, the Advanced AerodynamicsLaboratory will feature 10,000 squarefeet of flex lease space to meet tenants’needs and a 5,000-square-foot special-ized technology incubator to bring industry ideas from ideation to the market place. Later in the spring ERAUwill recruit Resident Partners, such asaccounting firms and intellectual prop-erty firms that will have a role in sup-porting the start-ups. With space in the

building, will come a commitment toprovide free services for a specific number of hours a week. ERAU also willrecruit a panel of local entrepreneurs tobecome mentors for start-ups that arein the incubation process. overall, the 90-acre Research Park includes offices, labs and hangar spacewith direct taxiway access to DaytonaBeach International Airport.Embry-Riddle’s Research Park is conve-niently situated near orlando, tampaand Jacksonville, and is well positionedto leverage the resources of Florida’sgrowing high-tech corridor.  “Developing new strategic partnershipsand evolving existing relationships withleading companies is a top priority forEmbry-Riddle, marked by our expandingresearch mission and global activities,”said Dr. John R. Watret, Embry-Riddle’sinterim president. “the park providesthe opportunity for an interdisciplinaryand collaborative approach between in-dustry and academia to generate ap-plied solutions to real-world problems,new products and ultimately high-paying jobs.” In addition to the new building, research park tenants, composed of established industry leaders and burgeoning enterprises, will have accessto use the facilities provided withinEmbry-Riddle’s continually expandingareas of research, that include:

• Unmanned design, engineering and flight

• Center for Cybersecurity and SystemAssurance, which encompasses the nextGen Engineering Applied Research Lab

• Eagle Flight Research Center, wherefaculty, staff and students work withindustry on experimental flight test-ing, design and testing of unmannedaerial systems (UAS), developmentand verification of high-fidelity flightdata models used in engineering andtraining simulators, and prototype engineering solutions to advance environmentally compatible alterna-tives for aviation.

• Designated a Center of Excellence inUnmanned Aircraft Systems, Embry-Riddle will be the technical lead inUAS airport ground operations andUAS pilot and crew training and willco-lead in-command and communica-tions research. this distinction wasbestowed jointly by the Federal Avia-tion Administration (FAA) and Alliancefor System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence (ASSURE).

• Under the guidance of the recentlynamed Research Park Advisory Boardthat is composed of local, state andnational leaders from industry, gov-ernment and higher education, theuniversity will identify partnership opportunities with aviation and aerospace industry leaders.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical begins site work on Cornerstone Building for New Aerospace Research Park

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has begun sitework for its Advanced Aerodynamic Lab, the firststep in the creation of its Research Park. the universityviews the project as a milestone in its mission to deliver applied solutions to aviation and aerospacecompanies.

About Embry-Riddle Aeronautical UniversityEmbry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, is anonprofit, independent institution that offers more than 75 baccalaureate, master’s and Ph.D. degree programs in its collegesof Arts & Sciences, Aviation, Business, Engineering and Security & Intelligence. Embry-Riddle has residential campuses in Daytona Beach and Prescott, Airozona, and a Worldwide Campus with more than 125 locations in the United States, Europe,Asia and the Middle East through on-line programs. the university is a major research center, seeking solutions to real-worldproblems in partnership with the aerospace industry, other universities and government agencies. For information go onlineto: embryriddle.edu, follow ERAU on: twitter (@EmbryRiddle) and facebook.com/EmbryRiddleUniversity, and find videos at:youtube.com/EmbryRiddleUniv.

Team Volusia names vice president

Chris Wimsatt has joined team Volusia Economic Development Corporation as Vice President of Business Recruitment. He comes tothe area from ohio, where he was economic development director forthe City of Fairborn. During his tenure there, he formed the nonprofitFairborn Development Corporation. Prior experience includes havingserved as Workforce & Economic Development Director for the DaytonArea Chamber of Commerce. Wimsatt holds a bachelor of arts degreein management from ohio State University and a master of science degree in community and economic development from Penn State University.

