The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Lutz since 1964 and Pasco since 1981.
Proud to be independently owned.

Residence Inn

Pasco’s global markets expand

By

When people talk about the global economy, they’re not just talking about deals that take place overseas.

Florida already plays a sizable role in international trade, and Pasco County companies are showing an increasing interest in attracting global customers.

About 100 people turned out to learn more at “Growing Global,” a half-day international exporting conference hosted by the Pasco Economic Development Council on Feb. 10.

More than 100 people attended Growing Global, a half-day international exporting conference, hosted by the Pasco Economic Development Council. (Photos courtesy of Pasco Economic Development Council)
More than 100 people attended Growing Global, a half-day international exporting conference, hosted by the Pasco Economic Development Council.
(Photos courtesy of Pasco Economic Development Council)

The conference, held at the Residence Inn in Land O’ Lakes, featured speakers from international countries and business experts who provided information aimed at helping companies understand the markets, and also to help smooth the way for those interested in exporting goods and services.

Pasco County is increasingly part of the global market, said Bill Cronin, president and CEO of the Pasco EDC. “It (international trade) is not reserved to those big cities, like Orlando and Miami.”

The conference attracted business owners, Pasco County officials and representatives of the Small Business Development Center at the University of South Florida, Enterprise Florida, Tampa Bay Export Assistance Center and Pinellas County Economic Development.

Representatives from Canada, France, Germany and Mexico were there, too. They made sales pitches extolling reasons to do business with their respective countries.

They also shared data on imports and exports that already generate billions of dollars in global trade.

Louise Leger, acting consul general of Canada, reported that total trade between Canada and Florida is about $8 billion annually.

Max Stewart, regional manager of Enterprise Florida, encouraged business owners to take advantage of upcoming trade missions to Costa Rica and Mexico City.
Max Stewart, regional manager of Enterprise Florida, encouraged business owners to take advantage of upcoming trade missions to Costa Rica and Mexico City.

Canada is the No. 1 source of tourism to Florida, Leger said.

About one in nine Canadians visit annually and spend a total of about $4 billion.

Canada employs about 27,000 Floridians in 300 companies located in the state, including Circle K and TD Bank.

With the exchange rate currently favoring the stronger U.S. dollar, Leger said now is a good time to invest in Canada. “We are there to help you be successful, whether it is here or in Canada,” Leger said. The consulate is located in Miami.

Max Stewart, regional manager of Enterprise Florida, touted the state agency’s upcoming trade missions to Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Mexico City.

“This is the time to be thinking internationally,” he said. “The U.S. is really, really strong in this market.”

Trade missions can open doors to foreign markets more quickly, Cronin said. “It allows our companies to get a lot more exposure than they would otherwise get,” he said.

While the focus often is on products, Cronin added that services also are a growing segment of global trade.

Not everything sold overseas has to be something that gets “thrown in a box. A lot of people don’t recognize that,” Cronin said.

A brief panel discussion highlighted some challenges of doing business overseas including paperwork, obtaining work permits and cultural sensitivities.

The panel showcased local businesses: Earthworks Environmental, in Safety Harbor; York Bridge Concepts, in Lutz; and TwinStar Optics, in Port Richey.

Bill Cronin, president of the Pasco Economic Development Council, welcomed participants to a conference highlighting opportunities for local companies to enter the global market.
Bill Cronin, president of the Pasco Economic Development Council, welcomed participants to a conference highlighting opportunities for local companies to enter the global market.

“You need to have a strategy,” said Jonathan Brewer, owner of Earthworks Environmental, which specializes in soil cleanups. “It’s not going to happen overnight.”

Peter Thomas of TwinOptics makes opticals for laser-based weapons that require government approvals. “We worry about it being a weapon against the United States. A lot of time, we wait on (federal) government to get back to us.”

James York, of York Bridge Concepts, said companies that want to trade globally should “bring something unique to the table and, at some point, they (trade partners) are going to say ‘Hey, we need that’.”

York Bridge Concepts specializes in timber-built bridges for golf courses, trails and residential developments. The company began more than 30 years ago in Tampa, but moved to Lutz in 2008.

