You may already know that the St. Joe Company was working on a large development, a project adjacent to the soon-to-opened Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport. Well, earlier today, the St. Joe Company revealed plans to transport its corporate headquarters to that new location, embedding themselves more deeply in the region than ever before.
In an article published on the WJHG website, read the full article here, the move could mean big things for our area:
“The new location, surrounded by some of the Company’s most valuable land holdings, will enable the Company to build on its real estate and economic development successes in the Northwest Florida region.
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The Company will be consolidating offices from Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Port St. Joe and South Walton County into the new location. Construction of the approximately 50,000 square foot Class A multi-tenant office building is scheduled to begin this summer, with relocation of the Company’s headquarters and personnel to be completed by the summer of 2011.”
So what does this mean for us? Well, it means that St. Joe sees something on the horizon, maybe something on which the rest of us can only speculate. In recent PCB Optimism articles (read Beth Oltman’s Here or Dawn Moliterno’s Here) both community leaders spoke about a burgeoning regionalization and growth of industry in the areas near future. Perhaps, this move is the first mile marker on a road to a bigger, brighter Northwest Florida.
PCBDaily 
I think this is a smart move from a business perspective. The quickest way to increase profits is to spend less money. The quickest way to spend less is to consolidate. With their primary industry focused on real estate, it’s best that they buckle down and bring their resources close together.
Of course, it’s timely that they bring everyone to their pinnacle project. It’s no secret that the new airport was spearheaded by St. Joe and along with all of Northwest Florida, they stand to benefit greatly when our area is transformed forever by the new airport. Why not have their corporate offices here.
Will we benefit from this move? Heck yes. In the coming years, as they grow and expand again, they will bring jobs and money to our area. Their executives will shop in our stores, dine in our restaurants and host guests in our resorts. I think this is a cool move.
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I think this is both a smart move for St. Joe and a boon to Bay County. Heck yes, we will all benefit!
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Fantastic! What could possibly be the down-side to this news. Oh, wait… Someone will think this is taking away some more valuable Florida swamp land (as if there isn’t enough where people don’t want to live and work).
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