|
The county offers employers an adequate and trained work force – according to the 1997 Census, 19,969 people live in Avon Park’s trade area (8,917 in the incorporated area alone). The census projects that pool to rise to 21,448 by the year 2001.
Major Employers: SunPure
Highlands Regional Medical Center is located at the heart of Highlands County in Sebring at the intersection of US Highway 27 and Highlands Avenue. The 126-bed general, acute care community hospital has recently undergone many positive changes. State-of-the-art equipment has been installed, services have been expanded, a sparkling new Out-patient Surgery Center has been added and the Emergency Room has been entirely renovated.
• The facility’s proximity to shopping
areas, hospitals and physicians Avon Park’s elderly care options stand in good light on these and other important criteria.
The fire department maintains seven state-of-the-art trucks and staffs 12 full-time fire fighters on alert within the incorporated area. (The Highlands Lakes Volunteer Fire Department covers residents and businesses outside this designation.) In 1997, they answered 1,277 alarms. Our police department hires 26 sworn patrol officers, who have answered 10,997 calls for service in 1997. Thankfully, however, crime isn’t prevalent in Avon Park; police needed to make only 322 arrests from those calls. City residents enjoy water and sewer hook-ups, as well as electricity by Florida Power Corporation and local telephone service through Sprint.
Area Clubs / Civic Organizations Airborne Breakfast Club
Community
Profile Network, Inc. & Copyright © 1998-1999 Community
Profile Network, Inc. This Site is a Cyberworks Studios, Inc.Production |
More
than 400 businesses from entrepreneurial enterprises to national corporations
thrive in Avon Park. Many of our companies are agriculturally based,
thanks to Mother Nature’s blessing. (Citrus and cattle represent
the largest categories!)
The
pro-business atmosphere and creative incentive packages stem from old-fashioned
cooperation at the heart of our city. Rather than create separate energies
and images, the Avon Park Community Redevelopment Agency teams with
the City of Avon Park and the Avon Park Chamber of Commerce to present
a united plan for our future. With the chamber poised to be the "front
door to the community," no business owner walks away without all
the answers to his or her questions.
Two
major hospitals in the area mean that families can address illnesses
quickly in Avon Park. Florida Hospital Heartland opened a new state-of-the-art
facility in the fall of 1997 with 101 private beds. Florida Hospital
Heartland also houses the area’s largest hospital-based laboratory
and radiology services, plus comprehensive diagnostic and treatment
facilities. It is a member of the Adventist Health System Sunbelt, a
non-profit Christian healthcare organization that operates 25 hospitals
across the southeast.
Several
caring organizations stand ready to assist families with the difficult
task of juggling children and senior citizens in their lives, including
the Florida Association of Homes for the Aging. Among its suggestions
when shopping for a retirement community:
Avon
Park operates under the direction of an elected five-member council
that sets policies for the city. Residents living outside city limits
are represented by the Highlands County Board of Commissioners.
More
than 40 churches meet in Avon Park, covering a wide range of denominations.
And citizens here make sure this isn’t just a "Sunday do-good"
city – they practice what they preach. The 30+ service and civic
organizations in the area thrive with volunteer support.