BUSINESS
Studies and Reports 2015-2019: www.youredc.com. Click
Studies and Reports in the green bar at the upper right.
17
pay for it. Hudson is enthused. “We’re the perfect place for
this with our proximity to the Bahamas,” she says.
In October, Steven McCaughey, executive director of the
International Seaplane Pilots Association, told city commissioners
that he thinks the location “is very suitable” for a
seaplane base.
JOBS CREATED
The more intense focus on bringing in companies offering
well-paying jobs and expansion of existing companies
is succeeding, says Jill Marasa, the EDC’s vice-president of
business retention. In the last 18 months, 344 jobs were created
inside city boundaries and another 166 just outside city
boundaries. All the jobs require skilled workers, either in
manufacturing or in trades requiring special skills.
Andrew Bouley, a Fort Pierce native who works for Auto
Labe, a company that makes pressure-sensitive labeling
equipment at the Airport Business Park, went back to college
to gain the skills he needed to advance. He was a service technician
but with the birth of his first child, decided he didn’t
want to travel so much. He began taking classes at Indian
River State College in 2010 and was able to make the jump
from service tech to assistant electrical engineer at Auto Labe.
With additional training at Auto Labe for specific programming
needs, he was able to move into an electrical engineer
job, taking the place of someone who retired. His salary
tripled, he says. Then, he went back to IRSC and earned an
associate degree in 2016. Although his job title at Auto Labe is
electrical engineer, he says he would need two more years of
college to qualify for that title elsewhere.
“When I was taking classes, about two-thirds of the people
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Skills Gap Study: https://tinyurl.com/SkillsGapStudy
Fort Pierce Economic Development:
https://tinyurl.com/FP-Economic-Development
EDC annual report listing jobs and companies:
https://tinyurl.com/Jobs-and-companies
Airport Business Plan from consultants, 2015:
https://tinyurl.com/Airport-Business-Plan
Derecktor’s proposal for mega-yachts:
https://tinyurl.com/Derecktor-mega-yacht-proposal
were older adults and either their industry was dying off and
they needed new skills or they were looking for a better job in
their field,” he says.
The city historically has had a high unemployment rate,
reaching 15 percent during the Great Recession. St. Lucie
County, which owns the port inside city boundaries and the >>
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/www.stluciechamber.org
/www.youredc.com
/SkillsGapStudy
/FP-Economic-Development
/Jobs-and-companies
/Airport-Business-Plan
/Derecktor-mega-yacht-proposal
/www.ABCRealtyFortPierceFL.com
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