SOUTHEAST REGIONAL REVIEW -- Site Selection magazine, July 2006

'Can-Do' Thinking Solves Local Company's Fix

hen lack of manufacturing space threatened to torpedo a major customer contract, Mary Freeman, president and co-founder of Palm City, Fla.-based Awareness Technology, found the ally she needed in Martin County's business development team. The company designs and manufactures sophisticated laboratory instruments, including chemical analyzers. The 135-person company exports 80 percent of its products to 105 countries around the world and had revenues exceeding US$17 million in 2005. Awareness received four major state and national awards that year, including the coveted E-Star citation for export performance; it was the only company in the United States awarded the honor that year.
Also in 2005, Awareness won a competitively bid contract from the Chinese government to manufacture equipment for that country's newly formed Center for Disease Control. The devices would be used to track the spread of HIV and

Mary Freeman is president of Awareness Technology. The award-winning Chemwell Automatic Chemistry Analyzer is at her left.

detect outbreaks of avian flu throughout China's numerous provinces. However, Freeman didn't have enough space to handle the contract in addition to customer orders pouring in from other countries in which her products are sold. The company needed more space.
"We are currently in three buildings, one of which we lease," she explains. "Unfortunately, we have to vacate our rented space by the end of 2007, because the owner has other plans for the building. We have 50 people in that building who are critical to the Chinese contract, so we had to come up with a viable solution in a short time," she recalls.
The company previously had purchased a 2.8-acre (1.13-hectare) parcel adjacent to the building Awareness Technology currently owns. "It's perfect. We can build a two-story structure in about nine months that will accommodate our people and still give us room to grow," Freeman says.

Fly in the Ointment

   But there was one problem. The parcel, which is bordered by land that is zoned for industrial use, is designated for commercial/office/residential (COR) use. Complicating that is a county ordinance that allows private individuals and companies to apply for a Land Use Amendment necessary to change a zoning designation only once a year, during September. If she missed the deadline, she would have to wait a full year before applying again. That would mean she wouldn't have time to erect her new building before her lease expired.
   Freeman and her husband and company co-founder, Gary, were discouraged and began to consider relocating part of the business out of the county.
   "We love it here – we live here, we raised our children here and grew our company right here in Martin County. But it looked like we had no other choice," Freeman explains.
   On a flight to Tallahassee to accept an award from Gov. Jeb Bush, Freeman discussed her problem with Ted Astolfi, executive director of the county's Business Development Board, who was accompanying her to the award ceremony. The Board is funded jointly by the county and the business community, and assists companies throughout Martin County with a full range of services. Freeman and Astolfi worked together several years earlier when the Freemans wanted to build their existing facility, a 30,000-sq.-ft. (2,800-sq.-m.) building completed in 2002. At that time, Astolfi assisted Awareness Technology with the time-consuming permitting process.
   "There was no 'how-to' manual for doing this, so Ted took us under his wing and walked us through the maze," Freeman says.
   This time, the situation was far different. She was facing extremely tight deadlines and was sitting with a piece of land on which she could not build. Astolfi again offered to help.

Out of Time

   "I knew she couldn't possibly make the September deadline for filing the Land Use Amendment application and would have to wait a full year to try again. I suggested that she ask the County Commission itself to apply for the amendment because, as a municipality, it can do so at any time," he says.
   When they returned from their meeting with the Governor, Freeman developed a presentation and subsequently appeared before the County Commission during a public comment session. She pleaded her case, discussing the new Chinese contract and its implications for both the county and Awareness Technology, and asked the Commission to initiate the amendment application on her company's behalf.
   The Commission thanked her for her presentation, then directed staff to draft an agenda item for their meeting later that same day so they could act on Freeman's request immediately. By 5 p.m. that afternoon, the request was an agenda item. The Commission voted unanimously to add this county comprehensive plan amendment to the list of items being forwarded to the Florida Department of Community Affairs, which reviews and approves such requests. Next, the land use amendment was sent to the County's Local Planning Agency which reviewed it to be sure it is consistent with the county's overall Growth Management Plan. It then was sent to Tallahassee.
   "We see no reason why the state will not approve this application. If all goes as planned, Mary should receive her approval this summer," Astolfi asserts. "After that, she can submit her site and building plans for approval, and the structure conceivably can be under construction by the end of this year, with a move-in date that should be well before the termination of her lease," he adds.
   "I never thought a government entity could be so business-friendly and cooperative or move with such speed," says Freeman. "I know this County Commission had earlier passed a resolution stating that it supports business growth. However, this is a perfect example of government backing up its claims with action, and we couldn't be happier."