SUWANNEE TOURISM
Suwannee County Economic Development
By Hayli Zuccola
Like peanut butter and jelly, tourism and economic development go hand in hand, with each contributing to the success of the other. Every year, the Suwannee County Tourist Development and Suwannee County Economic Development offices work to bring new opportunities— and visitors— to the county.
Over the past year, Project Summit, an initiative announced in 2025 to redevelop 390 acres at I-10 and U. S. 129, has continued to move forward. The project will create a regional hurricane shelter capable of serving residents of Suwannee County and surrounding counties during natural disasters while transforming into a sports tourism hub during normal operations.
Now in the schematic design phase, Project Summit received more than $ 38 million through a Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery( CDBG- DR). Construction is expected to begin in spring 2027. The planned 180,000-square-foot facility will feature 10 basketball courts that can be converted into 20 volleyball courts, along with meeting rooms, a cafeteria, administrative offices and a banquet room that can seat about 475 people. The dual-purpose facility will serve as a storm shelter during hurricane season while hosting sporting events and other activities throughout the rest of the year.
Progress has also continued at the Suwannee County Regional Industrial Corridor with the addition of four miles of water and wastewater lines. A new business has also moved in at the corridor after expressing interest in the area in January. Plant Path, which specializes in data-driven plant breeding to develop stevia varieties without the plant’ s traditionally bitter aftertaste, chose Live Oak for its production facility because of the atmospheric conditions and the availability of expert growers in the area made it attractive.
The first phase— growing and drying the plant— is complete, with the company currently cultivating 250 acres of stevia. The next phase will include a processing
plant that will turn the dried stevia into a specialized medium, while leftover plant material can be converted into animal feed. Future plans call for expanding production to 10,000 acres.
While some projects have moved quickly, Economic Development is a marathon, not a sprint. One of the first initiatives Suwannee County’ s economic development took on was expanding internet access throughout the county. The need became especially apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, when local students struggled to keep up with schoolwork because they lacked reliable internet access. Students had to wait for homework and assignments to be delivered by local school bus drivers.
This year, Rapid Fiber completed its rollout, bringing fiber-to-the-home service to everyone within its service territory. Even residents at the end of the county’ s most remote dirt roads can now access internet speeds of up to 2 gigabits per second.
The county is also getting a new hotel. A Hampton Inn & Suites, a project initially proposed four years ago by Nick Patel who owns several other hotels in nearby Lake City, is now under construction. Expected to be completed in fall 2027, the hotel will feature 123 rooms, including suites, as well as a large meeting space and a pool.
Several other businesses have come to the area within the past year, including one that was a direct result of their marketing campaign. The owner of the Chick-fil-A on Ohio Avenue was drawn to the area after seeing the“ We Are Suwannee” campaign, which spotlighted individuals and businesses representing the county’ s six target industries: manufacturing, transportation, health care, tourism, retirement services and clean tech. The campaign earned the department the Innovation in Marketing Award at the 2025 Economic Development Awards and helped attract businesses interested in becoming part of the community.
New businesses and the hotel will also contribute to the county’ s tourism efforts, but several initiatives are underway on that front as well. A new tourism
100 SUWANNEE CHAMBER IMPACT | 2026-2027