In Glades County, pro-business state tax policies and competitive cost of doing business coupled with a “Can Do” attitude, willing partners among private landowners, county government, economic development professionals and other stakeholders and abundant, affordable land all make Glades County the best business climate in Florida.
There is an ease to doing business in Glades County which can be found no where else in the Sunshine State. Not only does Glades County offer expedited permitting, but the Glades County administration, from the Board of County Commissioners to the County Manager welcome new opportunities and staff are dedicated to facilitating new business relocation and expansion. A simple rezoning can be completed in Glades County in two months, building permits with stamped engineered drawings issued in ten days. Impact fees have been waived in Glades County indefinitely.
Quality of Life
By location, landscape and culture, Glades County represents the Heartland of Florida. Here, agriculture remains a primary industry for its residents and its natural resources remain their playground.
With more than 30 miles of Lake Okeechobee shoreline, 60 miles of Caloosahatchee River frontage and 52 miles of paddling trails on pristine Fisheating Creek, Glades County offers nature-based tourism assets that are unparalleled in Florida, be you a birder, biker, boater, hunter, fisherman or paddler. For more information on recreational opportunities in Glades County, please visit the Glades County Tourism Development Council at www.visitglades.org
For more information on tourism-based business opportunities, contact Tracy Whirls, executive director at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Education
Glades County Schools are among the best performing in the Heartland Education Consortium. Enrollment is growing, as evidenced by the opening of new $26 million Moore Haven Junior Senior High School in April 2015. Part of this growth may be attributed to the fact that the Moore Haven High School Scholarship Foundation is committed to providing a scholarship for college or vocational training to every senior who applies. The Glades County Regional Training Center offers customized, grant-funded training for businesses which expand or locate in Glades County, and will begin offering CDL training by Suncoast Trucking Academy in January 2017.
Housing
New housing options in Glades County are growing. Branch Countryside Estates will build 51 site-built homes with a choice of floor plans, while Haven Homes is home to six site built homes with a new spec home currently under construction. A new 50-unit affordable housing rental complex with community center is under construction just off City Limits Road, while more than 38,000 square feet of mixed use commercial and residential space is planned for the City of Moore Haven’s Marina District.
Healthcare and Public Safety
The new LEEDS-Silver Certified Glades County Health Department opened in the Glades County Compound in January 2011. The $5 million facility also houses Florida Community Health Centers, which offers primary care (including dentistry) and corporate health services on-site. Just north of the Health Department is the new Glades County Emergency Operations Center, offering emergency services including fire and EMS and thus reduced insurance rates to businesses locating in the Business and Commerce Park or Americas Gateway. The Glades County Sheriff’s Office and Emergency Management are on-site as well.
Connectivity
Glades County offers connectivity with the larger urban landscape, through an excellent and largely uncongested road system via US 27, recognized as the major freight corridor connecting to Port Everglades and Port Miami with linkages to I-75 and the Florida Turnpike. It is served by two Class I railroads, CSX and Florida East Coast (FEC), via South Central Florida Express. Intermodal access is available via the Okeechobee Waterway.
Glades County also enjoys connectivity to the urban landscape through its affiliations with SWFL International Airport, Florida Gulf Coast University and other institutions, and to the larger world with broadband infrastructure, including largely untapped “dark fiber” that runs adjacent to US 27 connecting to hot spots in Orlando and Miami.
In short, Glades County offers proximity to the attractions of the urban landscape, while at the same time it offers residents, visitors and newcomers the serenity that can only be found outside the high traffic urban corridors.