July 16, 2026 — Northeast Florida (First Coast) new business activity

New business filings across Northeast Florida rose to 872 the week of June 25 to July 1, the first weekly gain after a soft stretch.

Business services led the week. Professional services topped every category with 130 new filings, up 26 from the week before. Administrative and support firms rose to 78, up 19. Construction and trades added 18 to reach 81. Together these are the small firms that need an accountant, insurance, and payroll on day one.

Duval County still accounts for most of the activity, with 549 filings, and 521 of those were in Jacksonville. But the fastest growth is on the coast and to the south. St. Johns County rose 24% from the week before to 119 filings. Flagler County rose 33% to 73. Saint Augustine jumped to 53 and Palm Coast reached 57. Clay County held steady at 87.

The week was up 9% from the 799 filings the week before. That is the first gain in a while. Even so, the pace is still below the 912 filings from the same week last year, and below the 13 week average of 974. The broader trend is cooling, not climbing. Finance and insurance was the soft spot, with 18 new filings against 54 the week before, far below its normal pace.

Newer kinds of business also grew. Healthcare added 8 to reach 52. Real estate rose 8 to 38. Short term rental holdings doubled, from 4 to 10, a fit for a coast that fills up with summer visitors.

Very little decline 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 Nov, 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.

Professional Services grew the most this week, 26 more (up 25.0%). Finance and Insurance dropped the most, 36 fewer (down 66.7%). Several smaller sectors also grew.

Duval led the region this week with 549 new filings. Gains were broad, with 3 other counties also up from the week before.

• The Saint Augustine City Commission's July 13 agenda moved four rezoning and land use changes toward a final vote on July 27. Two would turn about 1.23 acres at 65 Lewis Boulevard and about 9.07 acres at 69 Lewis Boulevard into a residential and office category. Two more would change the land use and zoning on about half an acre at 18 and 20 Spring Street. Rezoning land for offices and housing feeds a chain of local businesses. First come the surveyors, civil engineers, and site work crews, then the general contractors and the concrete, framing, roofing, electrical, and plumbing trades. Once built, the offices and homes bring in property managers, title and insurance agents, and real estate firms. This is the kind of demand behind the 130 professional services filings and the 81 construction filings this week. City of St. Augustine City Commission, July 13, 2026 agenda, 2026-07-13
• The Fernandina Beach Technical Review Committee reviewed site plans on July 9 for a new aircraft hangar at the Fernandina Beach Municipal Airport, a duplex and single family home at 309 S. 3rd Street, and a commercial flex space at 1750 S. 14th Street. The hangar and the flex space mean near term work for builders, steel and concrete crews, roofers, and electrical and HVAC trades. Once open, a flex building draws small manufacturers, contractors, and storage or distribution tenants who each need their own services. The two homes feed homebuilders and finish trades. Nassau added filings across construction and related trades this week, and projects like these are why. City of Fernandina Beach Technical Review Committee, July 9, 2026 agenda, 2026-07-09
• The Fernandina Beach City Commission's July 7 agenda approved a third phase of street resurfacing by Atlantic Coast Asphalt Company, a division of Hubbard Construction Company. The cost is not to exceed $385,624. The same agenda approved a parks and recreation master plan assessment by Kimley-Horn and Associates for $98,750. A $385,624 paving job puts work in front of asphalt and paving crews, line striping and traffic control firms, and the trucks that haul materials. The $98,750 parks study feeds engineering and landscape design firms first, and park building contractors later. Public contracts like these are steady work for the administrative and support firms that made up 78 of this week's filings. City of Fernandina Beach City Commission, July 7, 2026 agenda, 2026-07-07
• The Palm Coast Planning and Land Development Regulation Board approved the technical site plan for the Palm Harbor Professional Complex, a professional office complex at 1195 Palm Harbor Parkway at Frontier Drive, on June 18. The applicant is the engineering firm Stephenson, Wilcox & Associates. A new office building with room for many tenants means construction and site work now, then a run of office tenants who each need space to open. Think medical practices, accountants, insurance agents, lawyers, and financial advisers, plus the cleaning, security, IT, and signage firms that serve them. Flagler County filings rose 33% this week, the fastest in the region, and new office space gives those firms somewhere to land. City of Palm Coast development project record, Palm Harbor Professional Complex, 2026-06-18
• Johnson & Johnson announced on June 15 that it will invest more than $1 billion in Jacksonville to expand its Vision operations, scaling U.S. manufacturing, packaging, and distribution of ACUVUE contact lenses. The plan includes a new distribution facility. The company employs about 3,500 people in Jacksonville, and the site is expected to be fully running in 2028. A billion dollar plant and distribution build is a magnet for local business. In the build phase it needs heavy construction, industrial contractors, and equipment installers. Once running, a distribution site pulls in trucking and logistics firms, packaging suppliers, commercial cleaning, security, and staffing agencies, plus the accountants, IT, and legal help their vendors use. This is the kind of anchor that supports the 78 administrative and support and 47 transportation and logistics filings the region saw this week. Johnson & Johnson investor news release, 2026-06-15

This week's 872 filings, led by professional services, construction, and administrative support, mean a bigger pool of brand new firms that all need the basics at once: a bank, an accountant, insurance, a website, and payroll. The cited projects show the demand behind those numbers is real. The Johnson & Johnson build and the approvals in Fernandina Beach and Palm Coast will need contractors and suppliers, and the newly rezoned land in Saint Augustine will fill with tenants who buy local services. If you sell to new businesses on the First Coast, Duval County holds the most prospects, and St. Johns and Flagler hold the fastest growing lists.

These counts come from Florida's official new business registrations for the seven counties of Northeast Florida: Baker, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, Putnam, and St. Johns. We count active, newly formed businesses for the week of June 25 to July 1. We wait about two weeks after the week ends for the state to finish recording all filings, so the count you see is complete and final. Industry and area totals are grouped from the registration records.

Frequently asked questions

Which county had the most new businesses this week?

Duval County, with 549 of the week's 872 filings. Most of those, 521, were in Jacksonville.

Where is growth speeding up?

St. Johns and Flagler. St. Johns rose 24% from the week before and Flagler rose 33%. Saint Augustine and Palm Coast led those counties.

Are these counts final, or will they rise later?

They are final. We wait about two weeks after the week ends for the state to finish recording all filings, so the count is complete when you read it.