June 5, 2026 — Southwest Florida new business activity

Southwest Florida logged 854 new business filings for the week of May 15 to 21. Collier County drove most of this week's gains.

Lee County stayed the biggest single county at 460. That was almost exactly flat, down 4 from 464.

The bold average line shows steady growth over the past quarter.

The bold line is the 13-week average. Read it for the longer trend. The thin line is each week's count, which swings week to week.

Property Holding & Asset Protection grew the most this week, 46 more (up 59.7%). Real Estate dropped the most, 17 fewer (down 27.4%). Several smaller sectors also grew.

Lee led the region this week with 460 new filings. Gains were broad, with 6 other counties also up from the week before.

• Naples Airport has begun a $25.4 million project to replace its airfield lighting and electrical vault. The work installs 1,080 LED edge lights raised 20 inches off the ground. It rebuilds the electrical vault above the flood line as a storm resilience step. The project runs about 20 months. It is paid for with insurance money and federal and state grants. Storm-hardening a key Collier gateway helps protect the local travel and business traffic that feeds Naples, where new filings rose sharply this week. Business Observer, 2026-05-13
• Crews Bank & Trust named a new Lee County executive. It is preparing to open a Fort Myers branch at The Park Shops at Andrea Lane. The full-service location is slated to open in Summer 2026. More local banking options in Lee County give the area's many new LLCs and corporations another place to set up accounts and seek financing. Crews Bank & Trust, 2026-05-20
• Cape Coral's City Council approved $210 million in bonds on May 6, 2026 to extend water and sewer service in the city's northeast. The work moves roughly 7,300 parcels off septic. The bonds are expected in June 2026. The North 1 East area is set to finish by late 2027. Bringing utilities to thousands of Cape Coral parcels opens land for building and steady work for the area's construction and trade firms. Gulf Shore Business, 2026-05-07
• Manhattan Construction Group broke ground on April 9, 2026 on a 53,000 square foot regional headquarters at 14161 Jetport Loop in Lee County. The move shifts its Southwest Florida base from Naples. The company says about 300 jobs, most now in Collier County, will shift to Lee when the building opens. The building is expected in 2027. A headquarters move shifts hundreds of jobs from Collier to Lee, a reminder that the two counties trade business activity back and forth. Business Observer, 2026-04-10
• Cape Coral's City Council approved a $132,862 Business Infrastructure Grant on May 6, 2026 for a local maker of metal panels and roofing components established in 2016. It is part of the city's push to build a nearby supply chain for hurricane-resistant building materials. Backing a local materials maker supports the small manufacturing base in the region, which saw just 4 new filings this week. Leane Suarez Group, 2026-05-11
• The Housing Authority of the City of Fort Myers said it would open waitlists for affordable housing properties in Lee County as the region's housing supply stays tight. More affordable housing options help the workers that new local businesses need to hire and keep. Southwest Florida Business Today, 2026-05-01

If you sell to brand-new businesses here, this was a solid week. The most new activity was in Collier and Naples. The biggest pools of new customers are holding and asset protection companies (123), administrative and support firms (86), and professional services (67). Healthcare is starting fast off a small base, up to 47 from 26. Nearly nine in ten of these are LLCs. So products and services aimed at small, owner-run companies fit the crowd. Lee still has the largest raw count at 460. But Collier is where this week's growth showed up, so it is worth a closer look right now.

These counts come from new business filings registered with the State of Florida. We group them by the county each business listed. We sort them into plain industry groups. We count only the 8 counties in the Southwest Florida region. We wait about two weeks after each week ends for the state to finish recording all of its filings. That way the numbers here are complete and final rather than early estimates. Week-over-week changes compare this week with the week before.

Frequently asked questions

How many new businesses started in Southwest Florida this week?

There were 854 new business filings across the region's 8 counties for May 15 to 21.

Which county is growing fastest right now?

Collier County, which added 54 filings to reach 239. Most of that came from Naples, up 51 to 231. Lee County still has the most filings overall at 460, but it was nearly flat.

What kinds of businesses are forming most?

Property holding and asset protection companies led the named groups at 123, followed by administrative and support services at 86 and professional services at 67. Healthcare grew the fastest among the larger groups, reaching 47.

Are most of these big companies or small ones?

Mostly small. Domestic LLCs made up 88.2% of the week's filings, or 753 of 854. That points to owner-run and small businesses rather than large operations.