
Pompano Beach remains in the center of the produce universe
Location, location, location.
In real estate, it means everything. For the city of Pompano Beach, FL, and those involved in the produce industry, it means being in close proximity to two major north/south interstate highways, three international airports, three large ports with direct access to shipping from Central and South America and within reach in just three days, or less, of most major metropolitan areas along the east coast and the Midwest by truck.
It is also why the Pompano Beach area has been home to a number of produce packers, shippers and distributors over the years and remains a key area for the produce industry in the southeastern U.S. as it continues to expand domestically and internationally.
Pompano Beach is just an hour north of the Port Miami, 30 minutes north of Port Everglades and 30 minutes south of the port in Palm Beach. Also, Interstate 95 passes through the eastern part of the city, while the Florida Turnpike, which connects to Interstate 75, cuts through the western part of the city. Combined these highways offer easy access to the big metropolitan areas of both the Northeast and Midwest.
“The bottom line is that Pompano Beach is a great hub for southeastern produce,” said Jimmy Myrick, a vice president for Myrick Produce, which has called the city of about 112,000 people home since its founding in 1976. “Besides the great nearby ports and interstates, Pompano Beach is just an hour and a half or so away from every growing region in southeastern Florida. With the interstates, we can have trucks in New York or Chicago in less than three days.”
City officials, always stressing the accessibility of the city to other markets and its business-friendly atmosphere, are doing their best to keep Pompano Beach top-of-mind when it comes to produce. According to Sandra King, a strategic communications administrator for the city, farmers’ markets have existed within city limits since at least 1939 and, before the population boom that started in the 1960s, Pompano Beach was once an agricultural town.
“There were many farmers here that grew beans and peppers and the farmers’ market was booming,” she said. “That farmers’ market (which in 2016 changed its name to the Edward L. Myrick State Farmers’ Market after Jimmy Myrick’s dad and company founder) is still in existence today and many of the wholesale companies work out of there.”
Myrick noted that his entire family is quite proud of the decision by the state legislature to name the state-run farmer’s market after Edward.
“We didn’t know this was in the works,” he said about the naming of the facility after his dad, who still comes into work every day at the age of 85. “It was a surprise to all of us. A state senator sponsored the bill and it quickly got a lot of support in the legislature. It is such a nice honor. My dad has always been a supporter of farmers’ markets. He is quite proud of what we have done in Pompano Beach and how this market continues to grow.”
King also stressed that Pompano Beach offers something that many other Florida communities no longer have. “Pompano Beach is one of the last south Florida cities that still has space where companies can expand,” she noted. “Other cities are grown out with no more room for expansion, but we have the room for industrial-type buildings, as well as our beaches and a historical relationship with the agricultural industry. Our city is good for farmers, good for the city and good for the farmer’s market. It is a win-win for everyone.”