“We work in a global environment,” said Gil York, the company’s director of international development and public relations. “It’s irrelevant where you are located. It’s how you market your business.”

Published February 17, 2016

Improvements planned on State Road 54

By

Pastoral scenes of as-yet untouched land in Pasco County still exist amid the office complexes, shopping centers and subdivision rooftops that dot parts of State Road 54.

But the “for sale” and “for lease” signs planted on large open fields in between those developments portend the future story for traffic counts on what is already one of Pasco County’s busiest east-west corridors.

The Florida Department of Transportation is scheduled to begin work this month to widen State Road 54 from four lanes to six lanes from east of the Suncoast Parkway to west of U.S. 41 (also known as Land O’ Lakes Boulevard). (Kathy Steele/Staff Photo)
The Florida Department of Transportation is scheduled to begin work this month to widen State Road 54 from four lanes to six lanes from east of the Suncoast Parkway to west of U.S. 41 (also known as Land O’ Lakes Boulevard).
(Kathy Steele/Staff Photo)

State highway officials are ready to unveil a $16 million road project to widen the highway from east of the Suncoast Parkway to west of U.S. 41 from four lanes to six lanes. The widening will bring that section of the roadway into alignment with the existing six-lane divided highway that narrows to four lanes at the Suncoast Parkway.

Survey teams began work Feb. 9. Construction is scheduled to be completed in spring 2016.

Residents can look at the road design at an open house Feb. 24 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., at the Residence Inn at 2101 Northpointe Parkway, off State Road 54, at the Suncoast Parkway interchange and Northpointe Village. No formal presentation is planned. State road department staff will be on hand to answer questions.

The project will cover a 6.7-mile stretch of highway that passes by Long Lake Ranch, a master-planned community that has its first homes on the market.

Other subdivisions along the route are Suncoast Meadows, Suncoast Pointe, Stonegate, Concord Station and Ballantrae. Professional office complexes and the Shoppes at Sunlake Centre are other developments along the heavily traveled corridor.

State highway records for 2013 reveal that daily round-trip vehicle trips — along the segment that will be widened — ranged from 39,500 to 47,000.

In addition to extra lanes, the project includes new sidewalks and more highway lights. Bicycle lanes will remain.

A new traffic signal will be installed at Meadowbrook Drive, east of the parkway by the entrance into Suncoast Meadows and Suncoast Pointe. All existing traffic lights will stay in place.

Alberta Bland, partner and managing director at Flagship Title, welcomes the new traffic signal.

“It’s a dangerous intersection,” said Bland, whose company is in Suncoast Meadows Professional Center.

Motorists stop on an incline at Meadowbrook as they approach on the south side of State Road 54, she said. They also must look west for oncoming traffic zipping along a curve in the state highway.

“I’ve seen near accidents and accidents because of the way the street is shaped,” Bland said. “It’s difficult to see both ways especially at night.”

The traffic signal will improve safety, she said.

But widening the road is a mixed bag, she added.

“If they are going to widen it, (traffic) is going to get worse,” Bland said. “There is enough traffic that they need to do it, but they need to slow everything down.”

During construction, speed limits will be 50 miles per hour. Once the roadwork is completed, the existing limits, which range from 45 mph to 60 mph, will apply, state road officials said.

While traffic during construction won’t be a cakewalk for motorists, road officials said the widening will occur in the median, not in rights-of-way along the road’s shoulder.

“It’s a construction site, of course, but there shouldn’t be too much disruption,” said Kris Carson, a spokeswoman for the state roads department.

Roy Schleman said he sees a considerable amount of bad driving on the roadway, with some motorists speeding or texting.

And, he noted, the intersections at Ballantrae Road and Oakstead Boulevard, where there are existing traffic lights, can be as bad or worse than Meadowbrook.

But, like Bland, he thinks a traffic signal at Meadowbrook is a good idea.

Schleman owns All Insurance Underwriters in the Suncoast Meadows office complex.

“I’m a dad,” he said. “Thinking about moms and kids, I’d rather (the intersection) be safer.”

