Suwannee County Economic Development

Last week we participated in the North Florida Economic Development Partnership at their quarterly board meeting.

One of the featured speakers, Shellie Phelps, shared insights into her work with communities across our region to revitalize downtown areas through strategic planning, community engagement and place making efforts. These projects are helping communities strengthen local economies, support small businesses and create vibrant places where people want to gather together.

We’re especially excited because Suwannee County has recently began working with Shellie as well. We look forward to exploring new opportunities, building on our community’s strengths, and seeing what can come from this partnership as we continue investing in the future of our downtown and local economy.

We appreciate the North Florida Economic Development Partnership for bringing together economic developers, and community leaders from across the region to share ideas and learn from industry professionals.

We’re glad to be attending another year at the state’s economic development conference and connecting with colleagues and leaders from across our industry.

We always value the opportunity to hear from site selectors, consultants, and other industry experts who share their insights and experiences. Conversations like these help us continue learning, growing, and improving the way we serve our community and support future opportunities.

It’s great conference filled with collaboration, innovation, and new ideas!

We were pleased to attend the ribbon cutting for Pitzer's Paws, a wonderful new addition to our local business community! 🐾✂️

As a true one-stop shop for pet care, Pitzer’s Paws offers doggy daycare, grooming, boarding, and rescue services—meeting a wide range of needs for pet owners across our community.

What makes this business especially meaningful is the vision behind it. The owners are committed to making a difference by helping take in overflow from the local animal shelter, with the ultimate goal of supporting a no-kill approach in our area.❤️

Pitzer’s Paws is not only creating jobs and providing valuable services—it’s strengthening the compassion and quality of life that make our community such a great place to live.

We’re excited to welcome this new business and look forward to the positive impact they will continue to make!

This morning, we proudly hosted the groundbreaking of a new Hampton Inn and Suites—an exciting investment in our community and a major step forward for our county. 🎉

We were honored to welcome Senator Corey Simon, representatives from Florida Commerce, and project owner Nick Patel to mark this milestone. Even more encouraging was the incredible turnout from community members who came out to show their support.

Located beside Zaxby’s on US Hwy 129, construction is already underway, and we look forward to watching this project come to life—bringing new opportunities, jobs, and visitors to our area.

We are thankful to Epic Events and Design LLC for the setup, as well as RIVEROAK Technical College's culinary department for providing cookies for the event.

Follow our page to see more updates.

Hampton by Hilton

Today is the official opening of Tidal Wave Auto Spa! 🚗 Investments like this play an important role in strengthening our local economy and enhancing the quality of life for our residents.

As our community continues to grow, so does the need for convenient, accessible services. Having additional options like this helps reduce wait times and gives residents more flexibility in their daily routines.

Be sure to take your car to the spa and let's give them a warm welcome to our community!

They are located at 1833 Ohio Avenue North in Live Oak (right beside Chick-fil-A).

Suwannee County was honored to host a regional Opportunity Zone 2.0 program presented by FloridaCommerce. We want to thank Deputy Secretary Jason Mahon and Senior Analyst, Benjamin W. Latham for sharing information on the new opportunity zone program. They also discussed the importance of each county submitting its recommended census tracts for the upcoming opportunity zone selection process.

The goal of the new legislation is to broaden investments to include more operating businesses and rural areas.

We also had the privilege of hearing from Victor Leotta of Location Design Group. He took a deeper dive into opportunity zones and their connections to properties that have been identified for development in the North Florida Economic Development Partnership region.

Thank you to Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative and Katelyn Barrington for being such a gracious host.

Do you live in Suwannee County? Come over and share your vision!✨

Several community organizations have partnered with Downtown Strategies to develop a 5-Year Action Plan for Downtown Live Oak.

Instead of brainstorming everything we could do, their bite-sized plan will identify practical strategies for what we should do to see immediate impact.

Be part of the process! Join us for a stakeholder input session where you can collaboratively share your ideas, goals, concerns, and challenges to help formulate the Five-Year Action Plan.

Don’t miss this opportunity to connect, discuss, and make a difference. Please click the link to RSVP and save your spot. It’s free!

📅Date: Wednesday, March 18th 2026
⏰Time: 6:00-7:30 PM
📍 Location: Suwannee County Chamber of Commerce
212 Ohio Avenue N, Live Oak, FL
📣 RSVP: https://forms.office.com/r/tCAgy0RctN

We’re proud to serve on the board of the North Florida Economic Development Partnership —a regional organization working to strengthen economic growth across 14 North Florida counties.

Today’s quarterly meeting was hosted in Hamilton County, and we are grateful for the strong relationship we share with their Economic Development team along with the rest of the EDO’s in the region. Collaboration like this is what keeps our region moving forward.

We had several guest speakers, including representatives from FloridaCommerce. We heard presentations on grant opportunities, new opportunity zones, updates on strategic sites for industrial use, workforce development initiatives, and other resources available to support businesses across our region.

It’s encouraging to see partners from across our region working together to create business opportunities while preserving the quality of life that makes North Central Florida special.

Regional collaboration makes us stronger.