North Brevard Economic Development Zone Report
BREVARD COUNTY •TITUSVILLE, FLORIDA – Following is a quarterly review of business news in Mims, Port St. John, Scottsmoor, and Titusville, Florida published by the North Brevard Economic Development Zone:
Draper, a renowned engineering innovation and research firm, has announced plans to acquire an approximately 5-acre site in Titusville’s Riverfront Center business park for the development of an initial 37,000 sq. ft. testing and production facility, for analysis of critical guidance, navigation, and control technologies on missile systems. The new testing facility, which will involve the construction of a large centrifuge (a device that subjects an object to centrifugal force), is located just eight miles from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The project is expected to result in a capital investment of more than $50 million.
Serving as development partner in the project is North American Properties (NAP), which also owns an approximately 20-acre site in Riverfront Center, and an 11-acre parcel in the county’s Spaceport Commerce Park. It will lead the development, permitting, and construction of the facility.
As the U.S. Navy’s prime contractor for strategic guidance systems, Draper has designed and supported the guidance system for every fleet ballistic missile deployed since 1955, according to Draper CEO and president, Dr. Jerry Wohletz.
The new facility, termed Draper’s Strategic Enhanced Ground Test Facility (SEGTF), will enable the company to provide engineering research and development services for its customers in the national security, space systems, and electronic systems industries. The initial employment footprint at the facility will be 50, but Draper expects that number at the Titusville campus to grow in future years.
Additional information can be found at www.draper.com.
Des Moines, Iowa-based TWC Services, a parts and servicing firm that began in 1906, has leased approximately 12,000 sq. ft. of industrial space on Capron Road in Titusville for its “Space Coast” operations center. The company provides parts for HVAC systems and refrigeration units, including commercial-grade ice machines and other commercial kitchen equipment items. TWC also operates a team of service technicians that provide scheduled maintenance and emergency repairs. The Titusville site, staffed by 10 employees, plans to service all of Brevard County and parts of east central Florida.
To learn more about this company, visit www.twcservices.com.
Olympian LED, Inc., a manufacturing company that provides LED lighting for signage and displays, has announced plans to acquire a 4.5-acre lot in the Spaceport Commerce Park in Titusville, for the construction of a new 15,000 sq. ft. facility for production, fabrication, and assembly; the new facility will also house the company’s administrative offices and parts warehousing. Olympian LED, which currently leases space along the Hopkins Avenue industrial corridor near downtown Titusville, has been in operation since 2014. According to information supplied by company CEO, Braden O’Keefe, the project – representing both land acquisition and new building construction – is expected to result in a capital expenditure of more than $2.5 million.
For more information on the company, visit www.olympianled.com.
The KEY Group, a real estate development firm based in Boca Raton, Florida, has received preliminary site permitting from the City of Titusville to begin sitework and construction activities on a new 200,000 sq. ft. industrial building; the new structure will be located on a parcel of land owned by The Titusville Cocoa Airport Authority, near Grissom Parkway and Space Coast Regional Airport. Marketed as “Space Coast Innovation Park,” the KEY Group expects to build at least two additional industrial buildings on the 50-acre parcel, which it anticipates will be leased by light manufacturing firms and companies operating in the logistics sectors. Given the growth of the aerospace industry locally, the development firm also expects to have tenants representing that industry sector. According to KEY Group president, Kathleen Yonce, the project represents an initial capital investment of more than $10 million.
For more information on the KEY Group and its recent projects, visit www.consultkey.com.
INDUSTRIAL PARK CHOSEN FOR FPL PROGRAM
Working in concert with the City of Titusville’s Economic Development Department and the North Brevard Economic Development Zone (NBEDZ), the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast (EDC) recently secured a grant commitment on behalf of the Spaceport Commerce Park in Titusville from Florida Power & Light (FPL) under its “Florida First Sites” program. The First Sites program is an effort to improve an industrial site’s readiness for development, and to assist the EDC with marketing those sites to economic development consultants, commercial realtors, and corporate real estate teams.
The Brevard County-owned Spaceport Commerce Park, encompassing over one hundred acres of available light industrial land, was selected as one of ten locations in Florida to be awarded the FPL grant commitment. Working in collaboration with Global Location Services (GLS), a leading site selection and economic development consulting firm, the grant proceeds will enable the EDC, the NBEDZ, and the City of Titusville to accelerate the site readiness of the park’s remaining parcels. GLS will create marketing materials for the commerce park and will assist FPL in promoting the lands on the Florida First Sites webpage.
