LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. — As more homes continue to be built in Lehigh Acres, businesses are following the population boom that will create more local job opportunities for residents.
Recent openings include a Scooters Coffee drive-thru, with Chipotle soon to become the community's first location later this week. A spokesperson with Chipotle says they're still hiring at the Lehigh location.
Find previous reporting on Lehigh Acres' growth here.
"There's been this rapid growth in residential and now businesses are recognizing the demand that's placing on goods and services," said Melanie Schmees, who works at the Regional Economic Research Institute at Florida Gulf Coast University.
"Confidently say that there will be a healthy amount of job opportunities open to local residents to fill," Schmees said.
Schmees explained as more businesses open in the area, the job market in Lehigh could diversify as well.
Find out where business are in the process of permitting, construction in Lehigh Acres Community Correspondent Ella Rhoades' report:
While the specific unemployment rate for Lehigh Acres is difficult to determine, Lee County currently has a 3.7% unemployment rate, according to Career Source Southwest Florida.
"Lehigh Acres is instrumental part of what we do," said Amy Hanna-Eckenrode, with CareerSource SWFL. "There are residents from Lehigh who contact us daily."
Many people in Lehigh Acres currently commute outside their community for work, but the influx of new businesses could change that pattern.
"If they might have had a longer commute before now, they can have these job opportunities locally which leads to employees satisfaction, greater employee retention not to mention hopefully easing traffic, congestion and just aiding an overall functioning of the community," Schmees said.
She added the community could start to see the impacts immediately after the businesses open in Lehigh or in three to five years.
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