CTE/FCAT CONNECTION
Sunday, January 25, 2004
Pierson: An agricultural town
By JOE CREWS
NEWS-JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
This rural town in the northwest corner of Volusia County has maintained its agrarian roots even as surrounding areas continue to grow housing and commercial developments.
Established in the late 1800s as Piersonville, the town’s economic mainstay is agriculture. The top cash crop of the self-proclaimed “Fern Capital of the World” is decorative foliage used in flower arrangements and, increasingly, landscapes all across the United States.
And while no huge housing projects are on the way, the town’s middle-high school — which serves all of Northwest Volusia — is poised to get a $26 million makeover beginning in June. On a smaller scale, ground has been broken for a Dollar General store just north of Pierson Town Hall, and Pierson Medical Center may become a reality in the near future.
Fern and other decorative greenery, however, still dominate the economy in this town of slightly more than 2,600 residents. Earlier this month, Dana Venrick, a Volusia County extension agent specializing in commercial horticulture, said there’s both good news and bad news for the fern industry.
“The bad news is that leather leaf was down in sales last year for the second year in a row,” Venrick said. “The good news is that other cut foliage is up.”
Growers have been forced to adapt in recent years, focusing less on the leather leaf fern that has been a florist staple for more than 80 years, and more on other kinds of decorative foliage for landscapes as well as flower arrangements.
David Register, manager of the FernTrust cooperative in nearby Seville, said he’s seeing more kinds of greenery heading for markets across the country.
“There are more products available for florists today,” Register said recently. “We have more than 40 items on our price list.... Farmers are resilient. They’ll do anything they have to to stay in business.”
Rick Michael, director of the county’s economic development efforts, said agriculture is an important contributor to Volusia County’s economy.
“There’s nothing wrong with a community that has an agricultural history to be able to maintain its agricultural heritage,” Michael said. “We are not directing any major industrial activity to that area.”
But he noted that the average income in that industry — $14,836 annually — is the lowest of all industry sectors, lower than even the leisure and hospitality sector at $16,453.
Meanwhile, smaller projects are coming this year.
The largest is a new middle-high school that will be built slightly east of the existing campus. Originally built in the 1960s, the school today has a student population about 125 more than its designed capacity of 825. The new campus will accommodate up to 1,300 students split equally between the two schools.
Town leaders have long bemoaned that Pierson residents have been forced to drive to DeLand or Crescent City to shop for food or household commodities. That may soon end.
The Dollar General store will be built on U.S. Highway 17, the main artery through Pierson. Charles Smith, its Savannah, Ga.-based developer, said the property next to Town Hall has been cleared for an 8,125-square-foot store.
“I’m working with the contractor to get started, I hope by the first of February,” Smith said by phone recently. “We could be finished by the last of March.”
When he first approached town officials about bringing Dollar General to Pierson, Smith said he was also planning to include a Chinese restaurant next to it.
“But when we applied for a permit, we goofed up and didn’t include the restaurant,” Smith admitted. “So we’ll have to build that separately.”
Also nearing fruition is a medical center to serve Pierson and the surrounding area. Northeast Florida Health Services, a nonprofit organization, is likely to receive a federal grant to help open its doors, health officials said in early January.