Chris Wimsatt

the Hampton Inn & Suites DeLandjust celebrated its first year in business,and plans for a new, downtown Court-yard by Marriott are progressing.“We have seen a steady increase intourism throughout west VolusiaCounty,” said Renee tallevast,executive director of the West Volusia tourism Advertising Authority.Her organization promotes tourism in the region and currently has an inventory of 912 guest rooms. “ouraccommodations are perfect for individual business or leisure travel-ers, but also we routinely welcomegroups, sports teams and meetings to the area. our properties offergreat accommodations and smalltown hospitality. our new propertiesfit right in with that profile.”nick Conte, Executive Director of theDeLand Area Chamber of Commerceagrees. “With such a great downtownarea, having such great accommoda-tions right in the heart of the City onlyincreases convenience and adds tothe City’s appeal.”

the Hampton Inn & Suites has provento be a popular property among business and leisure travelers, accord-ing to Samir naran, executive vicepresident of Premier Resorts & Management Company, which has 14hotels in the Carolinas and Florida.“Hampton Inn & Suites came to theDeLand market with a great pack-age,” he said. “It includes a conven-ient location near the intersection of U.S 17 and 92; well-designed guestrooms with work areas for businesstravelers, free internet access, highdefinition television; a fitness center;free hot breakfast or Hampton-on-the-Run breakfast bags.”the Courtyard by Marriott is beingdeveloped by Avista Hotels & Resortswhich has six hotels in Central Florida.the new hotel will be in downtownDeLand at the corner of WoodlandBoulevard and Wisconsin Avenue.Demolition of existing buildings onthe property will occur soon, accord-ing to Ajit nana, senior vice presidentof Avista Hotels & Resorts. “once

salvage operations at the existingbuilding (Gould Building) are complete and the buildings are demolished, we will schedule ground-breaking, which could happen inMarch.” the 104-room hotel is expected to open in 2017.the new hotel is viewed as a great addition to the allure of the award-winning downtown area, according toWayne Carter, executive director of Mainstreet DeLand, which is dedicated to supporting and enhancing downtown the economicdevelopment while protecting andpromoting DeLand’s historic heritage.“there is so much to see and dodowntown, there are so many professional offices, and of course,being so close to Stetson Universitymakes the location of this Courtyardby Marriott particularly convenient,”he said. “It’s a nice complement tothe evolution of our wonderful downtown area.”

New DeLand hotels add to community’s warm welcome

Business is growing. Downtown is drawing crowds. StetsonUniversity is thriving. tourism is increasing. As such, there isan increased demand for more hotel rooms. In DeLand, thatdemand is being met.

In west Volusia County, the sight of rowingteams and individual oarsmen is becomingmore common as residents take up thesport and as competitors travel to thearea to compete in regattas.“Rowing is a sport steeped in tradition

and often associated with Ivy Leagueschools and their counterparts in Europeand elsewhere,” said April Stomberg, vicepresident of Hontoon Landing Resort &Marina in DeLand. “the sport dates backto ancient Egypt and is based on pro-pelling a racing ‘shell’ using oars. It hasbeen an olympic sport since 1900. today,the sport is welcoming more and moreteams and individuals – probably due tothe fact it is a healthy, non-contact sportthat is enjoyed outdoors in beautiful sur-roundings.”Situated on the banks of the historic St.Johns River, Hontoon Landing is posi-tioned perfectly for the sport. In additionto boat slips and boat rentals, daily nar-rated river tours, and birdwatching galore,the resort has 18 guest rooms, severalwith full kitchens. Competitive teams stayat the resort to maximize time on thewater. Similarly, individuals who enjoy row-ing and kayaking appreciate the resort’sconvenience.“Every year we host a variety of rowingcamps whose participants come from allover the country,” said Stomberg. “ourresort offers a floating dock to launch, giv-ing rowers and kayakers easy access tothe river and lakes. there are also privatecoaching programs for beginners, includ-ing safe practices, rowing instruction andvideo review of techniques.”All American Rowing Camp is an organiza-tion that offers rowing camps includingmany at Hontoon Landing. Many of itscamps fill up well in advance. Mark Wil-son, one of the founding partners of AllAmerican Rowing Camp, is also the headrowing coach at Stetson University. He isbullish on the sport and its impact on westVolusia County.

