Lake Wales Is Your Florida Choice For Business And Family
by Kevin J Kieft
Lake Wales is a great place to visit, to live and to plant your business. Florida and Lake Wales have clear advantages for your business, and it is a great place to live and grow your family.
However, sometimes it’s best to reflect on the things you love and understand why you truly love them, not only so you can better appreciate them without taking them for granted, but also to better explain to other people why they should consider it for themselves.
So here are some reasons why Lake Wales is the best community, why more residents and businesses should consider moving here, and what we at the Chamber of Commerce have done to make it an even better place:
Why Businesses Should Come Here
First and foremost, Florida is the best state to start a business. With no personal income tax, a low corporate tax rate, flexible business regulations, and state incentives for small businesses, the state offers the most lenient economic environment.
In 2018, the CATO Institute, in its “Freedom in the 50 States” report, ranked Florida as the #1 state with the highest economic freedom. As its website explains: “Lacking an individual income tax and featuring a hot climate…the state attracts more than seniors, as others vote with their feet for good weather and the increased opportunity afforded by Florida’s freer society.”
As for Lake Wales, the city offers the three most important things for any business: location, location, location. Located in the center of the state, the city resides on the intersection of Highway 27 and State Road 60, and is only 20 minutes away from I4, thus providing easy access to markets in all directions.
Furthermore, the city has developed new industrial and manufacturing land perfect for new businesses and industries. One such ideal location is Lake Wales Commerce and Technology Park, which is a shovel-ready park that has been placed into private hands, making preparations for prospective businesses easier.
Our city and state’s ease of doing business, convenient location, and new developments have already attracted new businesses to the area such as Pamlico Air, Alsim, and The Fence Outlet. Hopefully, further developments from the Chamber and EDC will help draw in many more.
Why People Should Live Here
The most obvious reason to move to Florida is the weather. Being able to experience 70-degree weather in the middle of winter is a huge draw for many potential residents. Being a good hour-and-a-half drive from the coast in either direction is another great plus, and a big selling point that I often mention to potential businesspeople at trade shows and other important conventions.
As with new business, the three most important things every new resident considers is also location, location, location. Being located in Central Florida, we are only an hour’s drive away from Orlando and Tampa, and nearly a day’s drive from Miami and the Keys.
The central location is a huge bonus. This is the real Florida here. It is not a hectic tourist town like Orlando. You get more of the real Florida experience here where you are close to everything. So that is a big bonus to move here to Lake Wales.
Whether you want to escape to the big city for the evening, or the sunny south for vacation, Lake Wales has something to offer in every direction, which is why many people have been coming to the city from every direction.
Here in Lake Wales, home values are going up, and new housing is being developed here and all throughout the county. As such, we here at the Chamber and EDC have been pushing for residential development to give people options to choose the home of their needs.
Residential development is vital to economic development. You need those rooftops and people with spending power to track the retail power. So, both developments go hand-in-hand. If you don’t have the rooftops, or people willing to spend that retail establishment, then new residents and businesses will not come.
The best support we receive at the Chamber to aid residential development is from the business community. Everybody wants the community to do well. They are pushing for increased quality of life, pushing for the city to be as efficient as possible, so that support from the business community has really made the difference.
We here at the Chamber and EDC are always working hard to make Lake Wales a better place to live and work. We know what makes our community great, so we know what to do to make it even greater for new residents and businesses. Together, we can improve out community and draw in more people who will love it just as much as we all do.
