Pasco County has always had much to offer those who choose to call it home. Close-knit communities for some, wide open spaces for others, and wonderful places to swim, bike, and stroll for all. But for years, when it came time to head to work, many had to drive south to Tampa or St. Petersburg. Today, that’s less likely to be the case as more large companies are calling Pasco home too, bringing with them thousands of jobs and important services to our community.
This shift is largely due to the hard work of the team at Pasco Economic Development Council (Pasco EDC). Established in 1987 as the primary economic development agency for Pasco County, its primary mission is to forge partnerships between corporate and public investors to help diversify Pasco’s economy and guide it towards sustainable growth. As a private, non-profit organization, Pasco EDC promotes smart and strategic development across the county with a focus on the good of the community.
“We historically were a bedroom community, and a lot of people don’t realize bedroom communities are very expensive to run. From a tax standpoint, for every dollar that the county gets in property tax, it costs about $1.20 to serve residential, where commercial costs about $.80 and industrial costs about $.20 per dollar. So, it behooves us to have a good mix of different types of tax to not put the whole burden on the residents,” explained Bill Cronin, President/CEO of Pasco EDC.
Pasco EDC works to accomplish that in many ways. “We spend about 80% of our time with existing businesses to help them grow, and startups as well,” shared Cronin. The other 20% is focused on bringing new businesses here to Pasco, and for many, we have just what they need. “We’re one of the few places in the United States that have land and people,” offered Cronin. “Leadership makes a big difference. And people still know each other. They still talk to each other like it’s a small town. You can pick up the phone, you can talk to the sheriff, our constitutional officers, our commissioners. It’s still very cordial,” added Cronin.
That combination has led many new businesses to call Pasco County home over the years. The latest to invest in a Pasco expansion is Moffitt Cancer Center, and the newly opened Moffitt Speros Outpatient Center in Land O’ Lakes. “The growth of Pasco County is remarkable,” said Josh Carpenter, Vice President & Chief Integration Officer of Moffitt Cancer Center and President of SPEROS FL. “We were meeting a need of current patients and future patients who wanted care closer to home, and having this location enables us to do that,” he added.
Many had an impact on the new Moffitt project, the spark of which began nearly ten years ago. “We couldn’t do this without partners. The Pasco County Board of County Commissioners has been incredible. Our partners at Pasco EDC have been remarkable. And statewide political leaders like Wilton Simpson and others who have really shown us a vision of what we could do here,” added Carpenter.
Speros, a derivative of the Latin word ‘to hope’, is bringing that home to Pasco already. “The first patient we had here has been a patient of Moffitt for 16 years, but had been driving an hour plus to do his regular visits, and had a much shorter commute, and was really excited about that,” shared Carpenter. Bringing that hope closer to home is life-changing for those battling cancer. But it’s also brought new life to many veteran employees, who now have the opportunity to bring cutting-edge care to patients in their own backyard.
The new Moffitt Speros Outpatient Center, which opened to patients on January 26th, is just the first phase of this 775-acre property. The promise of what’s coming is even more impressive, starting with the planned proton facility in June, one of only a handful of centers offering precision beam radiation. In October, Moffitt will open the doors on a 250,000 square foot state-of-the-art research facility.
“The divisions between what was research and development and what is care delivery are starting to blur. So, we really wanted to build a facility where we could co-locate some of the world’s best scientists alongside some of the physicians that are on the frontier of medicine,” explained Carpenter. The new research facility will host 300-400 researchers working in drug discovery, chemistry, and bioengineering, all with the goal of speeding up research and development. “Ultimately, we think that’s the kind of environment you need to have precision medicine work for patients,” added Carpenter.
Moffitt and Pasco EDC are continuing to work closely to bring the future of cancer research to Pasco County. Moffitt is not just investing in our community, they‘re investing in hope. And Pasco County is ready for it.