“The white glove approach is something we take to heart,” says Economic Development Director Jennifer Daniels of the Columbia County, Florida Economic Development Department’s approach to welcoming new businesses.
“What I’ve learned in this industry is when companies are looking to invest millions—even billions—of dollars into a community, they want to know the community they’re coming to is going to welcome them and be there with them through the process,” she says. That process starts with a site visit to learn more about the company and what they’re looking for.
Beginning with trust
“Often we don’t even know who they are when they start out, because confidentiality is very important in this industry,” says Daniels. “Many times, companies that are publicly traded or have competition in the area or the state don’t want their expansion plans getting out before they’ve had a chance to update their stakeholders or inform their boards of the process.”
Earning that company’s trust early on—and not letting word spread—helps to ensure success.
“When you establish that trust, then the rest of this process is so much smoother,” Daniels says, citing AgroLiquid as an example—the first company into the North Florida Mega Industrial Park (NFMIP), which has been underway for over a decade, with people working to ready the industrial park with water, sewer, and gas available in quantities sufficient to support industrial growth.
This means taking companies through the process of selecting the site that best fits their needs and then introducing them to partners within the county—the permitting department, building and zoning, fire marshals, and law enforcement—with whom they’ll do business and work with while getting plans approved. “We walk them through that process because we understand that, even though they may have expanded many times before, every community they go into is a little different in their process and policies,” Daniels explains.
Tucked away in north central Florida, Columbia County offers numerous benefits for business, including a large amount of open land, a well-connected system of interstate highways, federal highways, and railroads, and a wide array of enterprises unmatched in logistical prospects.
Building a vital business climate
The goal of establishing a strong and supportive business climate has been driving Columbia County’s economic development for decades, with a team that has been instrumental in attracting various sectors, fostering creativity, and supporting regional businesses over the years.
“When they get to the point of a ribbon cutting or a groundbreaking, we also ensure that there’s an introduction to the Chamber of Commerce so they can get involved with our workforce partner who will help them find the employees they need,” says Daniels, noting that there are also educational partners in the mix, both at the high school and middle school levels. “We have a fantastic career and technical education department within the Columbia County school system, which is represented on the economic development board, so we stay in close contact,” she says.
Beyond that, companies that have been doing business in Lake City and need to expand can call the department to say they want to add on to their building or are looking for a second site. “We’re the first person they call, because they have that relationship already, and we can help them grow here in our community,” Daniels says, adding that the department also has specific criteria it aspires to meet when welcoming new businesses to the area.
“We’re an agricultural-based community rooted in the farming industry, blue-collar jobs—and maybe it will be a smaller industry coming; we may never be a Fortune 500-headquarters type of community, but we’re okay with that,” she says. “We’re very rooted in agriculture, and there’s a lot of manufacturing as far as building materials go.”
There will be companies, Daniels adds—and there have been in the past—with significant water requirements that “just don’t fit,” as the area is environmentally sensitive, sitting next to many springs in the state of Florida. “We have to be cognizant of the water we draw out of the aquifer as it impacts the river and the spring levels,” she explains. Companies that need 10 million gallons of water a day simply aren’t viable in Columbia County, so it’s about being aware of constraints as far as the environment is concerned. “We never say no to an initial request or at a first meeting, but we like to learn more about what a company needs and what drives their business.”
Sweet spot for business
Florida is one of the fastest-growing manufacturing states in the U.S., due largely to its rural communities, Daniels explains. “There are a lot of smaller manufacturing industries that locate here, bringing in something like 10 to 20 jobs. Typically they’re making something that’s part of a bigger project.”
To that end, ad valorem tax rebates are critical to the toolkit of any economic developer in the state of Florida. When a company tells Daniels it wants to expand or open an office and is looking at purchasing 300 acres to build a half-million-square-foot manufacturing facility, the property tax that comes from that is substantial. “We offer a scorecard that gives points for the amount of capital investment the company brings to the employees, how many jobs they’re going to hire, and the wage they’re offering. If it’s above our median wage, they get extra points for that.” Just as the incoming company will be investing in Columbia County, the community will be investing in them as well.