To learn more about this initiative, visit www.spacecoastedc.org.
SPOTLIGHT: LINDE INDUSTRIAL GASES
With a plant facility in Mims, Linde is a world leader in supplying industrial gases and engineering systems to a variety of manufacturing and institutional concerns; last year, the publicly traded firm posted sales of more than $33 billion. The company recently completed a major capital expansion of its Mims plant, which now employs more than 40 people at the site. Linde serves many markets, including chemicals and energy, food and beverage, electronics, healthcare, and local companies in the aerospace sector. From its founding in 1879, the company has expanded through several acquisitions, including the recent purchase of NuC02 (a leading provider of beverage carbonation) ten years ago.
For more information on this “spotlight” company, go to www.linde.com.
MOVE OVER, WILLY WONKA
The Greater Titusville Area is home to many manufacturing and production firms, but perhaps none sweeter than Butler’s Raw Chocolates, a producer of candy and confections. Founded in 2008, the company recently expanded from the City of Cocoa (aptly named, in this case) to Titusville two years ago, leasing 4,000 sq. ft. of space for “chocolate manufacturing” on Hopkins Avenue. Needless to say, the company has no difficulty recruiting workers (or Oompa Loompas) to work inside. The firm is also a leading provider of raw “superfood” chocolates, which include organic ingredients to provide nutrition, with its chocolates close to 35 on the Glycemic Index (GI) scale.1 Butler’s now ships its chocolates to all fifty states.
To learn more, or to simply stare at pieces of chocolate displayed on your computer screen, go to www.butlersrawchocolates.com.
ECONOMIC BOXSCORE
Local Employment Data. The table below shows the latest employmentstatistics for the northern part of Brevard County, Florida – principally, the communities or Mims, Port St. John, Scottsmoor, and Titusville – according to seasonally unadjusted figures obtained from the Florida Department of Commerce (its Local Area Unemployment Statistics, or LAUS, data set), and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
August 2023 A Year Ago (August 2022) Percent Change
| County Unemployment Rate | 3.2 % | 2.9 % | |
| County Labor Force Size | 308,591 | 298,450 | 3.4 % |
| Titusville Unemployment Rate | 3.3 % | 2.9 % | |
| Titusville Labor Force Size | 22,889 | 22,209 | 3.06 % |
| State Unemployment Rate | 3.1 % | 3.3 % | |
| State Labor Force Size | 11,226,000 | 10,838,000 | 3.58 % |
1 The Glycemic Index (GI) scale ranges from 0 to 100, with pure glucose at the highest score, 100. Eating low GI foods can help a person maintain tighter control of the body’s blood sugar – particularly important for diabetics.
Local Real Estate Market, as of August 2023. According to the Space Coast Board of REALTORS, “Closed Home Sales” (single family homes) for August were down -7.1%, with 936 units closed, compared to 1,008 units a year prior (August 2022). “New Pending Sales” were also down, by -13.7% over the previous year, along with “New Listings” – an indication of available housing stock – at -7.0%.
The Median Sales Price for a Brevard single family home was down slightly, by -2.1% (to $370,000), compared to last year during the same period, which saw the Median Sales Price at $377,835. “Months’ Supply of Inventory” of homes for sale was up, by 20.0% to 2.4 months, an increase from 2.0 months during August 2022.
For additional information on key economic statistics for the North Brevard area, please visit www.NBEDZ.org and www.SpaceCoastMLS.com.
AVAILABLE OFFICE BUILDING
Available 41,000 sq. ft. office building for sale, constructed in 1988, at corner of Grumman Place and SR 405 in Titusville; asking price of $6.95 million. Situated on 9 acres, with a “campus feel.” Contains conference rooms, break rooms, and a receiving area with hydraulic lift. Separate utility building with roll-up doors and office space. Paved parking areas can accommodate 100 vehicles.
For more information, contact Brian Lightle at brian@teamlbr.com, or 321-863-3228.
ABOUT NORTH BREVARD AND THE ZONE
The North Brevard Economic Development Zone (NBEDZ), created in July 2011 by the Brevard County (Florida) Board of County Commissioners, is a Special Dependent District under Florida Statutes, Chapters 125 and 189. The Zone was formed with the goal of facilitating job growth and economic development in the northern part of Brevard County following the end of NASA’s Space Shuttle program. In that regard, it seeks to provide financial and technical assistance to businesses prepared to make a substantial capital investment in the area and create a significant number of new jobs. To view the Zone’s written Economic
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