Andy Corty, Publisher
Florida Trend Magazine
Welcome to Florida Trend's special report on Florida's Heartland. In this e-zine format, you'll see the full article that was featured in our September 2014 issue.
The report, written by Jason Garcia, covers the six-county region with the latest demographics, economic trends, top employers, business assets and a who's who list of business and community leaders.
While the largest Heartland employers are engaged predominantly in agribusiness--raising cattle, growing and processing sugar cane, orchids, citrus, tomatoes and other row crops, or making fertilizer--change is coming, driven in part by larger economic forces.
As the region's business community looks "to refine rather than drastically alter its economic mix", opportunities are on the horizon with Mosaic Co.'s expansion of its mining operations in Hardee County. And further south, a 6,700-acre "inland port" combining warehousing, distribution and transportation services on one site, could spur the development of manufacturing firms in the region.