July 8, 2026: Central Florida (I-4 Corridor & Space Coast) new business activity

Central Florida's eight counties recorded 2,362 new business filings the week of June 17 to 23, a slower week than the one before.

Even in a slower week, a few kinds of business still grew. New retail filings rose 18 to 157, the biggest gain of any sector. Finance and insurance edged up to 254. Those two added ground while most other sectors eased back.

Property holding and asset protection was the biggest group at 330 filings, with professional services just behind at 329. Finance and insurance followed at 254. No single sector dominates. The largest is only about 14% of all filings, so the base of new business stays wide.

Geography explains most of the pullback. Orange County stayed the busiest with 908 filings, but it ran below its usual pace and gave up 183 on the week. Polk held up best of the larger counties, down just 19 to 400. Lakeland was one of the few cities to grow, up 16 to 165.

Construction filings held near their recent pace at 180. That lines up with several building projects moving ahead across the region, from a new logistics center in Seminole County to a factory expansion in Sumter County and port work in Brevard County.

Very little decline over the past 13 weeks with a dip this past week pulling the average down.

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.

Retail grew the most this week, 18 more (up 12.9%). Property Holding & Asset Protection dropped the most, 86 fewer (down 20.7%).

Orange led the region this week with 908 new filings.

• Blue Origin is investing $600 million to build an 830,000 square foot factory at Cape Canaveral to make the upper stage of its New Glenn rocket. The project adds about 500 aerospace jobs at an average pay above $98,000. A build this size feeds construction and site crews first, then a long tail of local suppliers: machine shops, industrial equipment vendors, staffing firms, and the accounting and insurance a growing manufacturer runs on. Aerospace work at this scale also pulls in specialized subcontractors up and down the Space Coast. Space Florida, 2026-05-22
• Chick-fil-A Supply is building a 244,000 square foot logistics center in Winter Haven's Central Florida Integrated Logistics Park, a $150 million investment expected to create about 180 jobs. A distribution hub this size means construction and building trades to put it up, then steady work for trucking and last-mile carriers, warehouse staffing, facility maintenance, and equipment vendors. It also draws more logistics tenants to the park. Central Florida Development Council, 2026-06-19
• Charlotte Pipe and Foundry finished a $25 million expansion of its plant in Wildwood, adding 54,700 square feet. The plant makes PVC pipe for plumbing and irrigation and employs about 60 people. A bigger plant pulls in freight and trucking to move raw material and finished pipe, plus packaging suppliers, equipment servicers, and industrial maintenance crews. Growth like this also signals steady demand from the plumbing and irrigation contractors who buy the pipe across the state. Charlotte Pipe and Foundry Company, 2026-06-16
• Rapta, a manufacturing intelligence company, opened its Florida Regional Headquarters in Orlando to serve aerospace, defense, space, and advanced manufacturing customers across the state. A new regional headquarters means office build-out and leasing work first, then technical and sales hiring, plus steady B2B demand from the local aerospace and defense manufacturers Rapta supports. Its arrival adds to Orlando's growing cluster of manufacturing technology firms. Rapta, 2026-06-19
• Acadian Contractors opened a new 45,000 square foot East Coast headquarters in Cocoa, up from an 11,000 square foot building. The move brings more than 100 local jobs serving the aerospace, marine, and entertainment industries. A company more than tripling its space needs its own web of local vendors: building trades for the fit out, then janitorial, security, equipment rental, and the staffing, accounting, and insurance a 100 person operation runs on. Its aerospace and marine work also spreads jobs to local subcontractors. Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast, 2026-05-14
• The City of Lakeland posted notice of a proposed pause on new applications for data centers and very large power users, with a first hearing set for July 6, 2026. The city wants time to write land use and utility rules for those uses first. A pause reshapes where big power users can build, and it points to strong interest in Polk County land. For now the openings sit with the businesses already growing here: the contractors, site developers, and engineering and utility firms that will help meet the new rules, plus the everyday service firms serving Lakeland's steady stream of new companies. City of Lakeland, 2026-06-24
• A new logistics center of more than 116,000 square feet opened fully leased on McCracken Road in Sanford. One tenant, a Sanford maker of vanilla extracts and flavors, plans to add 20 jobs and invest $1.25 million in the space and new equipment. A full building on day one shows the demand for warehouse and light manufacturing space in Seminole County is real. That feeds freight and trucking, packaging and equipment suppliers, staffing agencies, and the maintenance and security a busy facility needs. Orlando Economic Partnership, 2026-05-06
• Embry-Riddle broke ground on a new 28,000 square foot, two story ROTC complex at its Daytona Beach campus, with advanced classrooms, a 100 seat auditorium, and an outdoor drill plaza. The building is set to open in fall 2027. A new campus building is a construction job first: site work, concrete, framing, and the electrical and technology fit out for the classrooms and simulators. Local trades, equipment rental, and the design and engineering firms on the project all pick up work through 2027. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 2026-05-07

This was a slower week for new business overall, but the region still added thousands of companies and the building side stayed busy. Construction held steady at 180 filings, in step with a run of projects on the public record: a new logistics center in Seminole, a factory expansion in Sumter, port work in Brevard, and a large semiconductor plant approved in Osceola. For anyone selling to new and growing businesses, the best openings this period are with the trades, freight and logistics firms, staffing agencies, and the accounting and insurance providers those projects and their new tenants will need. Retail also grew, so vendors serving new shops had a bigger list to work than the week before.

We count new business filings recorded with the state for companies based in the eight counties of Central Florida. We wait about two weeks after each week ends for the state to finish recording all of its filings, so the counts here are complete and final. Figures compare the covered week to the week before and to the same week in 2025.

Frequently asked questions

Does a slower week mean the local economy is shrinking?

No. The region still recorded 2,362 new business filings in one week. The count was down from the week before and from a year ago, but thousands of new companies still formed, and some sectors like retail grew.

Which areas are worth the most attention right now?

Orange County still has the most new businesses by far at 908. Polk held up best among the larger counties, and Lakeland was one of the few cities to grow. Big projects in Osceola, Brevard, Sumter, and Seminole point to steady construction and logistics demand.