August 12, 2026 — Central Florida (I-4 Corridor & Space Coast) new business activity

• civil engineers: Seminole County Board of County Commissioners, Polk County Board of County Commissioners, Seminole County Development Review Committee
• electricians: Seminole County Board of County Commissioners, Polk County Board of County Commissioners, Port Canaveral (Canaveral Port Authority)
• surveyors: Polk County Board of County Commissioners, Polk County Board of County Commissioners, Seminole County Development Review Committee
• commercial cleaning companies: Port Canaveral (Canaveral Port Authority), Orange County Government Newsroom
• general contractors: Seminole County Board of County Commissioners, Polk County Board of County Commissioners
• landscapers: Seminole County Board of County Commissioners, Polk County Board of County Commissioners
• plumbers: Seminole County Board of County Commissioners, Polk County Board of County Commissioners
• roofers: Seminole County Board of County Commissioners, Polk County Board of County Commissioners
• security systems installers: Seminole County Development Review Committee, Port Canaveral (Canaveral Port Authority)
• building materials suppliers: Polk County Board of County Commissioners
• commercial flooring installers: Port Canaveral (Canaveral Port Authority)
• commercial HVAC contractors: Seminole County Board of County Commissioners
• commercial kitchen equipment suppliers: Seminole County Board of County Commissioners
• commercial landscapers: Seminole County Development Review Committee
• commercial plumbers: Port Canaveral (Canaveral Port Authority)
• commercial real estate brokers: Polk County Board of County Commissioners
• concrete and paving contractors: Seminole County Board of County Commissioners
• dock builders: Port Canaveral (Canaveral Port Authority)
• drywall and insulation contractors: Polk County Board of County Commissioners
• electrical subcontractors: Port Canaveral (Canaveral Port Authority)
• elevator and escalator installers: Port Canaveral (Canaveral Port Authority)
• equipment and tool suppliers: Orange County Government Newsroom
• equipment rental companies: Port Canaveral (Canaveral Port Authority)
• excavation and grading crews: Polk County Board of County Commissioners
• excavation and paving crews: Seminole County Development Review Committee
• fencing contractors: Seminole County Development Review Committee
• framing carpenters: Polk County Board of County Commissioners
• freight and hauling companies: Port Canaveral (Canaveral Port Authority)
• glaziers: Port Canaveral (Canaveral Port Authority)
• home builders: Polk County Board of County Commissioners
• IT support companies: Orange County Government Newsroom
• land use attorneys: Polk County Board of County Commissioners
• marine contractors: Port Canaveral (Canaveral Port Authority)
• mechanical and HVAC contractors: Port Canaveral (Canaveral Port Authority)
• painters and flooring installers: Polk County Board of County Commissioners
• pile driving crews: Port Canaveral (Canaveral Port Authority)
• refrigeration contractors: Port Canaveral (Canaveral Port Authority)
• seafood processors: Port Canaveral (Canaveral Port Authority)
• sign makers: Seminole County Board of County Commissioners
• site work and excavation crews: Seminole County Board of County Commissioners
• small batch manufacturers: Orange County Government Newsroom
• stormwater and drainage contractors: Seminole County Development Review Committee
• title and settlement companies: Polk County Board of County Commissioners
• training and workforce providers: Orange County Government Newsroom
• trucking and cold storage companies: Port Canaveral (Canaveral Port Authority)
• utility contractors: Polk County Board of County Commissioners

Central Florida's eight counties recorded 2,737 new business filings the week of July 22 to 28, 2026, down 60 from the week before and down 254 from the same week a year ago.

Orange County lost 91 filings on its own, more than the whole region gave up. That one county explains the drop. Orange is still the largest by a wide margin at 1,063 filings.

Four counties went the other way. Polk added 42 to reach 424. Lake added 23 to reach 195. Sumter added 10 to reach 50, and Seminole added 3 to reach 235. The gains sit on the western and northern edges of the I-4 corridor.

The city list shifted even though the county order held. Davenport climbed two places to 4th with 94 filings and Clermont climbed three to 9th with 67. Lakeland rose to 129. Orlando fell 65 to 767, and Melbourne fell 21 to 77.

Property holding companies were the largest single group at 351. Professional services came next at 339, and its drop of 49 was the steepest of any group. Construction and trades barely moved, down 3 to 218.

Una desaceleración constante en las últimas 13 semanas.

La línea gruesa es el promedio de 13 semanas. Léela para ver la tendencia más larga. La línea delgada es el conteo de cada semana, que cambia de una semana a otra.

