A 2,200-square-foot Starbucks just got a development order and will soon rise next to Aldi, Gate gas station and Tractor Supply Co at Belle Terre and SR100.
palm coast economy
Continuing Year-Long See-Saw, Flagler Unemployment Dips Back Down to 5.4%
For the past 13 months, Flagler County’s unemployment rate has been stuck within in narrow band in the mid-5.5 percent range, bottoming out at 4.9 percent last May and peaking at 5.7 percent three times along the way.
Flagler Unemployment Rate Ticks Up for 4th Month in a Row, to 5.7%, Florida’s Up to 4.9%
The streak in increasing unemployment is echoed by an equally suggestive streak: five straight declines in the number of house sales closing in Flagler County, going back to May’s post-recession peak of 259 sales.
Company Would Get $90,000 in County Subsidies to Build New Palm Coast Plant in Novel Incentive Approach
Manufacturer Gioia Sales employs 42 on Palm Coast’s Hargrove Grade and would build a larger facility on Commerce Boulevard, with 10 years of subsidies from Flagler County.
Responsibly Raised: Chipotle Mexican Grill Seeks Site Next to Panera in Palm Coast
Chipotle Mexican Grill’s restaurant would go up on State Road 100 in Palm Coast as the company continues to expand after weathering a severe blow from a rash of food poisonings contracted at its restaurants in the West and Midwest last year.
Hobby Lobby, Brass Tap Beer Bar, Moe’s Grill and 500 Jobs: Island Walk Is 84% Full
The developers of Island Walk, the once and future shopping center previously known as Palm Harbor in the heart of Palm Coast, have secured long-term leases with enough retailers to fill 84 percent of its space when it begins opening in phases in 2016.
Flagler-Palm Coast Score Most “Fantastic” Month of Home Sales Since Recession
The 247 homes sold in June reduced the county’s supply to just five months’ worth, tilting the market to sellers’ advantage, while prices saw a healthy rise as well.
Flagler-Palm Coast Added 12,300 Jobs in Last 5 Years, Powering Unemployment Down to 6.5%
Unemployment figures released Friday show the solid, continued improvement of Flagler-Palm Coast’s economy, especially when compared to where the county was five years ago.
Palm Coasters Rate Their Town: Great Bedroom, Terrible Workplace, Measly Shopping
Palm Coast residents love their government services even as they attack them in a broad survey, but they also find work opportunities dismal and shopping and cultural opportunities not much better.
Unemployment in Flagler Falls to 8.1%, But Labor Force and Employment Rolls Shrink
Flagler County’s unemployment rate continued to improve in November, falling to 8.2 percent, the fourth successive monthly improvement and the lowest rate since the Great Recession as Florida’s rate, too, fell in November, matching the national rate of 5.8 percent.
Pro Sports Plus on Palm Coast Parkway Closing After 17 Years
After 30 years in the sporting goods industry, Bo Ankrom has decided to close the doors of his sporting goods store, Pro Sports Plus that has been in Palm Coast since 1997.
1st Quarter Revenue at Palm Coast Data Falls 13%, But CEO Paints Brighter Picture Ahead
Revenues from the company’s Media Services businesses, which include Palm Coast Data’s Subscription Fulfillment Services, fell from $20.3 million for the first quarter of 2014 to $17.5 million in the 1st quarter of fiscal year 2015. CEO Rory Burke said the company is “not teetering on the brink of disaster.”
Staving Off a Major Blow, Palm Coast Data Settles With German Publisher, Extending Relationship
Heinrich Bauer LLC, one Palm Coast Data’s major clients, released some claims on the company in exchange for more than 10 percent of the company’s stock and a pledge to stay with Palm Coast Data through 2018. The alternative would have represented a significant blow to Palm Coast Data, which has already been weakened by successive losses over the years.
Single-Family Home Permits Up 29% in 1st Quarter as Construction in Palm Coast Churns
Some 126 construction permits were issued for single-family homes in Flagler County in the first three months of the year, 88 of them in Palm Coast and 34 in the unincorporated part of the county.
The End: Palm Coast’s Books-A-Million, Flagler’s Only General-Interest Bookstore, Is Closing
Books-A-Million in Palm Coast on Wednesday announced an everything-must-go sale ahead of closure, ending the town’s very brief romance with a bookstore larger than an attic. The company lost money in 2013. There is no known replacement for the store, a mainstay of the Target shopping center.
Unemployment Spike to 9.3% in Flagler Masks Larger Labor Force, More Job Creation and Flurry of Development Ahead
Flagler County’s January unemployment is up sharply from from 8.8 percent in December. but in a brighter sign, the county’s labor force also added some 400 people, there was a net gain of some 200 jobs, and numerous commercial, residential and government construction projects suggest that the county’s economy is brightening.
Proposed Law Would Halt New Red-Light Cameras and Cut Fines By Half to End Profits
Besides no longer allowing municipalities and counties to install red light cameras after July 1, the proposal would cut fins to $83 and allow local governments to impose only a $25 surcharge on tickets to fund the existing systems, which would be allowed to continue. That would lower Palm Coast’s and its private provider’s take by two thirds, likely rendering the system too expensive to run.
