The Greater Pensacola Chamber board of directors met yesterday. Chamber CEO Jim Hizer gave an update on economic development. He said that Pensacola is getting a positive buzz around the country.
“We are a blank slate for a lot of site selectors,” he said. “They may know about the beach and the navy base, but they are now curious about Pensacola has to offer businesses. This plays to our advantage because the site selectors want to check us out.”
The Chamber hosted six site selectors for the Blue Angels weekend. “They were blown away by Avalex, Navy Federal Credit Union and NAS Pensacola,” Hizer said. “I don’t think it could have gone any better. Each one told me personally how eye-opening the visit was for them.”
Hizer talked about the Pensacola delegation’s visit to the Farnborough Air Show. “The Airbus announcement (it’s new plant in Mobile, Ala.) set the tone,” he said. “Suppliers that once were coy about coming to our area, now are very interested. They are actively looking for sites along the Gulf Coast.”
The chamber CEO said that some suppliers will initially import that products to the Airbus plant, but they will eventually be looking for locating plants near the Airbus facility.
“Airbus will be pressuring them to do it,” said Hizer.
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Note: I’m a member of the chamber’s board–what Lewis Bear calls the “voice of dissent”–along with the heads of the other major media outlets, Kevin Doyle, publisher of the News Journal, and Terry Cole, general manager of WEAR TV.