development is needed in this area to help diversify its economic base, the 

 lack of an appropriate labor force, an ample supply of fresh water, and numer- 

 ous environmental problems will probably restrict industrial development to 

 large urban areas like Fort Myers and Sarasota. 



The following section describes the industrial development from a histor- 

 ical perspective, general site characteristics, projected trends, and poten- 

 tial for onshore development from OCS oil and gas activities, and related 

 environmental impacts. 



TRENDS IN INDUSTRY 



Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties are two of the most industrialized 

 counties in Florida. Among the counties in the State, they rank third and 

 fourth, respectively, in manufacturing employment (Table 12). The dominance of 

 these two counties in Southwest Florida is demonstrated by their contribution 

 of 64% of the total employment and 76% of the employment in manufacturing. 



The relative importance of employment in manufacturing as a percentage of 

 total employment is low for most of the counties in Southwest Florida (Table 

 13). The Statewide percentage of 11.1, which is low compared to many other 

 states, is exceeded only by Manatee County (13%), Hillsborough County (13%), 

 and Pinellas County (12%). Manatee County has the highest employment in manu- 

 facturing in Southwest Florida. 



The greatest increases in percent change in employment in manufacturing 

 were in Collier (140%) and Lee (109%) Counties (Table 13). Considering that 

 these counties had relatively few employees in manufacturing in 1978, this 

 percent gain is unimportant. Hillsborough County had the greatest number of 

 employees in manufacturing, but in terms of percentage change in manufacturing 

 from 1970-79, employment increased only 16.1%, one of the lowest gains among 

 the counties in the area. DeSoto County was the only county in the region 

 that recorded a loss (-3.4%). Descriptions of the industrial base of the 

 counties in Southwest Florida are given in alphabetical order in the following 

 subsections and in Table 14. 



Charlotte County 



Like other counties in Southwest Florida, the main nonagricultural 

 employment categories in Charlotte County are retail trade and services. 

 Almost two-thirds of the people employed in services worked in health 

 services, which is a reflection of the high proportion of elderly and retired 

 people in the county. 



Collier County 



Retail trade is the largest source of nonagricultural employment in 

 Collier County. About a third of the workers in this category are employed in 

 eating and drinking establishments. Services support the second largest 

 number of employees. 



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