“We began offering rowing camps 17years ago, first in tampa, then Melbourne,and now here in West Volusia County,where we have been for the last 13 years”he said. “It is an exceptional location.“the water is great. the people are great.And we love taking our guests to local es-tablishments where they can experiencethe community on a personal level.”Wilson said legends of the sport recognizethe area as an exceptional area for train-ing and competition. For example, thehead coach of the Canadian national Row-ing team, who has rowed all over theworld, considers west Volusia County thebest training place in north America. Wilson cited the stunning growth of thesport locally, noting that a growing num-ber of college and university teams makethe pilgrimage to the area for training.Among them are the universities of Vir-ginia, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Iowa,oklahoma, Susquehanna, tufts, templeand others. In addition, high school teamsare coming here, including the noted Sid-well Friends School in Washington D.C. aswell as junior teams from Boston andtoronto.From his perspective as the coach of Stet-son’s rowing team, Wilson sees nothingbut growth on campus. “the universityrecently received a $6 million donation tobuild an aquatic center and boat house,which is in the design stage and maybreak ground later this year. that will ad-vance our program in so many ways andwill have a ripple effect on the economyby attracting more students and moreteams.”In november, Stetson hosted the FallRowing Rendezvous Head Race, a chasestyle event that attracted 1,200 competi-tors from across the state. He added thatsimilar events hosted by All AmericanRowing Camp also draw people fromaround the U.S. and the world. For exam-ple, the Canadian national Rowing teammakes four two-week training trips to thearea each year. Dartmouth College re-

cently brought 90 students and sixcoaches to the area for 10 days. “It is be-coming apparent that the impact ontourism and the economy is on the rise,”he said. “It’s a wonderful sport that is attractingmany visitors who otherwise might nothave discovered west Volusia County,”said Renee tallevast, executive director ofthe West Volusia tourism Advertising Au-thority. “People love to participate in thesport as competitors, for exercise, or justfor sightseeing. And even those who donot participate are captivated at the sightof teams or individuals rowing. oftenthere is a bit of a gallery watching thoseon the water.”“this is a sport that features intense com-petition, reverence for its own history andis so exciting to watch,” said nick Conte,Executive Director of the DeLand AreaChamber of Commerce. “It’s great thatthe sport is growing right before oureyes,”

the growth of the sport in the area isspurred by the efforts of tallevast’stourism marketing organization and thoseof her counterparts in Volusia County. InDaytona Beach, the Halifax Rowing Asso-ciation has been rowing on the HalifaxRiver since 1996. Last summer, it hostedthe 19th Annual Halifax Summer Regatta,marking the end of the sprint season.nearly 500 rowers from throughout theSoutheast competed. Even national and international organiza-tions’ efforts to promote the sport add toits growth locally. Among them is the gov-erning body for the sport of rowing in theUnited States, US Rowing. In 2017, theFISA World Rowing Championships will beheld in Sarasota and it is expected thatseveral teams will do their pre-Champi-onship training in DeLand on the St. JohnsRiver and Lake Beresford. DeLand continues to excite and providegreat experiences to all of its visitors.

Row, row, row your boatWest Volusia sees growing interest in rowing

there’s something about the sight of a crew on theSt. Johns River, rowing in perfect rhythm, skimmingacross the water. Rowing, often referred to as“crew” in the United States, is gaining in popularityas a competitive sport and as a form of outdoorrecreation and exercise.

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• JetBlue Airways began daily flightsto new york City from DaytonaBeach International Airport. DaytonaBeach will be the seventh, butsmallest, market in Florida that JetBlue serves, but the daily serviceis estimated to bring an added95,000 to 100,000 passengers inthe first year and generate $1 million in revenue for the airport.

• World Class Distribution constructedan $88-million distribution facility inDaytona Beach, and Boston Whalercompleted a $10-million, 58,000-square-foot building at its manufac-turing facility in Edgewater.

• Frontier Communications opened a32,000-square-foot technical sup-port and security software center,which could increase the firm’s totalemployment in DeLand to 1,500.

• topBuild Corporation, VolusiaCounty’s newest publicly-tradedcompany, has begun constructionof a 65,700-square-foot corporateheadquarters and B. Braun MedicalInc. is considering a 54,000-square-foot expansion of its existing FDA-rated facility, both in DaytonaBeach. Combined, these companiescould generate more than $150 million in new capital investmentand create more than 625 new jobs.

• tanger outlet Mall completed thepurchase of 39 acres adjacent to Interstate 95 and LPGA Boulevard

in Daytona Beach for the construc-tion of a $100-million retail outletcenter, and tailwind Developmentopened the Country Club Cornersshopping center in DeLand as partof a larger 105-acre mixed use development.

• Embry-Riddle announced a $28-million Advanced AerodynamicsLaboratory and Wind tunnel at itsResearch Park West and the university began construction of a$75-million, 177,000-square-footstudent center.

• Halifax Health is considering a$100-million emergency and medical office complex in Deltonaat the intersection of Interstate 4and S.R. 472, and Central FloridaRegional Hospital has announcedplans to construct a freestandingemergency department near thesame location.

