July 10, 2026 — Southwest Florida new business activity

Southwest Florida recorded 747 new business filings the week of June 19 to 25, its slowest week in three months.

Most of the slowdown came from Lee County. It fell to 381 new filings from 500 the week before, with Fort Myers down 60 and Cape Coral down 50. Collier County went the other way, rising to 233 from 194 as Naples added 36. So the cooling was not spread evenly. It landed hardest in the region's biggest county while Collier picked up ground.

Most sectors eased, but transportation and logistics stood out on the upside. New carriers, haulers, and delivery businesses rose to 61 from 36, a jump of about 70%. The pattern showed up in the new business names too, with more of them using words like trucking, logistics, and express.

The steepest drop was in property holding and asset protection, the region's largest group, down to 121 from 157. Personal and other services fell to 72 from 96, construction eased to 72 from 92, and retail dropped to 36 from 52. A few areas held up. Finance and insurance rose to 45 from 42, professional services stayed near the top at 82, and new cleaning businesses were a bright spot in the names.

Even in a slow week, the public record shows work on the way. Approved and newly started projects across Collier, Charlotte, Lee, and Glades counties point to construction, trades, and hospitality demand in the months ahead.

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.

• 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 3,500 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.

Transportation & Logistics grew the most this week, 25 more (up 69.4%). Property Holding & Asset Protection dropped the most, 36 fewer (down 22.9%).

Lee led the region this week with 381 new filings. 1 other county also grew from the week before.

• Collier County set a May 7 Planning Commission hearing on a plan to expand the new Town of Big Cypress by 451.75 acres east of DeSoto Boulevard, adding 1,367 homes to reach 5,799 and revising its commercial, light industrial, and business park space. A new master planned town on that scale is years of work for homebuilders and their trades, commercial and business park general contractors, and site clearing, earthwork, paving, and utility crews. The new commercial and light industrial space will also need accounting, insurance, IT, and legal firms to serve its tenants. Collier County Clerk of Courts (Planning Commission public hearing notice, PL20250001447), 2026-05-07
• Collier County set a May 14 Hearing Examiner date on a request to let a fitness business, Dome-Wellness, open in a commercial district on Tamiami Trail East in East Naples. A new gym is fresh work for commercial fit out and remodeling contractors, fitness equipment installers, and signage and electrical trades, plus the staff the facility hires along the East Trail corridor. Collier County Clerk of Courts (Hearing Examiner public hearing notice, PCUD-PL20250007028), 2026-05-14
• Charlotte County Public Schools broke ground on June 23 on the Southwest Florida Advanced Manufacturing Training Center at Enterprise Charlotte Airport Park near Punta Gorda Airport, backed by a $1.75 million state appropriation. Building the center is immediate work for construction and site development contractors and suppliers. Once open, it trains workers for the advanced manufacturing, aerospace, welding, and aviation support employers along the airport park industrial corridor, the same kind of transportation and logistics work that led the region's growth this week. Charlotte County Public Schools, 2026-06-23
• Punta Gorda Airport announced on May 19 that Allegiant will add year round nonstop flights between Punta Gorda and La Crosse, Wisconsin starting October 1. More flights bring more travelers for airport ground handlers and fixed base operators, taxi, rideshare, and rental car firms, and Punta Gorda area hotels, restaurants, and visitor serving retail. Punta Gorda Airport (Charlotte County Airport Authority), 2026-05-19
• Stevens Construction and Access 26 broke ground on June 8 on the Access 26 Family Food Truck Park at 2500 Estero Boulevard in Fort Myers Beach. A new food truck park is work for the construction trades building it, then a home for food truck and mobile food vendors, an ice cream and retail tenant, and beverage and hospitality operators as Fort Myers Beach keeps rebuilding. Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce (event listing), 2026-06-08
• Glades County scheduled hearings through June and July to rezone 72.39 acres in Ortona from agricultural to planned development for the Williams Road RV Resort. A new RV resort means work for site, civil, and land clearing contractors, paving, utility, electrical, and plumbing crews for the RV hookups, and landscapers, plus the hospitality operators who will run it. Glades County (rezoning public hearing notice), 2026-06-22

Southwest Florida had a slow week, but the slowdown was uneven and the pipeline of new work is not. Lee County cooled while Collier held up, so the freshest new business prospects right now sit around Naples and eastern Collier. Transportation and logistics was the week's clear riser, and the public record backs it up. The new advanced manufacturing training center at the Charlotte airport park is building the workforce for that same industrial and logistics corridor. New carriers and the businesses that build and serve them, from fleet and fuel to warehouse space, insurance, and permitting, are the ones best placed to act this period.

We count each business by the date it registered with the state, so this shows new business formation, not the total number of businesses. We wait about two weeks after the week ends for the state to finish recording all filings, so these counts are complete. Counts cover active Southwest Florida businesses across Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Highlands, Hendry, Hardee, DeSoto, and Glades counties, and they update daily.

Frequently asked questions

Where are the most new businesses forming in Southwest Florida?

This week Lee County led with 381 new filings and Collier County followed with 233. Lee slowed from the week before while Collier grew.

Which industry grew this week?

Transportation and logistics was the clear riser, up to 61 new businesses from 36, while most other sectors eased.

How current is this data?

We pull new filings from official state records and update daily. We wait about two weeks after a week ends for the state to finish recording filings, so the counts are complete.