In 2004, Florida led all states with 14 of the nation's 100 fastest-growing counties, as the state of 17 million residents just kept welcoming more. That news comes on top of a 6.5-percent increase in population between 2000 and 2003 and a 24-percent jump between 1990 and 2000. No wonder 2004 saw Miami place eighth in the nation in newly authorized privately owned housing permits, followed by Orlando in 12th place and Tampa in the 13th spot. Meanwhile, Port St. Lucie was tabbed by the Census Bureau as the country's fastest-growing large city, growing by 12 percent between July 2003 and July 2004. No wonder the community saw a $45-million, 120-employee printing and distribution project from Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers (the "other" Scripps, but in-state a lot longer than West Palm Beach newcomer Scripps Institute).
      By 2025, the U.S. Census Bureau reports, the state's population will be poised to break the 20 million barrier, trailing only Texas and California in that rarefied but crowded air. All of these statistics only reinforce the logic behind many corporate investments in the state, as rebuilding and new building coincide.
      Poised to help out both at the rate of 1.8 million tons per year is the new $200-million Pennsuco cement plant from Titan America LLC's Florida Business, which maintains operations of various types in 29 different Florida cities. The complex in Medley is also home to a ready-mix plant, aggregates quarry and concrete block plant. Titan America LLC, a subsidiary of Greece-based Titan Cement Company SA, is based in Norfolk, Va., and employs more than 1,800.

Whether rebuilding or just plain building, Indiana-based Steel Dynamics subsidiary New Millennium Building Systems sees the Southeast as one of the leading markets for non-residential construction growth. That's why the maker of steel decking components has invested $32 million in this Lake Co. complex.

      Located on a 6,000-acre (2,428-hectare) spread in Miami-Dade Co., the Pennsuco cement plant employs around 130 people. The company also plans to import cement from Greece through the expanding Port of Tampa, and recently was examining the possibility of expanding quarrying on another 930 acres (376 hectares) in Miami-Dade Co. In recent positive financials, the company credited both the Pennsuco plant and the new Tampa terminal for boosting profitability in the U.S.
      The plant, fitted with advanced heat and materials recovery systems, was called "one of the largest and most modern cement plants in the country and the world," by Hardy Johnson, president, Titan Florida. "Environmentally the plant has the lowest emissions, per ton of cement produced, of any cement plant in the state."
      The plant's clinker will help put a dent in the pronounced U.S. cement shortage. The Conway New Plant database shows nearly 50 cement or concrete product projects on the books since Jan. 2003. Late in 2004, the industry's Portland Cement Association showed seven coming online in 2004 and 12 more by 2008. A May 2005 update reported that Florida was one of many states with tight supply conditions, as the country's first-quarter cement consumption increased by 7 percent over a strong 2004 level. As a consequence, while PCA projects imports making up 25 percent of cement consumption from 2005-2007, it also reports that U.S. cement manufacturers currently have plans in place to expend some $3.5 billion by 2010 in order to boost domestic capacity by 15 percent, or 14.5 million annual tons.
      Over the years, scrap tires have been one source of fuel for cement plants. But in Brevard County, up the east coast of the state, scrap tires are fueling the local economy to the tune of 70 new jobs and a $5.5 million investment. RMD Americas, an outgrowth of a Spanish company, recovers rubber, artificial fibers, metal and steel wire and other metals used in tire manufacturing, then uses them in other products or finds recycled-content markets for them. The company looked at sites in North Carolina and Ohio before settling on a site in Rockledge, in part due to incentives offered by the City of Cocoa and Brevard Co.
      Meanwhile, other Florida construction materials firms are also growing. In Lake City, at the junction of I-10 and I-75 in Columbia County, New Millennium Building Systems, the building components subsidiary of Indiana-based Steel Dynamics, is ramping up with a $32-million, 270,000-sq.-ft. (25,083-sq.-m.) manufacturing plant on a 70-acre (28-hectare) site. The plant began actual production of joists, girders and trusses in February 2005 and steel decking shipments in April 2005. After it starts hiring for production positions in the fourth quarter of 2005, it could ultimately employ about 175 people.
      Steel Dynamics pursued the project because it sees the Southeast as one of the country's best prospects for non-residential construction growth. The Butler, Ind.-based subsidiary launched in 2000, and it expects the new plant to be profitable by the third quarter of 2005. Wondering where it's looking next? the company Web site states that it "has also begun exploring options for further expansion in the Western U.S., which would permit the company to serve growing markets in the West Coast and Southwest regions."
      In Boynton Beach, just south of West Palm, specialty glazing contractor Harmon, Inc. is doubling its space, in addition to maintaining its operations in Tampa and Orlando, in order to develop its first center of excellence. The center will be the primary fabricator of Harmon's two hurricane impact curtainwall systems for single- and multi-span commercial building applications.