The business of growth: why companies are paying attention to the Treasure Coast

Something has changed on the Treasure Coast. You can see it without opening a spreadsheet.

More rooftops. More traffic. More construction. More warehouses. More medical facilities. More businesses. And more people.

But underneath the visible growth is a larger economic story: the 772 is becoming a significantly bigger market.

More than 740,000 people

The Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County puts the combined population of St. Lucie, Martin and Indian River counties at 741,520, with a regional workforce of more than 394,000.

St. Lucie County alone has 402,449 residents, including 268,062 in Port St. Lucie, now the sixth-largest city in Florida, according to the EDC’s figures from 2025 Census estimates.

For businesses evaluating the region, those numbers matter. More people means more customers, more workers, more homes, more healthcare demand, more professional services, more construction, and ultimately more reasons for companies to put operations here.

Location still matters

The Treasure Coast sits in an interesting spot. St. Lucie County is about 60 miles north of West Palm Beach and about 120 miles south of Orlando, according to the EDC.

• Interstate 95 and Florida’s Turnpike both run through the county.
• Rail access runs through the region.
• Fort Pierce has a protected deep-water port.
• Treasure Coast International Airport is a designated U.S. Customs port of entry.

For a company serving Florida, that combination can make the Treasure Coast attractive without a South Florida address or South Florida prices.

The economy is broader than what consumers see

Consumer-facing businesses get the most attention. But look at St. Lucie County’s major employer and industry lists and a different economy appears: manufacturing, distribution and logistics, healthcare, construction, research, professional services, higher education, marine industries and aviation.

That matters, because economic resilience usually comes from having many industries rather than depending on one. (Our story on Amazon’s Port St. Lucie warehouse is a recent reminder of what happens when one big employer pauses.)

Industrial growth changes the conversation

A new restaurant might employ 30 people. A major manufacturing, logistics or healthcare operation can employ hundreds.

And its impact doesn’t end at the front door. Those operations need vendors, maintenance, construction, transportation, technology and suppliers. Their employees need housing, restaurants, childcare, healthcare and services.

One business can create demand for many others. That’s why large employers and industrial projects deserve attention, even if most residents never become their customers.

Port St. Lucie is becoming more than a bedroom community

For years, Port St. Lucie’s identity was mostly residential. That’s changing.

The city now sits at the center of a much larger population and workforce, while employment centers, healthcare, research, distribution, manufacturing and commercial development keep expanding around it.

The question is no longer just how many people are moving to Port St. Lucie. Increasingly, it’s: what kind of economy is being built to support them?

That’s a much more interesting question.

Fort Pierce has assets that are hard to duplicate

Fort Pierce plays a different role. Its marine and manufacturing base, industrial land, airport and port create opportunities that are fundamentally different from suburban commercial development.

The concentration of boatbuilders is one example. Pursuit Boats has built boats in Fort Pierce since 1983. Maverick Boat Group is there. Twin Vee is there. Suppliers and service businesses operate around them.

Manufacturing clusters like that don’t appear overnight. They develop over decades. (More on that here.)

Vero Beach and Stuart add their own industries

The regional economy doesn’t stop at the St. Lucie County line.

Vero Beach is home to Piper Aircraft, which designs, engineers and builds its airplanes there. Martin County has marine, aviation and healthcare businesses of its own.

That’s why looking at the Treasure Coast as one connected business region reveals more than looking at each city on its own.

Growth isn’t automatically good

There’s another side to this story.

Rapid growth puts pressure on roads, housing, infrastructure, schools, healthcare, natural resources and the cost of living. A development announcement shouldn’t automatically be treated as a victory. (Northern St. Lucie County’s Indrio Road corridor is a live example.)

THE 772 wants to ask what comes after the announcement:

• How many jobs?
• What do they pay?
• What infrastructure is required?
• What does the project replace?
• What does it contribute?
• Does it diversify the economy?
• How does it affect the people already living here?

Those questions are part of business reporting too.

What happens next?

The Treasure Coast isn’t Miami. It isn’t Orlando. And it doesn’t need to become either one.

The more interesting possibility is that the 772 develops its own economic identity: marine manufacturing, aviation, healthcare and research, construction, logistics, professional services, entrepreneurship, technology, specialized manufacturing, and industries we probably haven’t discovered yet.

More than 740,000 people already live in this region. The next chapter is about what gets built around them.

THE 772 intends to follow it.

Sources: St. Lucie County EDC, St. Lucie County EDC, Major Employers, Pursuit Boats, Piper Aircraft.