Progress Energy Florida selects Lake County industrial site as first to qualify for the company's Site Readiness Program

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Feb. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Progress Energy Florida has selected Lake County's Florida Energy and Aerospace Technology (FEAT) Park as its first Site Readiness location in Florida.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110110/PROGRESSENERGYLOGO)

According to Marc Hoenstine, economic development manager for Progress Energy Florida, FEAT Park was chosen after a comprehensive site inventory assessment of more than 60 sites. FEAT Park will be actively marketed to site selectors and corporate decision makers this year.

The Site Readiness Program is the cornerstone of the Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) Business Development Team's work. It is designed to identify, evaluate, improve and increase awareness of industrial sites in the company's service territory. The goal of the program is to increase the inventory of industrial sites and to advance their state of readiness.

"This program is a progressive effort toward making communities more competitive and attractive for new industry and jobs. Even more, it's in sync with our strategy for diversifying the state's economy, which involves identifying and promoting communities' marketable attributes for business recruitment," said Florida Secretary of Commerce Gray Swoope, who serves as president and CEO of Enterprise Florida, Inc., the state's principal economic development organization. "Florida as well as Lake County will benefit."

"We are always very happy to do business with successful companies like Progress Energy," said Leesburg Mayor David Knowles. "Our property is a blank slate with a lot of great potential. We are looking for ideas and innovation from the Site Readiness Program to help pull it all together and create new development and new jobs."

The FEAT site was selected because its proposed use is a clear fit with the company's targeted industries and its size is ideal.

The Duke Energy Business Development Team is a direct result of the Progress Energy Florida merger with Duke Energy. Economic development is crucial to Florida's recovery, and the company is committed to helping boost economic activity.

"The Duke Energy Business Development Team is working hard to help market our Florida service territory nationally and internationally as the right place to do business," said Alex Glenn, state president, Progress Energy Florida. "Since July, the team has extensively visited and analyzed our Florida service territory.

"This early work has already produced results with six new potential companies being referred to us in Florida."

Targeted industries include aviation/aerospace, automotive, bio/life sciences, data centers, food and beverage, general manufacturing and plastics.

Ideal candidates for the Site Readiness Program are Progress Energy served industrial sites of 75 acres or more. A qualified site can be either a single site suited for a large industrial facility or a potential industrial park (multi-tenant site).

The program includes:

• Initial assessment of industrial sites (existing or potential) from the perspective of a top site-selection consultant, McCallum Sweeney Consulting.
• A more detailed "buildability" assessment and development of conceptual plans for the sites by expert land-use and site planners. HRP Associates will create the FEAT Park buildable study.
• A meeting with the county to present McCallum Sweeney's findings and a detailed final report on the site, including a presentation of the final drawings and conceptual by HRP Associates.

For more information about the Progress Energy economic development efforts, visit: http://www.duke-energy.com/economic-development/economic-development.asp#.

Progress Energy Florida

Progress Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), provides electricity and related services to more than 1.6 million customers in Florida. The company is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Fla., and serves a territory encompassing more than 20,000 square miles including the cities of St. Petersburg and Clearwater, as well as the Central Florida area surrounding Orlando. Progress Energy Florida is pursuing a balanced approach to meeting the future energy needs of the region. That balance includes increased energy-efficiency programs, investments in renewable energy technologies and a state-of-the-art electricity system. More information is available at www.progress-energy.com.

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is a Fortune 250 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available at: www.duke-energy.com. 

Florida Energy and Aerospace Technology Park

The Florida Energy and Aerospace Technology (FEAT) Park is a City of Leesburg-owned site providing more than 640 acres of prime property targeting the city's economic development emphasis on aviation, aerospace and new energy development.

The site borders the interchange of Florida's Turnpike - a direct access road crossing through much of the state - and Lake County Road 470.

More information is available at http://www.leesburgflorida.gov/feat/index.aspx.

Media contact via 24-Hour media line: 800-559-3853

Follow Progress Energy Florida on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ProgEnergyFL
Follow Progress Energy Florida on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ProgressEnergyFlorida

SOURCE Progress Energy