PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Palm Beach County officials are taking their "Wall Street South" marketing campaign directly to New York City this week, meeting with consultants and companies interested in relocating to South Florida.
Kelly Smallridge of the Palm Beach County Business Development Board is leading the effort, scheduled to meet with at least six companies that have expressed interest in moving their operations south.
"The vision of the future is to balance, quality of life with good quality jobs," Smallridge said.
The campaign has been promoting Palm Beach County as an alternative to traditional financial centers, with signs appearing in Times Square to attract businesses and workers.
Smallridge discussed the top target for recruitment while the county continues to cast a wide net.
"I would say financial services is still at the top, innovation-based companies, but we are also realistic because we've been doing this for 40 years, companies cannot pick up and move overnight," Smallridge said.
The recruitment efforts appear to be paying off.
Julia Dattolo from Palm Beach County's CareerSource said the local economy has become increasingly diversified.
"We have become more diversified with the local economy with so many industries coming in like business services, financial, IT is expanding on south county, manufacturing," Dattolo said.
The influx of new industries has also driven up average salaries significantly. Dattolo said the average salary in Palm Beach County has jumped from around $40,000 before COVID-19 to $74,000 currently.
"Prior to COVID, the average salary was in the 40s, $40,000 a year, now post COVID we're up in the 70s, so $74,000 is the average salary in Palm Beach County," Dattolo said.
Despite the focus on attracting financial and technology companies, health care jobs continue to hold the top position for job opportunities in Palm Beach County, according to CareerSource.
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