• Florida Hospital opened an $11-million outpatient clinic in Deltona,while Florida Hospital Fish Memo-rial in orange City completed a$1.75-million renovation and a $3-million upgrade of its ER andcatheterization labs.

• the Hilton Daytona Beach ocean-front Resort was acquired by theStarwood Capital Group for morethan $92 million with reported plansto invest more than $25 million inrenovations.

• the Summit Hospitality Group isspending more than $20 million toredevelop the former Desert Inn inDaytona Beach into a four-starWestin property, and a five-storyCourtyard by Marriott hotel isplanned in downtown DeLand afterdemolition of two buildings on asite south of Stetson University.

• the City of Deltona completed construction of a $27-million waterreclamation facility on the easternside of the city off S.R. 415.

• Florida Department of transportationcontractors reached 85 percentcompletion on the $138-million Interstate 4 widening and 90 percentcompletion on the $118 million Interstate 95 widening. Improve-ments to the Interstate 4/Interstate95 interchange, valued at more than$200 million, have commenced withcompletion planned in 2018.

• the $44-million Veterans MemorialBridge over the Halifax River isscheduled to commence in 2016with completion planned in 2019.

In closing, let’s accelerate into 2016by remembering a quote from famedracer Mario Andretti that Joie Chitwood, Daytona InternationalSpeedway president, likes to use. “If everything seems under control,you’re just not going fast enough.”

Economic development 101By ROB EHRHARDTVolusia County Economic Development Director

the title of this column ends in “101” which suggests the content is related to economic development ‘basics’. In this context, let’s review the results of 2015 activity in the local economy.• the $400-million DAytonA Rising project at Daytona International

Speedway was completed on time.

Rob Ehrhardt

the Volusia County Economic Devel-opment Division compiles the permitdata every quarter as part of its moni-toring of the local economy. Residential permit activity countywideposted a healthy gain in 2015, whilecommercial construction leveled off following permitting for the DaytonaRising project at Daytona InternationalSpeedway.During the fourth quarter of last year,building permit offices across thecounty issued 391 residential permitswith a total value of $120 million. thistrumped the residential permits issuedin the fourth quarter of 2014 when259 permits were issued with a totalvalue $86 million. this is a 50 percentincrease in the number of permitsquarter-over-quarter, and an increaseof nearly 40 percent in dollar value.“Any increase is a positive indicator,”said Rob Ehrhardt, Volusia County’seconomic development director. “Butthe fourth quarter was particularly robust as far as new residential construction permitting.”A comparison of year-over-year residential permit activity also yieldssolid numbers. During 2015, therewere 1,375 residential permits issued.this compares to 1,182 residentialpermits issued in 2014, an increase of16 percent. In terms of dollars, thevalue of permits issued in 2015 was$426 million, as compared to $377 mil-lion for 2014, an increase of nearly 13percent.

“It’s a good sign and may be a harbin-ger of what could lie ahead,” saidSandy Burke Bishop, Executive Direc-tor of the Volusia Building Industry As-sociation. She said early indicationsare that the year is off to a good start.In looking at the residential permit activity by jurisdiction, the 94 permits($30.6 million) issued by DeLand in thefourth quarter was the most. thecounty issued 67 residential permits($20.1 million); followed by the 50 residential permits issued by newSmyrna Beach ($16.8 million).on the commercial side, the numberswere steady when viewed without thetremendous impact of a single $152-million permit issued in 2014 for theDaytona Rising project at Daytona International Speedway. A year-over-year comparison of commercial con-struction permitting in 2015 versus2014 shows a slight decrease. During 2015, there were 93 commer-cial construction permits issued coun-tywide, four fewer than the total for2014. the 2015 tally is a decline of 4percent. In a year-over-year compari-son that includes the Daytona Risingpermit issued in 2014, the total valueof commercial permit activity in 2015 was $153 mil-lion. this compares to the $324 millionvalue of commercial construction per-mits issued in 2014. Without the Daytona Rising permit, the 2014 dollaramount comes in at $172 million.Under this scenario, 2015 permit values declined 11 percent.

