'A buzz about Bay County': EDA lands one project, remains in contention for two others

PANAMA CITY − It's no easy feat convincing a business to expand into a new area, yet the Bay Economic Development Alliance continues to help diversify the local economy.

Though two of the EDA's hot projects have fallen through this year, the group successfully helped Bay County land a new aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul company, and it continues to press forward on two additional hot projects.

"Hot project" is a classification given by the EDA when a company shows significant interest in expanding to Bay. This is different than an "active project," which is when a company is looking to expand but still is considering many other areas.

"I tell people this is the worst career for me to have because I'm the world's most competitive person, and I like to win," said Becca Hardin, EDA president. "We may work 100 projects and only get traction on one or two of them, and the likelihood that we're going to lose those is probably 99%. ... It's a very competitive environment, and the fact that we are not only competing, but we are winning at the international and domestic level ... is a tremendous testament to the leadership of this community."

The company landed by the EDA this year is Premier Aviation USA Overhaul Services, which has agreed to build a facility at the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (ECP). It will mark the business' second location.

Premier Aviation plans to create about 250 jobs with a capital investment of approximately $32.5 million. It aims to hire 10 employees in 2024, and then 80 more each year until 2026. Construction on its new facility at ECP has not yet started, but it will be a two-bay, narrow-body hangar. It is slated to be complete by the summer of 2025.

"We really like this company," Hardin said. "It's going to be an excellent fit in our community. Not only are they an excellent MRO operation, it's very committed to families of its employees, and it's very committed to the communities where it's located."

She said the airport plays a vital role in Bay County's success, so anytime a company decides to invest in ECP, "it's a big deal."

According to the airport's September activity report − the latest information available as of Nov. 10 − ECP is on track to have its busiest year yet, having serviced 1,305,104 passengers in the first nine months of the year. This is 103,801 more passengers than during the same time in 2022 and 40,900 more passengers than during the same time in 2021.

The record is held by 2021, with 1,598,492 passengers serviced in 12 months.

"It's one of the newest airports in the United States, (and) we have 4,000 available acres around the airport," Hardin said. "We (also) have a 10,000-foot runway. You can land anything up to the shuttle on our runway. It's a hidden gem. We've really been aggressive in our marketing efforts for ECP. ... Aviation recruitment is one of our key target markets that we recruit to come to our area."

Apart from helping ECP expand in the wake tremendous growth, the EDA continues to gain traction on two hot projects: Project Veneer and Project Special Steel. Both are code named because information on the companies remains confidential.

Project Veneer is a wood panel manufacturing company that would create 70 jobs, and Project Special Steel is a domestic manufacturing company that would create 150 jobs.

Hardin said she and her team are now working to get officials from each company to visit Bay County − something she anticipates will happen shortly after the new year. This is known as a site visit, which she said is a major stepping stone in landing a new business.

"Our goal is always to stay in the competition," Hardin said. "We are firm believers that if we can get someone to visit Bay County, Bay County sells itself. That's a testament to this community, not only the Beach and the beauty of tourism, but also the resiliency this community has shown through Hurricane Michael and COVID. ... We've got growth going on all around us. We have a good story to tell, and there's a lot of energy going on right now."

The two hot projects that fell through this year are Project Super Nova, an electric vehicle battery manufacturing company that would have create 200 jobs; and Project Stamper, an aviation manufacturing company that would have created 1,800 jobs.

Project Stamper, which has since been announced as Joby Aviation out of Santa Cruz, California, was a project the EDA aggressively worked on over the past year. Bay County made it to the top two places Joby Aviation was considering out of 120 communities across the U.S. It ultimately decided to expand to Dayton, Ohio.

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While Hardin said securing Joby Aviation would have "been a game changer" for Bay County, she noted that staying in the competition for so long proves there is a growing nationwide interest in the local community.

She also said that out of five hot projects, to land one and have two still in contention is doing very well. The EDA also has almost 20 other active projects that are in various stages of negotiation.

"Even though we didn't get Project Stamper ... because of how competitive we were and how long we stayed in that competition, there's a buzz about Bay County in the aviation industry," Hardin said. "That chatter has helped our marketing efforts. ... Words getting out that we have a lot of (available) property around the state-of-the-art airport.

"We're seeing so much traction and activity that I don't see it slowing down anytime soon for Bay County."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Bay EDA continues to help Bay County diversity its economy