Florida is leading the nation in growth, and Polk County is at the heart of it, according to a recent ranking from the U.S. Census Bureau. 

What You Need To Know

  • Polk County, Fla., is ranked as the fastest growing in the state of Florida

  • Hunt Brothers is an Orange company that makes up a significant part of that growth

  • The company began in 1922

The U.S. Census Bureau ranked Polk County as the fastest-growing in the state and the seventh fastest in the nation. Several cities within the county are creating new initiatives to plan for the rush, including Lake Wales. 

“This study is important because it helps shape the future of the city,” Mark Bennett, Development Services Director, told Spectrum News. “It will help figure out what areas outside the current city we want to have as residential, commercial or residential. We’ll also take into account environmental considerations.” 

Ellis Hunt Jr. of Hunt Bros. Inc. supports this growth. Hunt Jr., who is now the president of the company, said his grandfather started Hunt Brothers back in 1922. 

“We have been here for 100 years and some of this land we’ve owned for 70 years,” Hunt continued. “Many years ago, this was out of town and now we’re right next to Walmart, Winn-Dixie and a lot of retail right beside it. So, the town has grown out to us.”

Hunt Jr. just sold 200 acres of land to be used for housing developments.

“We’re experiencing unprecedented growth,” said Lake Wales City Manager James Slaton. “Lake Wales averaged about 30 new homes a year for the last two decades, and so there’s been no need to look at the land use.” 

Lake Wales is currently planning for 13,000 new single and multi-family residential units within the next several years. 

“We want to make sure that we’re growing responsibly and so this land use study is going to guide our future development into areas outside our city limits but within our utility service area,” said Slaton.  

Planned growth is what city officials say they ultimately hope to accomplish, and the Land Use Study, which is already in progress, supports that. 

“Selling this gives us the ability to go further out of town and plant new grooves, which we’ve already done,” said Hunt Jr. “Four hundred acres of new groves are about two years old now — this will help enable us to continue those new groves.”