“Logistically speaking, we’re in the sweet spot in the state of Florida,” Daniels adds. “In the southeast, you can get to Atlanta and back in a day, and to Miami and back in a day. From here, you can get to anywhere in the U.S. from Lake City, because we’re the only place in the state of Florida where I-75 and I-10 intersect.”
When coming south on I-75, it’s the first major city that has all the amenities travelers are looking for—hotels, restaurants, and places to shop. “It’s a fantastic location for any business that needs to reach the southeast within a day.”
Additionally, Lake City Gateway Airport, a regional airport, boasts an 8,000-foot runway that can handle the largest airplanes out there. Three Class 1 railroads also service the area, including Pinsly, which is not only the company partner in marketing and attracting companies, but works with any incoming businesses to build out rail to maximize property and the parcel within the industrial park.
“We’re also surrounded by natural springs, the Suwannee River, the Santa Fe River, and Ichetucknee Springs,” says Daniels. Rather than the palm trees and beaches some tourists might be imagining, there are instead beautiful pine trees, springs, and natural forests. “The Osceola National Forest takes up half of our county, and there is hunting, camping, fishing; anything that you want to do outdoors, you can do here. If you want to go to the beach, it’s a short hour’s drive to Jacksonville.”
First things first
Florida itself has had its share of ups and downs in economic development, and while some of the states it competes with are more aggressive in their efforts to attract, Daniels views it from a different perspective.
“In Columbia County, we’ve been specifically focused on the infrastructure needed in the areas of development over the last five to eight years,” she says. “We have several areas identified for development that are fantastic locations. They just didn’t have water and sewer, or natural gas available. Through the county working with the state of Florida and the various grants available, we’ve extended water, sewer, and gas, in most cases, to the northern end, which is our Bell Road corridor.”
Infrastructure improvements have been key for the county, and while this was challenging at first for a fiscally constrained community, funding millions of dollars of infrastructure improvements without asking taxpayers to pay that bill is possible. “We get very creative when it comes to grant writing and funding sources,” says Daniels. “We have partners who help us identify funding, both from a federal and a state level, and we write multiple grants that have funded these infrastructure improvements.”
Recently, at the Florida Economic Development Council annual conference, the county was recognized with two separate awards, one of these being the 2025 Rural Deal of the Year, the first time Columbia County has been recognized for any award at an FEDC event. It was also recognized for innovation and public-private partnership, imperative for any small community.
“You can’t do this on your own,” says Daniels. “You’ve got to have relationships with your landholders, landowners, developers, the state of Florida, and the Department of Commerce.”
The North Florida Mega Industrial Park, for instance, is a 2,600-acre readied industrial park permitted to the point where if a company comes in and needs a 50-acre parcel, the county can easily accommodate that and have their project under construction in 90 to 180 days. “That’s very rare when it comes to building a business,” says Daniels.
Broad benefits
Ultimately, Columbia County offers a wide variety of benefits and opportunities for any number of businesses to explore everything the area has to offer, from partnerships to communication, support, and collaboration.
“What’s interesting now is we’re entertaining much more advanced manufacturing,” Daniels shares. “It’s technology-based, even in farming and agriculture. It goes hand-in-hand with what’s happening in the federal government, trying to bring many of these industries, for which we’ve relied on other countries for so long, back on shore.”
While companies may have been manufacturing steel abroad, now they are looking at how they can do that at home in the U.S. “We have the workforce availability,” says Daniels. “Back to that sweet spot we’re at: I have the luxury of claiming a 1.5 million labor shed because of the metropolitan areas around us and the fact that people will make that drive to come to work here.”
As Columbia County continues to strengthen its infrastructure, workforce pipeline, and community partnerships, it is positioning itself not just as a desirable location for business but as a partner in progress. With a proactive, relationship-driven approach and a clear understanding of its strengths, the county is cultivating sustainable, strategic growth that honors its rural roots while embracing innovation. From advanced manufacturing to agriculture and logistics, Columbia County is ready to welcome the next generation of businesses that value collaboration, environmental stewardship, and a community that’s truly invested in their success.
