Northwest Florida is a natural transportation hub served by an excellent transportation system including air, rail and deep water shipping. The region is ideally situated, as close to a major midwestern market such as St. Louis as it is to Miami. By rail or truck, Memphis, Washington, D.C. or Dallas, are all within a two-day reach. Atlanta, Jacksonville and New Orleans are just a day away.
Several major air carriers including: South West Airlines, American Airlines, Delta, Continental, U.S. Air, Southwest Airlines, United, Air Tran and Vision Airlines serve the region. With three commercial airports and executive travel facilities, your corporation is within minutes of passenger, air freight and express service. In addition, our nation's newest airport, the Panama City - Beaches International Airport increased commercial flight service as well as inside the gate and adjacent property for commercial and industrial development opportunities.
Pensacola and Panama City are the sites of two deep water ports with dock-side facilities. Each year two million tons of imports and exports pass through the ports. In addition, The Gulf Inter-coastal Waterway provides access to barge traffic, connecting with the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway and the Mississippi River farther west.
Port of Pensacola & Foreign Trade Zone #249
The Port of Pensacola is accessible via the Intracoastal Waterway and the Gulf of Mexico. Its channel entrance is 500' wide and is dredged to a depth of 33 feet. It is located at latitude 30 degrees, 24 minutes north', longitude 87 degrees, 13 minutes west (11 miles from sea buoy). The port is comprised of 50 acres and offers an array of infrastructure and services for domestic and international markets.
Port of Panama City & Foreign Trade Zone #65
The Port Panama City is accessible via the Intracoastal Waterway and the Gulf of Mexico. The channel offers a depth of 36 feet. The port's main commodities are forestry, steel and copper products. The Port offers six deepwater berths consisting of 3,240 linear feet, with 32 foot draft, 600 linear feet of barge facilities, and 470,000 square feet of warehousing space. Other amenities include cargo handling areas, expanded warehouses, high mast lighting and a mobile harbor crane.
Northwest Florida was identified as one of the original U.S. Department of Labor WIRED regions and received a grant in the amount of $15 million. This substantial federal grant funded workforce development initiatives throughout Northwest Florida. Established regionally as a matching grant program, it translated into a minimum $30 million investment in talent development addressing the high-wage, high-skill workforce needs in the target industries of Aviation, Aerospace, Defense and National Security; Life Sciences; Information Technology; Engineering; Renewable Energy and Environment; Distribution, Transportation and Logistics; and Construction Product Manufacturing and Distribution.
The following are interstates and federal highways that are located in Northwest Florida:
- Interstate 10 provides an "East-West" and "Coast to Coast" connection and runs through the heart of Northwest Florida
- Highway 29
- Highway 30
- Highway 90
- Highway 98
- Highway 231
- Highway 331