Some of the noteworthy commercialpermits issued during the fourth quar-ter include the tanger outlet Mall in Daytona Beach with a permit value of$30.3 million; Stetson University’s welcome center in DeLand with avalue of $6.5 million; two permits forthe Eagle Landings apartments in Day-tona Beach with a combine value of$4.7 million; a Circle K in Port orange witha value of $1.2 million, and an Aldi grocery store in new Smyrna Beachwith a value of $1.2 million. of the 32 commercial permits issuedcountywide in the fourth quarter of2015, 21 were issued by DaytonaBeach.While the commercial construction permit values declined in 2015, severalprojects in the planning stages couldfortify the numbers in 2016 and 2017,according to Ehrhardt.“Hotel construction and some large retail projects are in various stages ofplanning,” he said. “Presuming eachnavigates through pre-constructionprocesses, construction permits foreach will be significant. And if globaleconomic and political affairs stabilize,that could be a catalyst for other projects.”

Residential permit activity up significantly in 2015;commercial lags, but many projects loom for 2016

While the nation and the world come to terms with the Chinese economic tremors, depressed oilprices, significant nySE corrections, and ongoing tensions in the Middle East, there are many indicators the local economy is picking up steam. Chief among them is the number and value of the residential and construction permits issued by the county and city building permit offices.

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Residential Building Permits Issued in Volusia County Fourth Quarter 2015

Ranked by Total Value of Projects October November December Total

AREA Permits Permits Permits Permits Value

DeLand 3 6 3 3 2 5 9 4 $30,578,626

Unincorporated 1 4 1 7 3 6 6 7 $20,171,337

New Smyrna Beach 1 7 1 8 1 5 5 0 $16,848,930

Ormond Beach 6 2 5 1 2 4 3 $16,735,156

Daytona Beach 2 4 8 3 0 6 2 $13,377,156

Port Orange 4 1 8 1 0 3 2 $10,087,004

Deltona 3 5 7 1 5 $6,000,885

Edgewater 9 2 6 1 7 $3,557,862

DeBary 4 2 1 7 $2,266,091

Orange City 1 0 1 2 $529,132

Oak Hill 0 1 1 2 $303,575

Lake Helen 0 0 0 0 -

Holly Hill 0 0 0 0 -

Daytona Beach Shores 0 0 0 0 -

Pierson 0 0 0 0 -

Ponce Inlet 0 0 0 0 -

South Daytona 0 0 0 0 -

Totals for Quarter 118 129 144 391 $120,455,754

Cities listed in descending order by $ value for the most recent quarterSource: Cities and county permit offices reporting new construction activity

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Commercial Building Permits Issued in Volusia County Fourth Quarter 2015

Ranked by Total Value of Projects October November December Total

AREA Permits Permits Permits Permits Value

Daytona Beach 1 7 1 3 2 1 $41,728,885

DeLand 1 1 0 2 $6,905,473

Port Orange 0 2 0 2 $2,135,712

New Smyrna Beach 1 1 0 2 $1,275,000

Holly Hill 1 0 2 3 $1,255,000

Unincorporated 0 0 1 1 $50,000

Oak Hill 1 0 0 1 $5,000

Daytona Beach Shores 0 0 0 0 -

DeBary 0 0 0 0 -

Deltona 0 0 0 0 -

Edgewater 0 0 0 0 -

Lake Helen 0 0 0 0 -

Orange City 0 0 0 0 -

Ormond Beach 0 0 0 0 -

Pierson 0 0 0 0 -

Ponce Inlet 0 0 0 0 -

South Daytona 0 0 0 0 -

Totals for Quarter 5 11 16 32 $53,355,070

Cities listed in descending order by $ value for the most recent quarterSource: Cities and county permit offices reporting new construction activity

Volusia County Economic Development Quarterly is a publication of Volusia County Government and is produced by the Volusia County Economic Development Division. It is produced for readers who have aninterest in the area's business, economic development and real estate market. As an economic development tool, it is intended to provide information and statistics that have meaning to your business. To submitstory ideas or offer comments, please contact Community InformationManager Joanne Magley at 386-822-5062 or by email at jmagley@volusia.org. If you want to add a name to the distribution list,email ssprague@volusia.org. For more information about economic development in Volusia County visit floridabusiness.org.

On the Economic Scene

Volusia County Economic Development Division publishes a useful, quick-read, one page newsletterevery Monday morning, on the Economic Scene. It arrives by fax and is a very popular little publication. If you are not getting this publication and wish to receive it, submit your fax numberto 386-248-8048, or fax it to 386-248-8037.If you prefer to read it online, it is posted at floridabusiness.org/news-and-data-resources/index.stml