August 5, 2026 — Central Florida (I-4 Corridor & Space Coast) new business activity

Central Florida recorded 2,796 new business filings the week of July 15 to July 21, down 181 from the week before.

Orange County is where most of the change happened. It filed 1,153, down 76 from the week before, and that one county accounts for most of the region's drop. Lake County fell the hardest for its size, down 49 to 172. Sumter fell 14 to 40. Brevard was the steadiest county on the board at 295, level with the week before. Polk came in at 382, Volusia at 268, Osceola at 254 and Seminole at 232.

The mix tells a steadier story than the total does. Property holding and asset protection filings came in at 389, up 5, and professional services came in at 388, down 31. Those two are the biggest groups in the region, at 13.9% of the week each. Food and lodging businesses were the strongest gainer, up 18 to 127. Trucking and logistics came in at 162, up 2. Construction and trades came in at 221, down 14, and retail came in at 205, down 32.

Three cities went up while the region went down. Sanford filed 67, up 27, the biggest city gain in the region. Melbourne filed 98, up 22. Winter Haven filed 65, up 12. Orlando, the largest city here, filed 832, down 62. Most of what gets filed is still small and owner run: 1,997 filings, or 71.4% of the week, were domestic LLCs.

A steady slowdown over the past 13 weeks.

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.

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

New business formation usually runs highest around Mar and is quietest around Dec, holding near 12,500 a month across the years.

Each line is one year, ending at the current month on the right, so you can read the past year left to right. New Year's Day is left out because the state office is closed, so almost no businesses register that day.

Personal & Other Services grew the most this week, 9 more (up 4.3%). Retail dropped the most, 32 fewer (down 13.5%). 4 other sectors shown here also grew.

Orange led the region this week with 1,153 new filings.

• Polk County commissioners held the adoption hearing for a small scale comprehensive plan amendment known as GrayLineX, changing the future land use on 3.81 acres from Residential-Suburban to Industrial in the Suburban Development Area. The amendment was approved. Turning 3.81 acres from housing land to industrial land is the first step toward a building that needs site work, grading, paving, concrete, steel and electrical crews. Once a tenant is in, the same site needs freight and delivery services, waste hauling, commercial cleaning and landscaping, plus the accounting, insurance and legal help any new operation buys. Polk County Board of County Commissioners, 2026-07-21
• Seminole County's Development Review Committee took up a proposed subdivision for 27 single family lots on 9.50 acres on the northwest side of Hester Ave, south of Ronald Reagan Blvd. 27 lots on 9.50 acres means work for surveyors, site clearing and utility crews before a single house goes up, then framing, roofing, plumbing, electrical, drywall and paint crews on each lot. After that come the movers, lawn services, pest control and home repair outfits the 27 new households will hire. Seminole County Development Review Committee, 2026-07-08
• Seminole County's Development Review Committee reviewed a proposed rezone, subdivision and site plan for a 54 lot development on 9.65 acres on the north side of Sand Lake Rd, east of N Hunt Club Blvd. 54 lots packed onto 9.65 acres is dense work for builders and the trades that follow them, and it needs engineering, surveying and title services to get there. Building material suppliers and equipment rental yards in Seminole County are the near term winners on a job this size. Seminole County Development Review Committee, 2026-06-24
• 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 northwest corner of Hickman Dr and James Wesley Ln. An 11.18 acre storage yard is paving, fencing, lighting and drainage work to build, and it is exactly the kind of site small trucking and equipment outfits rent space in. Expect demand for security systems, gate and camera installers, yard maintenance and the truck repair and tire shops that serve whoever parks there. Seminole County Development Review Committee, 2026-05-27
• Port Canaveral started a new international container service linking Central Florida with Mexico and the U.S. Northeast, run with Green Tide Logistics and the Canaveral Cargo Terminal operator. Each call is projected to bring between 80 and 120 import containers of goods from Mexico, including electronics, refrigerated cargo and fresh produce, and the port says the frequency can rise with demand. 80 to 120 containers per call have to be pulled off the dock and driven somewhere, so this is direct work for drayage and trucking firms, freight brokers and warehouse operators in Brevard. Refrigerated produce needs cold storage and temperature controlled trailers, and importers need customs brokers, insurance and bookkeeping. Port Canaveral (Canaveral Port Authority), 2026-07-27
• Disney published an update on new spaces coming to Lakeshore Lodge, a new waterfront resort along the shores of Bay Lake at Walt Disney World with 967 rooms plus one and two bedroom Lake Houses. It is projected to open in summer 2027. A 967 room resort is a long run of finish trades between now and summer 2027: flooring, tile, cabinetry, painting and low voltage crews. When it opens it buys linens and laundry service, food supply, landscaping, pest control, staffing help and ongoing maintenance, and every one of those is a contract a local firm can bid. Disney Parks Blog, 2026-08-04
• Disney announced new venues coming to its BoardWalk, including a lounge called Hurly-Burly, a Basin retail shop with a bath tea blending counter and a make your own soap station, and a new quick service restaurant. The lounge and the shop are set to open in late 2026. Three new venues opening in late 2026 need build out work first: commercial kitchen installers, refrigeration, millwork, signage and electrical. Then they need food and beverage suppliers, uniform and linen service, cleaning crews, point of sale systems and staffing, which is the same list of vendors the region's 127 new food and lodging businesses are shopping for right now. Disney Parks Blog, 2026-06-18

The region filed fewer new businesses than it did last week and fewer than it did this week last year, so the pool of brand new prospects is smaller. It is not empty. Food and lodging was the one clear gainer at 127, up 18. That lines up with what Disney has coming. A 967 room resort is due in summer 2027 and three new BoardWalk venues are due late 2026. All of them need suppliers, cleaners, staffing and maintenance. Trucking and logistics held at 162, up 2, and that coincides with Port Canaveral's new container service bringing 80 to 120 containers a call into Brevard, plus an 11.18 acre industrial storage yard under review in Seminole. Construction and trades slipped to 221, but the public record still points to work ahead, with 27 lots on Hester Ave, 54 lots off Sand Lake Rd and 3.81 acres flipped to industrial use in Polk. If you sell to new businesses here, the move this week is to go where the filings actually rose: Sanford, Melbourne and Winter Haven, and the food, lodging and freight trades.

We count new business filings recorded with the State of Florida for the eight counties in Central Florida: Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole, Sumter and Volusia. This report covers the week of July 15 to July 21. We wait about two weeks after a week ends for the state to finish recording all of its filings, so these counts are complete. Filings are sorted into plain language categories, and county and city figures reflect the address on the filing. Local developments come from government meeting records and from the organizations' own announcements, each linked in full.

Frequently asked questions

Does a slower week mean the local economy is shrinking?

Not on its own. The region filed 2,796 new businesses in one week, down 6.1% from the week before and down 8.8% from the same week last year. Summer weeks run slower here. The drop was also spread thinly across many kinds of business and many filers rather than coming from one big source, which looks like a normal seasonal dip.

Which parts of the region are worth calling on right now?

Sanford, Melbourne and Winter Haven all added filings while the region as a whole fell. Orange County is still by far the biggest pool at 1,153 filings, so a smaller share of a much larger number can still beat a rising smaller market.

What kinds of new business are forming the most?

Property holding and asset protection led at 389, tied with professional services at 388. After those come administrative and support services at 229, construction and trades at 221, personal and other services at 216, and hospitality and tourism at 210.