DESTIN, FL (970 WFLA) -- Putting the I-10 corridor on the business map... Four economic development councils representing 34 out of 67 counties are banding together to promote the stretch from Pensacola to St. Augustine as a great place to put factories and warehouses.
Kim Wilmes heads the Florida's Great Northwest development council, which serves several counties in what's often called the Panhandle. She's leading the North Florida Corridor campaign. She says many know Miami for international trade, and the I-4 corridor for high tech. She hopes Florida's northern tier of counties can promote themselves as manufacturing and logistics centers -- in other words, factories and warehouses.
The promoters point to good highway connections from I-10, I-75 and I-95, plenty of land for large buildings, Florida's business-friendly climate, large population of retiring veterans, lack of unions, and "Southern charm." Their coalition does NOT include Tallahassee or Gainesville. Wilmes insists it's not a snub... saying those communities have their own ideas about economic development.