When deciding where to locate his business nearly five years ago, he rejected New Tampa because of the traffic congestion on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

The widening of State Road 54 makes sense in view of the new development that is coming, he said. “I think it’s good to get ahead.”

But he keeps thinking about Bruce B. Downs Boulevard. “I feel we’re going to be like that in some way,” Schleman said.

Want to see the plans?
The Florida Department of Transportation is having an open house to give the public a chance to see the plans for a construction project to widen a section of State Road 54, from east of the Suncoast Parkway to west of U.S. 41 (also known as Land O’ Lakes Boulevard).

The meeting will be Feb. 24 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., at the Residence Inn, 2101 Northpointe Parkway in Lutz.

Published February 18, 2015

Newland wants Bexley Ranch to be next FishHawk

By

People have driven by construction work on State Road 54 east of the Suncoast Parkway and wondered what might be happening there.

A lot of those details were unveiled last week when Newland Communities vice president Tom Panaseny presented some of the first details of the recently resurrected Bexley Ranch project that will include about 1,700 homes over the next five years.

Construction already has begun on the retail portion of Bexley Ranch, part of a massive new community moving forward on State Road 54 just off the Suncoast Parkway. (Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)
Construction already has begun on the retail portion of Bexley Ranch, part of a massive new community moving forward on State Road 54 just off the Suncoast Parkway.
(Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)

The massive development, which will stretch north past Tower Road, was put on hold several years ago after the housing market crashed and new home construction came to a halt. But with the market on the rebound, and people still looking to move to Pasco County, Panaseny said this was as good a time as any to get started.

“We’ve got our plans in review at Pasco County right now, and we think we’ll break ground in March or April next year,” he told a small crowd that gathered at the Residence Inn at NorthPoint across the street from the project. “We haven’t even announced any of the builders yet. But the builders really almost come in last, once we develop the community and figure out what type of homes that we want to build. Then we’ll match up the builders to the type of home.”

Homes will start close to $200,000, and run as high as $400,000, Panaseny said. While most of the development will be single-family houses, the front part of the development close to State Road 54 will include townhouses, attached villas, commercial and retail, and even a new hotel.

The retail portion is where most of the land is being cleared right now, Panaseny said. That will likely be up and running by the time that work crews start prepping the land behind it for residential development.

“We are talking to several retailers right now to come in there, one of which has never been in Pasco before,” Panaseny said. Past that on Bexley Boulevard will be about 5 acres devoted to office, as well as a business class hotel.

“The hotel here does very well,” Panaseny said, about the Residence Inn. “Hopefully, there is room for another one.”

This will be Newland’s first project in Pasco County. It has had a lot of success with other high-profile projects in Hillsborough County, most notably with FishHawk Ranch near Brandon, as well as MiraBay and Waterset in Apollo Beach. FishHawk Ranch has more than 5,000 homes, and is near completion after more than a decade of development work.

While the initial plans bring about a third of that volume of development to Bexley Ranch, the longer-term goal is to be just as big as the project expands east toward Sunlake Boulevard. Initial plans also include an elementary school, and Newland’s contribution to the construction of Tower Road to Sunlake Boulevard.

The project also will include a network of trails that would provide miles of both paved and dirt pathways for residents. The idea is to eventually connect with the Suncoast Trail, possibly by going underneath the highway.

The trails, Panaseny said, would show off the nearly 1,000 acres of conservation land the Bexley Ranch project already has set aside. And in a sales pitch to some of the potential buyers in the audience, the developer said views of those pockets of nature won’t be limited to the highest bidders.

“I look at things like wetlands, and you’ll see developers who will try to price those views so that only an individual home can look at a wetland,” Panaseny said. “You won’t see a lot of that with us. We try to make that public space, because we don’t just want to have individuals look at that, we want the community to be looking at that.”

The entire project, once all the phases are completed, could go as high as 6,000 homes, Panaseny said. However, that all depends on how Pasco County does in the future when it comes to attracting new residents.

“You’re talking about 20 years-plus, and that’s really hard to even speculate on that right now,” he said. “We have to start with what we know, and what we know right now is that there are 1,700 acres there that will keep everybody busy for four or five years.”

Published September 24, 2014

See this story in print: Click Here