• 2025-26
• 2024-25
• 2023-24
• 2022-23
• 2021-22

La formación de negocios nuevos suele ser más alta alrededor de Mar y más baja alrededor de Dec, y se mantiene cerca de 12,500 al mes a lo largo de los años.

Cada línea es un año, que termina en el mes actual a la derecha, así puedes leer el año pasado de izquierda a derecha. El Día de Año Nuevo queda fuera porque la oficina estatal está cerrada, así casi ningún negocio se registra ese día.

Personal & Other Services grew the most this week, 6 more (up 2.8%). Professional Services dropped the most, 49 fewer (down 12.6%).

Orange led the region this week with 1,063 new filings. 4 of the other 7 counties shown here were also up from the week before.

• Seminole County commissioners took up two commercial rezonings on July 14, 2026, both on state road frontage.

  2 oportunidades en esta actualización

  • The Henderson Hill rezone, case Z2025-025, would move about 4.32 acres at the northwest corner of W SR 46 and Henderson Lane from A-1 agriculture to C-1 retail commercial. The plan is three restaurants with drive through service lanes. Three restaurants on one corner means clearing, paving, utility runs, kitchen fit out and signage, and those packages are bid locally.
  • The Slavia Station rezone, case Z2025-011, covers a coffee shop and the renovation of a historical building on about 1.45 acres on the east side of SR 426, south of Red Bug Rd. Renovation work pulls in a different set of trades than new construction does. Older buildings usually need specialists rather than production crews.

  Restaurant and retail projects hire a long list of local trades well before the doors open.

  A quiénes les sirve

  • general contractors
  • site work and excavation crews
  • concrete and paving contractors
  • electricians
  • plumbers
  • commercial HVAC contractors
  • roofers
  • commercial kitchen equipment suppliers
  • sign makers
  • civil engineers
  • landscapers

  Seminole County Board of County Commissioners, 2026-07-14

• Polk County commissioners held adoption hearings on June 16, 2026 for three small scale changes to the county's land use map.

  3 oportunidades en esta actualización

  • Case LDCPAS-2026-3, Sumner North Cozart Road, moves about 25.8 acres from Business Park Center to Industrial. Industrial ground at that size is where warehouses, storage yards and light manufacturing end up. The site has to be cleared, graded and served with utilities before any of that goes vertical.
  • Case LDCPAS-2025-36 moves about 1.35 acres on Hwy 540A from Residential Suburban-X to Office Center-X. Small office parcels feed the interior fit out trades and, once leased, the professional tenants who need local accounting, insurance and IT.
  • Case LDCPAS-2025-12 moves about 19.47 acres on Keller Road out of Phosphate Mining and into Agricultural and Residential Rural. Land coming off a mining designation opens up to farming and rural housing instead.

  Polk added 42 filings this week, and land moving into industrial and office use is the kind of public record that lines up with that.

  A quiénes les sirve

  • excavation and grading crews
  • utility contractors
  • civil engineers
  • surveyors
  • general contractors
  • building materials suppliers
  • commercial real estate brokers
  • land use attorneys

  Polk County Board of County Commissioners, 2026-06-16

• Polk County commissioners voted on July 7, 2026 to set adoption hearings on two more land use changes, both scheduled for July 21, 2026.

  2 oportunidades en esta actualización

  • Case LDCD-2026-3, Goldenrod Lane, would move about 17.1 acres from the Residential-Low 1X sub district to Residential Low-4X. That change allows more homes on the same ground, so approval turns one parcel into a much larger job for home builders and the trades behind them.
  • Case LDCPAS-2025-24, Shimmering Drive, would move about 3.87 acres from Residential-Suburban to Community Activity Center-X. Activity center land is where neighborhood retail and everyday services are allowed to go, which is what usually follows new rooftops.

  Denser housing on 17.1 acres brings in the full run of residential trades, from framing through finish work.

  A quiénes les sirve

  • home builders
  • framing carpenters
  • roofers
  • plumbers
  • electricians
  • drywall and insulation contractors
  • painters and flooring installers
  • landscapers
  • surveyors
  • title and settlement companies

  Polk County Board of County Commissioners, 2026-07-07

• Seminole County's development review committee reviewed a proposed site plan for an industrial storage yard on 11.18 acres in the M-1 zoning district, at the north west corner of Hickman Dr and James Wesley Ln, filed as project number 26-06000014.

  A storage yard on 11.18 acres is mostly ground work, drainage, fencing and paving rather than vertical building, so the money lands with a specific set of contractors.

