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Business Outlook 2006

Cutting down on commuting

By PHIL DAVIS
Published February 19, 2006

Southbound in the morning. Northbound at night.

The daily migration of Pasco County residents to jobs in Tampa and St. Petersburg is plodding and predictable. County officials say about half of its working residents commute to jobs in other counties.

Pasco will always be a bedroom community.

But, a few workers at a time, new players in the Pasco business world are working to stanch the morning flow of commuters:

KATHY JOHNSON, PRESIDENT, PASCO-HERNANDO COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Johnson stepped into the forefront of Pasco County's economic development efforts when she took the college's top office on Jan. 18, 2005.

Pasco-Hernando Community College is a centerpiece of the Pasco County Economic Development Council's work force training program. The idea is to show manufacturing businesses there are trained and ready workers in the county.

"We're hoping we can lure some of these manufacturers to Pasco and Hernando County," said Johnson, who also serves on the council's board. "We want them to realize a majority of the work force is sitting in a car driving south."

Using state grants and matching funds from companies, the college offers services such as management training courses and computer security classes aimed at Pasco's manufacturing and industrial work force. The EDC estimates grants and matching funds amounted to $570,000 worth of training for Pasco workers in 2005.

Johnson said Pasco's rapid growth was key in attracting her to the job.

"The potential is just phenomenal, obviously, in an area where so much change is happening so quickly," she said. "I think education is a fundamental common denominator for any type of positive growth and development. I view our role as critical."

Johnson, 54, is a Floridian by heart. Before she took charge at PHCC, Johnson ran a college in North Carolina, where she was born.

But she grew up in Jacksonville. She saw a return to Florida as a chance to live closer to her grandchildren, ages 4 and 8, and take on a new career challenge.

"I'm having a wonderful time," she said. PETER BUCZYNSKY, PRESIDENT, MICRON PHARMAWORKS INC.

Working with PHCC to train employees is one of the perks that led Micron PharmaWorks Inc. to relocate in 2005 from Hillsborough County to the West Pasco Industrial Park in Odessa.

"We would like to open this place up, almost like an apprentice program," Buczynsky said. "We want to work with local community colleges and vocational schools."

Micron PharmaWorks fills a unique niche in the pharmaceutical packaging industry. The company's main business is rebuilding thermoformer machines that seal individual pills into foil blister packs. Since it started in 2001, the company has expanded to design and build entire packaging systems.

The machines are big. The company has already filled its 20,000-square-foot facility in Odessa.

Buczynsky and his partners, Ingo Sederle and Ben Brower, started looking for more manufacturing space in 2003. They settled on Pasco because of its central location.

"We didn't want to go any farther south," Buczynsky said. "For us, it was geographical."

The 39-year-old executive, who lives in Odessa, said he is among many Micron PharmaWorks employees who commuted to Hillsborough from Pasco.

He still drives a lot on the job. But he is glad to be working closer to home and his three kids, ages 9, 7 and 3.

"For me," he said, "it's great."

JIM TAKATS, PRESIDENT, OPINICUS

Takats, a 47-year-old Ozona resident, will have a longer commute when his aircraft simulator manufacturing plant opens at the Suncoast Crossings office and industrial complex this month. But most of the company's roughly 50 employees live in Pasco, many in the Trinity area. Takats' partner, Mark Budd, lives in Pilot Country.

Cutting down on employee commuting coupled with the availability of a large amount of manufacturing room available only half an hour north of Tampa International Airport sealed the deal for Opinicus.

"We work with clients from all over the place - China, Korea, the Netherlands," Takats said. "Being near the airport was key."

Takats and Budd met in the 1980s at Reflectone, a Tampa simulator manufacturing company, which has since been absorbed by Canadian Aviation Electronics Ltd. In 1988, they decided to strike out on their own. Now Opinicus builds the whole package: flight simulators complete with motion platforms and powerful computer graphics to add realism to aircraft training.

"We do everything," Takats said. "We recently delivered a C-130 for Air Force special operations. We have several contracts with special operations. We built an A320 (airliner simulator) for Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong."

Takats said he may be able to add up to 50 employees as the business expands.

"It's definitely a growing industry," he said. "The technology is getting better and cost is coming down."

The 47-year-old electrical engineer said he will miss the short drive to the company's old Clearwater facility. But the avid fisherman and father of three (ages 24, 19 and 13) is okay with being a commuter.

"I'm one of the unfortunate few," Takats said. "I live in Ozona, down in the Palm Harbor area. I'm over by the water and I love it."

[Last modified February 19, 2006, 01:09:21]