BREAKING NEWS: Joe Francis a No Show for Court Proceeding
Joseph Francis of Girls Gone Wild did not appear in Bay County Federal Court as ordered by Judge Richard Smoak.
Joe Francis a No Show for Court Proceeding
Source: WMBB News Department
Bay Med Hosts Construction Tour
By: Allyson Walker
Florida’s Unemployment Rate Continues to Climb
Source: Associated Press
Thomas Drive and Joan Avenue to be Closed for Construction
Source: City of Panama City Beach
Rates for High-Risk Accounts Going Up
Source: Associated Press
Shoppers Should Know Their Rights Before the Holidays
Source: Associated Press
H1N1 Flu Vaccination Clinic on Saturday at the Bay County Health Department
Source: Bay County Health Department
Three Bay County Hospitals Go Smoke-Free
By: Erin Hawley
Social Network Helps Solve Crimes
By: Elizabeth Cate
Airport Board Controversy
By: Mary Scott Speigner
For Additional Headlines - go to our News Section »
- Man Arrested for Catching Goliath Grouper
made by concernedcitizen - Four Arrests Made in Connection to Weight Loss Clinics
made by kfarmer - Three Bay County Hospitals Go Smoke-Free
made by gator - Modern Medicine: New Mammography Guidelines Cause Controversy
made by retired one - Modern Medicine: New Mammography Guidelines Cause Controversy
made by Oldman
- Joe Francis a No Show for Court Proceeding
- Dr. Reed Expresses Remorse
- Update: New Details in Cocaine Case Emerge
- Woman Charged with Fatally Shooting Husband After Blaming Dog
- H1N1 Flu Vaccination Clinic for People 24 and Under
- Fountain Woman Charged with Husband’s Murder - First Appearance
- 2 Arrested in Copper Theft
- Cocaine Trial for Amy Cooper Continues
- 10 Worst Toys of the 2009 Holiday Season
- Tuberculosis Case at Arnold
Bay County, Fla:
While Panama City Beach and Lynn Haven show signs of growth with Pier Park and the new Wal-Mart, Panama City is losing businesses.
City officials say nearly a million dollars in tax revenue has been lost in the last year from businesses that have moved out of the city limits or shut their doors entirely.
Panama City Commissioners tell News 13 the city is in the process of hiring an Economic Development Director whose job will be to bring new businesses to Panama City. Commissioner Billy Rader says the position should be filled soon but could not give an exact date.
Other parts of the Community Redevelopment plan include better marketing. More visitors to the community mean more stores, and more stores mean more visitors.
However, their budget falls short of their main competition, Panama City Beach.
Panama City’s City Clerk Terri Lillard tells News 13, “The City budgeted $70,000 for a new position of Business Retention Specialist. Other than that, there are no funds directly budgeted for marketing except for miscellaneous items such as pencils, magnets, etc. in the Police and Fire departments.”
Panama City Beach’s marketing budget for this year is $3,000,000.
Despite the difference in funding, Commissioner Rader says they have to aggressively market Panama City using the city’s history and old charm to possibly attract a different crowd from the beach.
“We do have to compete we can’t just sit back and say we’re Panama City and they’re going to find us,” Rader says.
Wal-Mart, Circuit City and Linens ‘N Things are just three examples of the many businesses who used to service Panama City, whose absence has cost the city about $750,000 from their budget this year in missing tax dollars.
“That’s a big chunk and $500,000 of that was Wal-Mart,” Rader says.
But Commissioner Rader says the Wal-Mart on 23rd Street originally opened 22 years ago, and that many of the city’s stores have also been here for years.
In fact, city officials say the last top-ten money-maker that opened a business license with Panama City was Best Buy back in February of 2004, over five years ago.
But one of the areas that‘s suffering the most is the historic Downtown area of Panama City.
Years ago, Panama City resident Marior Brantley says it was a different picture, telling News 13, “It used to be real, real crowded down here all the time there was something going on all the time,”
Today, mainly privately-owned businesses, restaurants and offices fill the spaces. But many spaces sit empty.
“There’s a good number of places that open and close around here,” says Robert Wright, who owns the Cheese Barn, a restaurant in the heart of the Downtown area. He’s been in business in Panama City for 28 years, and says this is the toughest he’s seen it financially.
“A lot of your small business owners downtown are undercapitalized,” Wright says, “But its hard to gain capital when you’re basically just treading water.”
City leaders blame it on the national economy…
“Well you know that’s a sad situation, there are stores that are empty but that’s not just here that’s all over the United States of America,” says Rader.
But new stores in the surrounding towns paint a different picture.
Although leaders don’t have a specific plan or the budget to compete with surrounding towns, they do have ideas.
Rader says an opportunity known to many as Project Nemo is actually a plumbing business called Coast Products. He says the Texas-based company currently has an office in the St. Joe Industrial Park on Panama City Beach and is looking to expand to the 12 acres on Highway 231 across from the Panama City mall.
Rader says the company is promising 100 jobs with a salary of at least $37,000 a year for employees.
Although Rader says Panama City is high on the company’s list of potential locations, it has not made a final decision.
Another potential for growth is the more than 700 acres of land belonging to the old Panama City Bay County International Airport.
“A lot of our land is already developed so this is going to free up over 700 acres of land that we’ve never had that opportunity to help develop,” Rader says.
Rader says they eventually hope to create an area that combines stores, restaurants, and residences, similar to the Baytowne area of Destin. But that project is years away, and until then, city leaders are still faced with filling the empty buildings which once held thriving businesses.
as said before we need new businesses here, don there is just 1 problem with your judgement of lynn haven, panama city has grown about as big as it can, the real growth is moving up 77 79 and maybe 231. lets just hope one day that lynn haven can take over southport, yes taxes will go up some but it will be worth it.