Palm Coast Getting Fleeced of Red-Light Camera Dollars, Harming Local Economy
In September, the 43 red-light cameras in Palm Coast generated $255,740 in fines, what would work out to an annual total of $3 million. The state and ATS, the private company running the system, took more than seven times the revenue share left Palm Coast, which means that the overwhelming majority of the money is leaving the local economy.
Florida Hospital CEO David Ottati, Major Force in Local Economy, Leaving for Tavares
David Ottati, the CEO at Florida Hospital Flagler for the past seven years, where he oversaw a vast expansion that increased hospital employment past 1,000 and helped cushion the local economy’s severe downturn of the past few years, will be leaving the hospital to take a new post as CEO of the 269-bed Florida Hospital Waterman in Tavares, in Central Florida, in early June.
Sea Ray Boats in Palm Coast Benefits from Plant Closures Elsewhere, With Cautions
Consolidation will likely add to the payroll in Flagler County, and do so with well-paying manufacturing jobs. It also puts to rest, at least for now, worries that Sea Ray’s local plant would either close. But the company is facing tough economic headwinds even as it stock soars to seven-year highs.
M. Louis, Palm Coast’s Oldest Salon, Defies Economy With a Spa Expansion
M. Louis’s Beauty Factor Spa, holding an open house Sunday (Feb. 3) at the salon’s new location, is an indication that small businesses in Palm Coast can still find ways to expand and broaden their reach despite the slow economy.
Carrabba’s Opens In Palm Coast, Edging the City’s Economic Center of Gravity a Little North
Palm Coast’s Carrabba’s, the Italian restaurant, will add some local 82 jobs and further solidify economic growth along Cypress Edge Drive, while Town Center continues to wait for its equivalent day in the sun.
Flagler’s Unemployment Rate Falls to 11.9%, Its Lowest Level Since December 2008
Flagler County may have a little something to cheer about: its unemployment rate in September fell to 11.9 percent, from 12.3 percent the month before. That’s the lowest unemployment rate in the county since December 2008, when it was 11.8 percent.
Citing Health Concerns and Competition, Palm Coast Kills Home-Based Bakeries
Palm Coast Mayor Jon Netts proved to be the swing vote against an initiative that would have allowed small bakeries to operate out of homes. The rejection adds to the city’s pattern of conflicted reactions to start-ups–supporting them with one hand while scuttling them with the other.
Palm Coast Data Revenue Now Half Its 2008 Level, When It Signed Job-Creation Deals
Palm Coast Data’s revenue was down to $15.6 million in the last quarter, less than half the $32.2 million it recorded in the quarter preceding its agreement to consolidate in Palm Coast. The company won’t say how many jobs are on its Palm Coast payroll.
Ear, Nose, Throat, Hard Hat:
Florida Hospital Flagler Shows Off Its New Digs
Florida Hospital Flagler’s new Parkway Medical Plaza, opening in July between Walmart and Golden Corral, is a $15 million expansion–and a signal of intensifying head-to-head competition in such fields as imaging and lab work.
Conflicted Incubator: A Divided Palm Coast Council May Relax Home-Based Bakeries
The issue, prompted by a couple looking to start a home bakery, illustrates two contradicting strains in Palm Coast’s idea of itself–the quiet residential town as opposed to the depressed and unemployed city looking for rejuvenation summed up in its economic-development slogan, “Prosperity 2021.”
1 Architect, 1 Banker, 1 Health Consultant. Mix. Serve. Result: Thai Korner Restaurant.
Palm Coast’s Thai Korner Restaurant, open one year, is the result of an unlikely partnership between three vastly different latter-day restaurateurs willing to defy a climate murderous to new businesses.
Palm Coast’s Strathmore Deli Closes, Citing Overhead; Another Strip Now Stressed
Strathmore Deli, renamed Best Bagels & Deli, was the high-traffic anchor for the Parkway Plaza strip between Plam Coast Parkway and Cypress Point. Its abrupt closure four years after it opened is rippling with consequences.
Flagler Unemployment at 13.8%, Lowest Since 2008; Florida’s Improves to 10.8%
Flagler County’s labor force has shrunk by 2.5 over the past 12 months, a significant drop, while the number of employed residents has fallen by 1.5 percent, suggesting that job creation isn’t yet as evident as out-migration.
Palm Coast Consistently Beating Florida As Taxable Sales Indicators Continue to Improve
Tourism and retail sales, and fewer people traveling elsewhere to buy goods, are keeping Palm Coast’s taxable sales among the most-improved in the state, compared with 2009.
The Epic Is Here: Bigwigs Sneak Preview Town Center Theater Tonight Before Friday Opening
The 14-screen theater in Town Center is opening to great anticipation for action on screen and, economically, beyond its walls.
Hell Freezes Over: Flagler Chamber Wants To Hike Your Taxes
The Flagler Chamber of Commerce is pushing for a property tax increase to pay for business infrastructure and economic development.