  A quiénes les sirve

  • excavation and paving crews
  • fencing contractors
  • stormwater and drainage contractors
  • surveyors
  • civil engineers
  • security systems installers
  • commercial landscapers

  Seminole County Development Review Committee, 2026-05-27

• Port Canaveral started a $95 million expansion and renovation of Cruise Terminal 10. The finished building runs more than 145,000 square feet, close to 30% larger than the space it replaces, and will handle ships carrying up to 7,000 passengers. The port named Bermello Ajamil of Miami as architect and PCL Construction Services, Inc. of Orlando as contractor. The work is scheduled to finish in November 2027.

  A $95 million job running to November 2027 is more than a year of steady subcontract and supply work, and the general contractor is based in Orlando, so much of the buying stays inside the region.

  A quiénes les sirve

  • electrical subcontractors
  • mechanical and HVAC contractors
  • glaziers
  • elevator and escalator installers
  • commercial flooring installers
  • security systems installers
  • equipment rental companies
  • freight and hauling companies
  • commercial cleaning companies

  Port Canaveral (Canaveral Port Authority), 2026-08-06

• Port Canaveral is putting $5.2 million into a new working waterfront for commercial fishing. The plan covers 125 feet of dedicated bulkhead, a 16 slip dock, an open air pavilion with fish cleaning stations, office and restroom buildings, and parking and storage for trucks and trailers. Construction is expected to finish in early 2027. The port says its on site fish processors handle about four million pounds of fresh fish each year.

  Marine construction is specialist work that few firms can bid, and the finished dock supports the boats, processors and truckers moving four million pounds of fish a year.

  A quiénes les sirve

  • marine contractors
  • pile driving crews
  • dock builders
  • commercial plumbers
  • electricians
  • refrigeration contractors
  • seafood processors
  • trucking and cold storage companies

  Port Canaveral (Canaveral Port Authority), 2026-07-01

• Orange County opened two new buildings at its Multicultural Center. The Innovation Center runs more than 20,000 square feet and holds a makerspace, a fabric arts studio, a robotics lab, a computer lab, an immersive technology lab and a multipurpose room. The county says the space is meant to support workforce development and economic growth. A separate 17,000 square foot Multicultural Senior Center houses the Office on Aging.

  Professional services was the second largest group in the region this week at 339 filings, and shared shop and lab space is one of the cheapest ways a new one gets started. Two new public buildings also need ongoing upkeep and supply.

  A quiénes les sirve

  • equipment and tool suppliers
  • training and workforce providers
  • commercial cleaning companies
  • IT support companies
  • small batch manufacturers

  Orange County Government Newsroom, 2026-07-29

The pool of new businesses here is smaller than it was a year ago, so working the same Orange County prospect list will feel harder this quarter. The growth has moved west and north. Polk, Lake and Sumter added 75 filings between them while Orange lost 91. Anyone selling insurance, accounting, banking, signage or equipment should be quoting in Lakeland, Clermont and Davenport, not only Orlando. The public record points the same way. Polk moved 25.8 acres into industrial use and set a hearing on 17.1 acres of denser housing, and construction and trades filings held nearly flat at 218 while most other groups fell further. The building side of this economy is steadier than the headline number makes it look.

These counts come from Florida's official business registration records for the eight counties in Central Florida, covering new filings recorded the week of July 22 to 28, 2026. We wait about two weeks after a week ends for the state to finish recording every filing before we publish, so the counts here are complete and accurate. Each business is counted in the county listed on its registration, and filings are sorted into plain business categories.

Preguntas frecuentes

Are these counts final, or will they go up later?

They are final. We wait about two weeks after the week closes so the state can finish recording every filing, then we publish. The number does not get revised upward afterward.

Why is the region down when four counties grew?

Orange County is much larger than the rest of the region. It lost 91 filings by itself, and the region lost 60. Gains in Polk, Lake, Sumter and Seminole covered part of that gap, but not all of it.

Which parts of Central Florida are growing right now?

Polk, Lake and Sumter. Polk added 42 filings to reach 424, Lake added 23 to reach 195, and Sumter added 10 to reach 50. Among cities, Davenport, Clermont and Lakeland all moved up the list.

What kind of business forms most often here?

Property holding companies led the week at 351 filings, and professional services came next at 339. Those are the two largest groups in the region.

Is construction slowing down as well?

Barely. Construction and trades filings came in at 218, down 3 from the week before. That is close to flat in a week when most other groups fell further.