Old money in the Cove killed Panama City. When people wanted to add business to the area they said no. Panama City needs to improve its ability to gain new revenue. Time to lower taxes on new business and get a factory in like North Charleston did with Boeing. Saving Sallie Mae does nothing for the tax payers of Panama City. This is about PC not Lynn Haven. They have more then replaced any jobs that will be lost by the Anti military Sallie Mae. I can count three troops who lost there Top Secret clearance because Sallie Mae wouldn’t budge. That constituted $750K in training and Clearances. I have heard many more stories.
They lost $750K with those business, Imagine what kind of loss they will suffer when this education bill passes and Salliemae is forced to close the Lynn Haven Call Center. That is going to be a huge economic blow to the area. I hope everyone who voted for osama enjoys the “change”. I usually am all about change when it is positive, but this is one change I’d do anything to avoid. I love my job, I love living in Bay County, but no job means I have to move where the jobs are, where I can make a living.
I don’t have a problem with the Casino thing, I’m all for it if it helps the community.
And I hope all politicians local and statewide read this to wake up and do their jobs.Or they will get voted out by the voting public next time!
Tax cuts would work to help but as long as you have one individual and his cronies slamming the doors on EVERYTHING that tries to come in here that would cause them to have to pay higher wages and even union scale salaries, it ain’t going to happen! How many times do we have to see this happen before we get somebody in our city and county commissions that tells this clod to shut and and sit down. He has his millions so why does he continue to strangle everything and everybody that might do this area some good? All we get are lame excuses. As for hiring somebody to promote this area, what a waste of money! Use the people you already have and put that $70 thousand to better use. How stupid does PC have to get before the lights finally come back on? Tax credits and infrastructure help will do wonders…...hello?????? Are any of you professional chair warmers listening????? As for casinos and that crap, it won’t do PC any good just the beaches. We need industry!!!
Why not start a letter writing program to big business and industry from local city comissioners and county officials also?Not too hard to go online and look up contact info for that.Tell these companies what we have to offer with our deep water access Port,our rail service and 4 routes of highway arteries,military bases and other industry that we have.Also mention our taxes for the local areas.
So,if ya want to revitalize downtown,why not make a new road and bridge that will empty out on Thomas Drive from the downtown marina.Useful as an evacuation route in times of storms too.Use Port Panama City better than before.Contact Dole banana corporation to build storage facility at the port.It will increase good paying jobs and rail traffic and truck traffic.Bring in General Electric for some good jobs,also Ford Motor company.Theres plenty of jobs to attract to this area if someone would get off their butts and quit worrying what it will do to local minimum wage jobs and tourism!
Panama City, east of the Hathaway, was never a tourist area. Never has been, never will be. It has been, and will continue to be an industrial area. That’s obvious from the fact that there are NO beaches available to tourism, from the Hathaway to the Dupont. There is absolutely NOTHING in that area that will draw tourism $$. The fate of Panama City was sealed when the new airport was proposed on the WEST side of the Hathaway. Hwy 98 is now nothing more than a conduit for tourists to get from PCB to Mexico Beach, littered with burger joints and storage sheds. Oh yeah, Bay County will still rake in the bucks, but none of it will flow here. Unless MEANINGFUL industry is brought into the local area, Panama City and its immediate neighbors, (Springfield, Parker, Callaway) will continue to be a pocket of poverty, and the people will continue to sit on their hands and watch the rest of the world go by.
To boom, they need to legalize casino gambling to draw tourists year round and fill the empty condos and hotels and restaurants. We are a tourist area and need to capitalize on it. We will draw International tourists,year round, with just one beach casino. Rooms will be no vacancy and restaurants will be full. Stores will be selling. Residents will be working. Property taxes will fall.
We also need to be a cruise ship port along with our new airport.
Unfortunatley, we do not have any leaders with future vision or marketing skills at all and most are lost in the 50’s, thinking we need some more minature golf courses and bumper cars or water park to bring the jobs and money we will need to survive.
Looks like a bust.
Go figure.
then they couldnt live the lifestyle they are used to? but string your right, cut taxes on new businesses, and business would boom, they need to learn that, if they werent so damn greedy, give new businesses tax cuts and incentives to come here, this town would boom!! all over bay county!
Business needs a tax cut and the people in panama city needs a tax cut; This would help to get business in the area and for people to spend their money in Panama City,
WMBB.com requires that you be a registered site member to post comments and content.
First, we are not being sneaky and gathering your email or other information to sell to telemarketers or e-mail spam companies.
Registration on this site is required simply to allow us to keep people who would post discriminatory, threatening and harassing messages and comments from doing it again.
By having user registration, we hope to provide you with a better user experience. Please view WMBB.com's full Terms & Conditions
Donald your crazy, Salliemae is far from anti military. We have special deferments that only military personnel qualify for. If they lost their security clearance then maybe they didn’t need it to start with. I don’t know the situation, but if you email me their names I’d be happy to research it and provide the truth about the situation. My guess is they didn’t pay their bill, didn’t take appropriate action to delay payment to keep it from being reported on their credit. You say Salliemae wouldn’t budge, well how about the Military? Why didn’t they budge? Because policy and procedures are put in place to protect the integrity of the organization. You know the policy going in then don’t violate it. I’m more pro military than anyone you know, I served in the Army, I served in combat and I love this country and it’s military. I also know just because they lost their clearance doesn’t mean they can’t still serve, so to say $750K was lost is not true, I served without top secret clearance