P

ensacola, Fla.- When Bryan Clark uprooted his successful New York-based business and relocated it here, there were more reasons behind the move than the Pensacola Bay Area's beautiful beaches, its charming historic district, or the laidback lifestyle. Of course, Clark admits that it did not hurt that on his first visit to Pensacola from New York State one November day, the temperature was a balmy 75 degrees.
      "I came here and absolutely fell in love," says Clark, CEO of Silver Bullet Technology, an industry leader in check scanning software. "I could not believe the welcome I received."Like other entrepreneurs who have found the Pensacola Bay Area over the last few years, Clark said he found a business environment with an almost unlimited upside and a living environment to match any anywhere.
      "The planets are aligning for the Pensacola Bay Area and I am delighted to be here during this exciting time," he said.
      The Pensacola Bay Area, a two-county area in Florida's northwest, is home to 500,000 people. While it is Florida to the core, with uncrowded beaches, lonely bayous, unspoiled rivers and streams, and history galore, Pensacola is also closer to New Orleans and Mobile than to Orlando or Miami. It is also closer to pre-boom Florida than anywhere else.
      All of these virtues, plus a savvy work force, great educational facilities, and the availability of a regional airport and a deep-water port, have led companies like the Navy Federal Credit Union to cast an eye in the direction of the Pensacola Bay Area.
      "We look forward to further developing and expanding our operations," said Brian McDonnell, president of Navy Federal Credit Union, which originally purchased 30 acres in the Heritage Oaks Commerce Park for the center that will employ over 500 by the end of 2005 while generating an estimated annual payroll in excess of $14 million. In 2004, they purchased 32 additional acres with plans to develop additional buildings and employ up to 1,300 more people by 2014. Their corporate campus will eventually grow to 200,000 square feet of office space and will provide various financial services such as consumer loans, mortgage and credit-card processing.
      Clark says the reason Silver Bullet Technologies came to the Pensacola Bay Area is that highly trained, highly motivated "knowledge workers" have the ability in our interconnected world to work wherever they choose.
      "Knowledge workers no longer chase jobs as they did in the heyday of Silicon Valley," he said. "They choose where they want to live first, then jobs flow into these communities. People are demanding a quality of life. The Pensacola Bay Area offers that."