Interesting editorial in today's Pensacola News Journal. The subject is the trickle down theory - or in this case trickle sideways theory (geographically speaking) - of jobs. There have been recent announcements of large employers (Northrop Grumman, EAS, Thyssen-Krupp) coming to Mobile, AL, only an hour's drive from Pensacola , and some Pensacolians have bemoaned the fact that here we sit with a slow housing market, a slow economy, on and on . . . ad nauseum.,

As the editorial points out, employers with projects of this size require hundreds of suppliers and they aren't all right under the principal's nose. In the case of Mobile, with a current fully employed workforce, they are definitely going to be reaching out for both goods and services and Pensacola's proximity is a plus! Couple that with a strong military and defense contracting community (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Hurlburt Air Force Base, Eglin Air Force Base), affordable housing and a great quality of life you have the makings of a Silicon Valley South.

I have blogged in the recent past about Pensacola's iTen Wired, an economic development initiative aimed at bringing the rapidly growing high tech businesses on the Interstate 10 corridor from Mobile to Crestview, FL, together for networking and synergy. This group recently had their first summit bringing together over 200 people interested in furthering the cause. There's never been a better time . . . once the economic pendulum swings history shows it swings quickly!