The flood of corporate capital into Central Florida isn't confined to Polk. From Tampa to Orlando to Melbourne and many communities in between, Corporate America is finding the I-4 belt to be the land of opportunity.
   Sam Evans, project manager for International Corporate Park in Orlando, says that with both Orlando Central Park and Airport International Park of Orlando near build- out, the demand for industrial sites is shifting to Southeast Orlando and places beyond.
   "We're running out of industrial land in key locations in Orlando," says Evans. "International Corporate Park was really the first project in Orlando after Florida passed its landmark Growth Management Act in 1984. With 3,000 acres

Hurricane-resistant window and door maker WinDoor Inc. will open a new plant in Orlando's International Corporate Park in mid- May 2006.

[1,215 hectares], we have plenty of land."
   ICP is cashing in. Correct Craft's 200,000- sq.-ft. (18,580- sq.-m.) boat manufacturing plant will open in ICP this summer, and a $14- million, 310,000- sq.-ft. (28,799- sq.-m.) WinDoor Inc. plant is scheduled to open May 15.
   The WinDoor project retains more than 200 jobs and will add another 200 jobs over the next few years. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of hurricane- resistant windows and doors, products that have been in great demand since four major hurricanes slammed into Florida in 2004.
   As in- town sites get scarce, Orlando's suburban markets rake in the growth. Orlando- based CuraScript Inc., a national pharmaceutical distributor, plans to build a $12.4- million, 65,000- sq.-ft. (6,038- sq.-m.) customer service facility near Orlando International Airport. The project will create 350 jobs by the end of 2007, bringing total employment at CuraScript to 1,000.
   Staples, the office-supply retail chain, is opening a 555,000- sq-ft. (51,559- sq.-m.) distribution center in Orlando by the end of August, and Orlando-based Darden Restaurants recently announced plans to build a new $100- million corporate headquarters.
   At the eastern end of the Florida High- Tech Corridor, ASRC Aerospace Corp. announced March 15 that it will add up to 1,000 jobs during the next several years at the Kennedy Space Center. The firm will work on projects aimed at assisting NASA's conversion from the space shuttle to a new space vehicle.
   Most of the new ASRC jobs will be in engineering positions that pay up to $100,000 a year. The company currently employs 230 workers in Cape Canaveral and 700 companywide.
   Based in Anchorage, Alaska, ASRC was founded by Inupiat Eskimos and began its operations in Brevard County on Florida's East Coast in April 2002. The firm competed for and won a $220- million University- Affiliated Spaceport Technology Development Contract from NASA in early 2003.
   John Adams, president and CEO of Enterprise Florida, the state's public- private economic development agency based in Orlando, says jobs like those created at ASRC are vital to Florida's future.
   "Gov. Jeb Bush has committed $250 million to attract high value-added companies like pharmaceutical firms and photonics firms," Adams said. "That is part of what we call the innovation value chain. It includes putting more state money into education, incentives and venture capital."
   Adams notes that while Florida consistently leads the nation in job creation, the Enterprise Florida plan is to land the expected 14,000 high- tech jobs to be created by the new Crew Exploration Vehicle space program.
   "Over 250,000 jobs were created in Florida last year. Over the last decade, Florida created more than 25 percent of the nation's new jobs," Adams added. "Orlando last year created more jobs than Michigan and Minnesota combined. But we are not content with that growth. That is why the governor is pushing his $630- million economic development package through the Florida Legislature this spring."
   If that legislation passes, as expected, it will be the single-largest commitment to economic development ever made by Florida.
   "People forget that we had seven hurricanes in 24 months and yet we still led the entire nation in job growth," said Adams. "No one is canceling their plans to come here.