August 7, 2026 — Southwest Florida new business activity

Southwest Florida recorded 904 new business filings the week of July 17 to 23, 2026.

Lee County accounted for 515 of those filings, up 34 from the week before. Collier was flat at 231, down just 1. Charlotte added 11 to reach 92. Highlands had the region's steepest drop, down 14 to 29.

Cape Coral moved past Fort Myers into second place among cities. Cape Coral added 19 to reach 174, and Fort Myers slipped 9 to 150. Punta Gorda rose 15 to 46. Bonita Springs added 13 to reach 33 and climbed three places. Naples stayed first at 218.

Property holding and asset protection was the largest group at 135, up 14. Professional services followed at 114. Construction and trades came in at 105, up 11 from the week before. Personal and other services grew fastest among the larger groups, up 22 to 80.

Two straight up weeks sit inside a longer decline. The 13 week average has fallen from 1,123.3 in the middle of May to 974.9. The region recorded 12,674 filings over the last 13 weeks, down from 12,890 in the 13 weeks before that. The week also came in below the 943 filed the same week last year.

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 Jan and is quietest around Dec, holding near 4,000 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, 22 more (up 37.9%). Real Estate dropped the most, 11 fewer (down 22.9%). 6 other sectors shown here also grew.

Lee led the region this week with 515 new filings. 1 of the other 6 counties shown here was also up from the week before.

• Work on the Terminal Expansion Projects at Southwest Florida International Airport forced a full shutdown of the main water feed to Concourses B, C and D on the nights of July 12, 13 and 14, 2026. The Lee County Port Authority said the projects are meant to increase capacity, improve efficiency and give passengers more amenities and options.

  A terminal expansion running through concourses that stay open is a long stretch of work for mechanical and utility trades, and it ends with new space that needs tenants and staff.

  Who this helps

  • plumbing contractors
  • electrical contractors
  • mechanical contractors
  • commercial cleaning services
  • food service operators
  • airport retail concessionaires
  • security services

  Lee County Port Authority, 2026-07-09

• Fort Myers started giving two hours of free parking in its three downtown garages, the City of Palms Garage, the Main Street Garage and the Luminary Hotel Garage. The offer began June 25, 2026 and runs through October 31, 2026, and the city said the point is to get people spending more time in downtown restaurants, shops, attractions and events.

  Cheaper parking is aimed squarely at downtown foot traffic, and it runs to the end of October, so a new storefront gets about four months of it.

  Who this helps

  • restaurants
  • retail shops
  • coffee shops
  • bars
  • event venues
  • salons

  City of Fort Myers, 2026-06-25

• Southwest Florida International Airport counted 689,514 passengers in June 2026, down 1.3% from June 2025. Aircraft operations went the other way, up 2.8% to 6,137. Page Field in Fort Myers logged 15,409 operations, a 38% increase over June 2025.

  A 38% jump in operations at Page Field means far more aircraft movements, and aircraft on the ground need fuel, hangar space and service.

  Who this helps

  • aircraft maintenance shops
  • avionics technicians
  • charter operators
  • ground handling services
  • fuel suppliers
  • flight schools

  Lee County Port Authority, 2026-07-27

• Collier County's commission agenda for July 14, 2026 carried three separate items that each put land or buildings in play.

  3 opportunities in this update

  • The board took up a rezoning of 4.18 acres at Golden Gate Parkway and 60th Street S.W., moving it from Estates zoning to a Residential Planned Unit Development. Filed as PL20250006068, it would allow up to 36 townhouse dwelling units with affordable housing. A townhouse block that size runs through clearing, utilities, foundations, framing and finish trades before the first family moves in.
  • Acting as the Airport Authority, the board took up a consent to assignment and sublease tied to the Global Flight Training Solutions, Inc. hangar construction lease at Immokalee Regional Airport. A hangar build is steel, concrete and electrical work up front. A flight training operation then needs ongoing aircraft service, fueling and ground support at a field that has room to grow.
  • Commissioners also reviewed a proposed property exchange with Barron Collier Companies. The draft would trade 305.12 acres of county land at Camp Keais for 292 acres at Silver Strand. It adds a county purchase of 57 acres there, plus 3 more acres for a future pond site. The county would hold the assembled land for its own operations and long term infrastructure.

  Rezonings and land swaps are the earliest warning a contractor gets that work is coming, and Collier filed 231 new businesses this week.

