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Most manufacturers report good financial times and express pleasure with their Pasco experience. Still, they have complaints.
By JAMES THORNER
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 27, 2000
LAND O'LAKES -- Pasco County to the business community: You like me, you really like me!
A survey of local manufacturers sponsored by the Pasco Economic Development Council reveals that most of the businesses appear to be thriving in their place of work.
Of the 87 manufacturers that answered the survey, 89 percent said they increased sales in 1999, 54 percent said they hired more workers and 97 percent rated their Pasco experience as "excellent, good or fair."
Some of the positive feedback is due to a surging economy that is raising all boats. Still, the Pasco Economic Development Council, whose job is to retain and recruit industry in Pasco, trumpeted the numbers as a success.
One of those winners was BK Plastics Industry Inc., manufacturer of heat-formed plastic parts in Odessa. Employment is up 50 percent. Sales climbed 79 percent the first quarter of this year.
"Pasco's been great," said company president Bruce Knecht.
On the down side, the survey registered complaints about the county's business climate. At the top of the gripe list: poor roads, the area's relatively unskilled work force and troubles with zoning and permitting.
Knecht complains about potholes near his office on Byrd Drive and the difficulty of finding able workers.
"The lack of skilled labor is terrible," he said. "Any given time I've got two or three temps. They're the bottom of the barrel, but I've got no choice."
John Walsh, who tracks existing businesses for the development council, said some of the problems are solvable. For example, Pasco-Hernando Community College offers plenty of job training.
"We're identifying any problem areas there may be. If these companies have a problem, we want to talk to them," Walsh said.
The survey also showed a business community plugged into the world beyond Pasco. Respondents reported that 92 percent of their sales, totaling $227-million, came from outside the county.
"That's new money brought into the economy that's then being circulated," Walsh said.
The economic development council has been sponsoring surveys for about 10 years. The 87 companies that responded this year represented 26 percent of the 336 surveys mailed out.