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JUSTIN GEORGEAn economic consultant says Citrus County can't continue to rely on service industry jobs.
CRYSTAL RIVER - The number of jobs in Citrus County is growing more quickly than the rest of the state or nation, but well-paying employers here have been on a free fall for more than a decade, leaving the county dependent on retirees' income.
That analysis, provided by an economic consultant, didn't shock many in the crowd of local leaders Thursday who met over breakfast at Plantation Inn to hear the economic study. But it dramatically reminded the 120 influential attendees that Citrus' economy desperately needs more manufacturing and high-tech employers - not the low-paying Wal-Marts, Lowe's stores or Home Depots that keep calling.
"You are literally getting bigger," Bill Fruth, president of the Palm City-based POLICOM Corp., said in describing Citrus' economy, "but, concurrently, getting poorer."
Fruth, a former Ohio mayor who later worked to bring economic development to South Florida, is a national economic research consultant who has studied cities and counties throughout the nation, including Pasco County.
Hired by Citrus County's publicly and privately funded Economic Development Council, Fruth was assigned the task of analyzing Citrus' economy.
He concluded that the county needs to attract more high-paying employers soon before residential growth goes bust by the end of the decade and the county's reliance on retirees and the low-paying service economy they fuel fails.
Fruth's grim analysis was punctuated by statistics that showed the county ranking as the 42nd fastest-growing population among 318 metropolitan areas in the 1990s - but 265th in average annual earnings.
Even worse economically, he said, the amount of retirement income per capita in Citrus - generated by Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and pensions - ranked no lower than second in the nation. That's not as much of a surprise considering Citrus has one of the state's oldest populations with 32 percent of residents 65 or older.
But the retirement population, seeking lawn care and waiters, has led to a large service industry, which is Citrus' top employer as a group. Behind service employers are the retail, banking and real estate, construction, local government, and transportation and utility industries.
However, service ranks among the lowest industries with regards to worker pay. Meanwhile, utility providers such as Progress Energy Corp. rank first among high-paying industries, followed by federal, state and local governments.
"The nuclear power plant and retirement industry," Fruth said, summing up Citrus' two greatest assets. "Outside that you have little of anything else."
Citrus can go two ways, Fruth said. It could continue on its path and watch its economy grow in size, fed by a massive migration of retirees who will buy up all the new homes here until there's no more room to build. At that point, Fruth said, Citrus' economy will begin declining - possibly as soon as 2010.
Or, he said, Citrus could begin an ambitious plan to add 90 new jobs this year that pay an annual wage of $32,210 - almost $5,000 more than Citrus' average annual wage of $27,344. Then, he said, those numbers should increase each year until a better economic balance is reached.
While attracting Wal-Mart and other large retail stores has become a priority of local governments that crave sales tax windfalls, Fruth said, they are "consumptive" businesses that take more money out of a community than they contribute.
"It's not economic development - it's local government finance development," Fruth said. "Typically, retail is the lowest-paying jobs of any economy."
Instead, Fruth proposed several ways to boost the economy. He said Citrus needs to identify good employers and start programs to retain them while recruiting other well-paying businesses using direct mail, trade shows, cold calls and door-to-door marketing strategies.
Citrus should help new businesses start up by buying or building industrial sites for their use with adequate water, sewer and technological infrastructure.
Such space has been sorely lacking in the county, government and business leaders have long said, and they are trying to stem the tide by creating an industrial park on the border of the Inverness Airport. The county has already bought 162 acres for the project.
For businesses considering relocation, governments should give incentives, such as low-interest loans, tax exemptions, discounts on real estate or reduced fees, Fruth said.
"It can be changed," Fruth said of Citrus' economy. "Other communities have done it."
After the meeting, some government leaders pondered immediate action. Frank DiGiovanni, Inverness city manager, said Citrus governments need to create more business partnerships to identify, acquire and build more industrial sites.
County Commissioner Roger Batchelor said he wants to look at easing up on impact fees for new businesses. Impact fees are paid by developers to account for the burden their growth leaves on county services, such as roads, schools, parks and libraries.
A county planning consultant has recommended huge increases in Citrus' fees, which will be reviewed by county commissioners later this year. Many growth control advocates support making growth pay its own way through raised fees.
"I know what the community is feeling toward using impact fees to slow development," Batchelor said, "but we have to look at the economic side of the picture."
- Justin George can be reached at 860-7309 or jgeorge@sptimes.com