Bay County’s Assets for Economic Growth – Interview with Becca Hardin, President of the Bay Economic Development Agency
BY VAL SCHOGER PHOTOGRAPHY BY MIKE FENDER[dropcap]I [/dropcap]am possibly one of the most competitive people you will ever meet,” Becca Hardin, the president of the Bay Economic Development Agency admits. With her go-getter systematic recruiting efforts, she has gained tangible results in bringing new businesses and dozens of prospects to Bay County in recent years. Leading companies from the targeted industry sectors aviation, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, automotive, and marine have been taking a very close look at Bay County as a potential business location.
Her efforts are supported by a number of Bay County’s prominent organizations, with numerous members of our local industry as sponsors and investors. Dedicated support is also given by our local educational institutions to help showcase Bay County’s best assets to attract new companies and help our economy and workforce grow. In an interview in early December 2019, Becca Hardin described her work and vision, and what it takes to have an edge in competing markets.
Describe the reaction from leaders of your target industries and their response when they hear about Bay County and Northwest Florida.
When we meet with international companies, I always introduce myself as “from the state of Florida.” Usually the first thing I hear is, “Oh, I’ve been to Miami,” or “I’ve been to Orlando.” My answer is, “If you’ve been to Miami, we are about as far away from Miami as you can be and still be in the state of Florida.” I always carry my iPad around and have a PowerPoint presentation and I have visuals, a map, and I show our proximity to Tallahassee, our state capital. I explain that we are a very diverse state and I try to explain the culture here in Bay County and that we are welcoming to businesses.
What type of industries do you target? And what type of trade shows do you visit?
We are targeting companies in the advanced manufacturing arena. Our key target markets for Bay County are aviation-related and we are particularly interested in logistics and distribution. The assets that we have are the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport and the Port of Panama City. We also focus on technology companies—we have several homegrown IT companies—and we try to attract advanced manufacturing companies. So, those are our key markets.
We were successful in recruiting GKN Aerospace two years ago and that really was a legacy project for us in Bay County because they planned on hiring 200 high-tech, high-paying jobs. Their construction of a state-of-the-art factory on St. Joe Company property next to the airport was an initial success. GKN has opened a lot of doors for us to other advanced manufacturing companies that now know the assets that we have. Unfortunately, last month, a redirection request from their customer forced GKN corporate management to close their Florida facility here in Bay County. This is a high-tech facility with clean room and secure manufacturing space, specifically designed for the production of defense-related products. We are optimistic that we will find other lines of work or a GKN supplier to occupy this customized, state-of-the-art building. As a result of GKN Aerospace locating in Bay County, we were able to recruit ACMT, Inc. out of Connecticut, a company that is specialized in providing solutions and technology for manufactured assemblies, manufacturing and repair of gas turbine components, as well as airframe and rotor aircraft technologies. They are opening ACMT South in the City of Lynn Haven after the first of the year.
You are targeting advanced manufacturing companies. What other industries are you looking to attract to Bay County?
I was recruited to come to this area to place an emphasis on development around our airport, in the aviation industry. Our strategic marketing has focused on the developments at the airport. Our team goes to the international aviation shows. The show alternates—one year it is in Paris and the other year it is in Farnborough, which is right outside of London. Those are the largest aviation shows in the world. It’s a who’s who in the aviation industry. It being our key target market, we have to be at those shows. We were just recently in London for the maintenance repair and overhaul show, which is another aviation-related show. Domestically, we represent Bay County at NBAA, which is a small business aviation tradeshow. We also visit MRO Americas, branching out to attend logistics-related shows where we are meeting more people. And then, specifically in Germany, we have had recruitment missions targeting the automotive industry.
What does “Made in the USA” mean nowadays? How competitive are American manufacturers in international markets? What can Bay County do to benefit from a “Made in the USA” mindset?
We’ve seen an interesting dynamic where the federal tariffs placed specifically on China in Europe and in other countries are making international companies rethink their strategic position in the United States. So we are seeing projects from countries that we have never seen before. We just announced a big distribution final assembly operation at one of our port facilities. The company Clark and Son, Inc. builds cabinet components for large retailers and kitchens. Their new location at our port-owned international distribution center in Panama City was a direct result of the tariffs on China where they had a 700,000- square-foot advanced manufacturing operation. As a result of the tariffs, the Chinese company entered into a joint venture with a company in Ohio. They built a bigger factory in the Yucatan and in Mérida, Mexico, Bay County’s sister city. We were able to win the project and they will bring all of their container traffic through our international port and they will transport it to their warehouse. The products are distributed throughout the U.S.
We are a small community that is competing on the big field and we are seeing how manufacturing opportunities are coming back as well as industry that, historically, has ventured out.
Recently, I met with a family-owned advanced manufacturing company in Italy and it is another example for the impact of the tariffs. They are planning to enter the U.S. market and establish a manufacturing operation here. We would have never been in the conversation if it hadn’t been for the imposing of the tariffs.
Can you provide an update about the process that needs to be put in place to bring an international company into the U.S. and specifically Bay County?
The procedures that they would have to go through are different for every company. Every project has its own requirements. I can give you another example. We’ve been successful in recruiting an automotive supplier out of the Yucatan in Mexico. They again wanted to utilize our port. They bought an existing facility, the former Boyd Brothers building on Highway 98 in Panama City, and this is their first U. S. operation. We worked with them, the City of Panama City, and Bay County government to ensure that all the local business licenses were in place, and other small logistical tasks that are different in the U.S. We pride ourselves on being the prospect’s one-stop shop and help facilitate their becoming established here in Bay County so that they can focus on getting the business operational, generate revenues, and employ our workforce. As a trickle-down effect, obviously, there is going to be housing needed for their employees and there are going to be other components needed to make their business successful. Small local suppliers will benefit from a new company coming in.
What is the effect on our local economy when a new company comes in?
The rule of thumb in the economic development world is for one primary job that you have accrued, there is a certain spinning off in the community, whether it be retail, hospitality, construction, real estate, there’s a minimum of four spinoff jobs to every primary job and four to one secondary jobs.
Our annual report shows an increase in per-capita income over the last five years. This in turn leads to an economy boost. People will buy cars, will invest in property. Another item we track is average wage, which has been going up.
Describe the working relationship with the educational facilities and how they contribute to Bay County’s evaluation by prospective new companies.
The workforce question is often the first question that we have to address with prospective companies, before even discussing incentives deals. When I first took this opportunity in Bay County and accepted this job, I moved the EDA office onto the college campus and we feel that this area showcases the economic development synergy of our town. We are in the same building as Career Source Gulf Coast because everything Bay EDA does, we coordinate with the local Career Source team.
We are a comprehensive team that includes efforts by Career Source and the educational facilities. Every prospect that we bring to Bay County comes to meet with the president of the college and the president of Florida State University.
Dr. Hanna was successful in getting a mechanical engineering program established here at FSU-PC. So, all this gives me another piece in my toolbox to recruit new businesses.
What other items and assets are in your toolbox when you present Bay County as a viable location?
Certain incentive tools that we have set us apart. The money from the BP oil spill—the grants that can be applied for through Triumph Gulf Coast’s grant funding. We are also now eligible for the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s disaster relief funding to help with infrastructure projects. Most other communities would not be subject to that. And then we work very closely with our state and local entities on tax abatement. There are also grants available from the governor’s job growth credit fund. Some of the items have benefited existing local companies. All these are items of interest for large industry.
And you can’t discount the quality of life we have here. In my PowerPoint presentation that I show to prospects, the very first slide is of our beautiful beaches, white sand and crystal-clear water.