Why Don't They Stay?

By Rick Compton

It's hard to imagine, what with more than 2,000 people moving into Southwest Florida every month, that some folks might be moving away. Why would they want to move to places like Pittsburgh, where there are more freeze and thaw cycles in a typical day than we see in a decade? What could possibly attract them to a Houston, where commutes might well last right through a gulf sunset? How could they relocate to a Detroit, where the infrastructure was crumbling before Southwest Florida's was even built?

The folks who are leaving are young, kids even, but we can't write-off their departures to youthful cupidity. Nor is it rebellion, or even MTV.

It's jobs. Because without jobs, they head North.

Reading, Writing and Route 75 North

"This idea of brain drain is not a minor point for this area," says Dr. Gary Bonvillian, Associate Dean of FGCU's business school. "The South has suffered with this for years."

In fact, we should expect the kids to leave, even though it's not what we want. According to Bonvillian, the very fact that we have prepared them for the career realities of the 1990s works against their staying in Southwest Florida. "We have a generation that knows it must be mobile. We've taught them that," he says. "They can't expect a life time of employment with one, single company.

"We teach them to be mobile, so every community has to try to create opportunities to make them want to be here."

Janet Watermeier is in the opportunity business as Executive Director of the Lee County Economic Development Office. "Our job is to bring quality, higher paying jobs to the county to counter-balance the tourism-based jobs," she says. High quality jobs are defined as those that pay more than 120 percent of the region's current average wage. She concedes that there is no where that better on-the-job education exists for tourism or construction, "but our other positions have been somewhat limited."

Watermeier cites 18 companies recently attracted to Southwest Florida that specifically satisfy the 120 percent rule. And according to the Lee EDO, a total of about 2500 jobs were created in the last three years by new locations and significant expansions of existing businesses. "It is continuing to get better," Watermeier says modestly of her 800-a-year average. "We continue to try to diversify the economy."

The Gartner Group, which Watermeier describes as "the Consumer Reports of the computer industry," is an example of exactly the sort of enterprise Watermeier works to attract. Headquartered in Connecticut, The Gartner Group opened its Finance and Sales Center with 400 new jobs, creating a ripple-effect impact of more than $31 million. And PPG Industries has opened its LYNX Services offices here using more than 300 employees to process insurance claims. Add Sony, Carnival Air Lines, PrimeCo and the like, and one gets a sense, too, of the quality of the new jobs being created.

How Much Is Enough?

No specific numbers could be found to determine how many new job seekers enter the Southwest Florida job market each year. But we do know that according to Florida Department of Education statistics, area high schools graduate more than 4,000 students, of whom about half go on to college. That leaves 2,000 still at home, perusing the local help wanted ads. Also, a larger and larger portion of the nearly 30,000 people who newly relocate here annually are not retirees. Other factors such as resident retirings and local college graduations affect the number some, but new jobs would need to be created at about the rate of 10,000 each year in order to keep young Johnny and Suzy close to home.

Although the very significant achievements of Southwest Florida's corporate-hunting agencies indicate the vibrancy of our business climate, those additions must be matched by local employers growing more jobs and recruiting in their own backyards. For example, Allen Systems, a local computer company with an international clientele, is currently formulating strategies and policies to boost recruitment locally, according to Allison Sullivan, Allen's Manager of Public Relations.

Other examples lie in the government sector. The Collier County Sheriff's Department operates an internship program which, for at least one college graduate, resulted in a hometown job. "I didn't apply other places, or look at other towns," says Kristin Perry, a recent Stetson alumna. "I wanted to come back here."

She is now a communications specialist, handling 911 calls and dispatching emergency services. During college, she worked as a paid intern in the Collier jail administration division, but her education and experience had suited her to work anywhere, in any department. Her senior research efforts were focused on law enforcement, and she rode with the very active Volusia County Sheriff's deputies. "I've learned things that I've never dreamed of knowing," Perry says. Her job performance as an intern lead to her being asked back to Collier County full time.

Perry interned in Collier County because she spent her summers at home, and she was hired in Collier because the internship had been a showcase for her abilities. Had she interned and showcased in Volusia County, or in Seattle, she would have been more likely to settle there after school. The Sheriff's program worked.

Opportunity Knocks

Southwest Florida creates opportunities to call its own home, just as it calls new people. Dr. Joseph Reyes, a board certified optometric physician, grew up in San Carlos Park. He did his post-graduate work in Tennessee and at The University of Miami. Now, two years later, he runs an office for the Eye Centers of Florida.

"I pretty much have everything I want," he says. "I'm the manager of my own office and make my own hours. I think I've attained the pinnacle of what my career has to offer."

He came back because rapid growth meant business potential. "There are a lot of opportunities for anyone who wants to come back. [Southwest Florida includes] the fastest growing counties in U.S. It was almost easier for me to return." There was also a built-in customer base. "People who knew me as a small boy... now I'm taking care of their visual needs," he says. "That makes it nice."

Richard Woodruff is another hometown boy who was drawn back. His family moved to Naples in 1938, and his father became principal of Naples High. Then, Naples High had about 500 students. Now, the same urban area is served by four high schools with a total enrollment of more than 6,000.

In part, it was this rate of growth that led Woodruff back -- at least the first time in 1972. "When I came back originally, I found that the county government needed me to work in planning," he recalls.

Rapid