  Who this helps

  • site work contractors
  • concrete and masonry contractors
  • framers
  • electricians
  • plumbers
  • roofers
  • surveyors
  • civil engineers
  • land use attorneys
  • aircraft maintenance shops

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

• The Marco Island Planning Board took up ordinance REZN-24-000098 on July 10, 2026. The petition would rezone 560 S. Collier Blvd. from Residential Tourist to a Planned Unit Development. The file carries a Marco Beach Hotel PUD document and a master plan.

  A hotel parcel moving to a planned unit development usually points to a rebuild rather than a refresh, and that is a long run of work for the trades that do it.

  Who this helps

  • general contractors
  • concrete and masonry contractors
  • electricians
  • plumbers
  • roofers
  • landscapers
  • architects
  • land use attorneys
  • hotel staffing agencies

  City of Marco Island Planning Board, 2026-07-10

• Charlotte County commissioners approved two pieces of construction work on June 23, 2026.

  2 opportunities in this update

  • The board awarded Request for Bid #26-411, the Mid-County Transfer Station Wall, to Don B Construction of Punta Gorda for $284,550. The job covers a new 6 foot tall concrete masonry unit border wall and the site work needed to install it at 19765 Kenilworth Boulevard in Port Charlotte. Contracts this size are the ones a local crew can actually win.
  • Commissioners also approved Change Order #8 on the 2025 Road and Bridge and MSBU Paving Program, adding $3,555,028.16 and 175 days of contract time. The change adds Knights Drive and Gardens of Gulf Cove to the paving list. Another 175 days of paving work keeps crews, haulers and material suppliers booked through the rest of the year.

  Charlotte County filed 92 new businesses this week, up 11, and its construction spending is moving in the same direction.

  Who this helps

  • paving contractors
  • concrete and masonry contractors
  • excavation crews
  • traffic control services
  • equipment rental firms
  • material haulers
  • surveyors

  Charlotte County Board of County Commissioners, 2026-06-23

• DeSoto County's commission agenda for May 26, 2026 paired new housing rules with a project already in the pipeline. The board held adoption hearings on a comprehensive plan amendment, COMP-0015-2025, and a land development regulation amendment, LDR-0013-2026, both raising density for affordable housing. The same agenda carried a resolution on the Kings Crossing development plan, SITE-0128-2023, and a rezoning filed as RZNE-0082-2026.

  Density rules decide how many homes fit on a parcel, so they set the size of every job that follows. DeSoto filed only 10 new businesses this week, which makes a rule change like this worth more here than the count suggests.

  Who this helps

  • home builders
  • site work contractors
  • well and septic installers
  • surveyors
  • civil engineers
  • real estate agents
  • title companies

  DeSoto County Board of County Commissioners, 2026-05-26

Most of what forms here is small. Limited liability companies made up 630 of this week's filings, and property holding is the single biggest group. For anyone selling to new businesses, the pool is growing in Cape Coral, Punta Gorda and Bonita Springs, and it is shrinking in Highlands. The building work moving through county records this period, over $3.5 million in added paving in Charlotte County and a terminal expansion at the Lee County airport, points the same way as the 105 construction and trades filings. Contractors and suppliers have the clearest opening, and right behind them are the accountants, insurers and lawyers those new firms hire in their first year.

We count new business filings recorded with the state of Florida in each Southwest Florida county, using the date the filing was recorded. We wait about two weeks after a week ends for the state to finish recording filings, so these counts are complete. Each filing is sorted into a plain language category based on what the business says it does. Local developments come from government records and official announcements, each linked so you can read the original.

Frequently asked questions

How many new businesses were started in Southwest Florida this week?

904 new business filings were recorded across the region. That is 20 more than the week before and 39 fewer than the same week in 2025.

Which county had the most new business filings?

Lee County, with 515. Collier was next at 231, then Charlotte at 92. Lee alone was more than half the region's total.

Which cities are growing fastest?

Bonita Springs grew the most in percentage terms, up 65% to 33 filings. Punta Gorda rose 48.4% to 46. Cape Coral added the most filings outright, up 19 to 174, and passed Fort Myers to take second place.

What kind of business is forming most often here?

Property holding and asset protection companies, at 135 filings. Those are mostly people putting real estate or other assets into a company. Professional services was next at 114, then construction and trades at 105.