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Gifford Neighborhood Plan Analvsis <br /> Income and Employment <br /> One advantage of Gifford's central county location is its close proximity to several major employers such as Indian River Memorial <br /> Hospital, Vero Beach Municipal Airport, Dodgertown, the Indian River Mall, Gateway Industrial Park, the county maintenance <br /> facility, a Florida Department of Transportation maintenance facility, and several packinghouses. For that reason, Gifford appears to <br /> offer relatively easy access to several employment centers. In fact, no other area of the county is as close to as many employment <br /> opportunities as Gifford. Despite that fact, Gifford residents have lower median household and per capita incomes than the county as <br /> a whole. <br /> Employment opportunities are continuing to increase in the Gifford area. With additional building occurring on the west part of the <br /> airport,jobs are being created adjacent to Gifford's south boundary. Located adjacent to the airport and abutting South Gifford Road <br /> is the Hammond Industrial Park. This project can be expected to create higher paying industrial jobs and provide employment <br /> opportunities for Gifford residents. <br /> To take advantage of these employment opportunities, Gifford residents must have the skills necessary for the jobs. Currently, <br /> several job training programs exist in Gifford. Even more so now than in the past, these efforts must be focused on the skills needed <br /> for the jobs that will be created. <br /> ➢ Issues and Problems <br /> Several factors appear to be related to Gifford's lower income and employment rates. Some of those factors involve land use, zoning, <br /> housing, and infrastructure, and those are discussed in other sections of this document. These are issues over which the county has <br /> some degree of control. In contrast, the county has little control over most of the factors which relate to Gifford's lower income and <br /> employment rates. Those factors include: <br /> Young Age <br /> One of those factors is the relatively young overall age of Gifford residents. Overall, 37.1% of Gifford residents are 19 years old or <br /> younger. For the county as a whole, that percentage is only 21.5. Younger workers generally tend to earn less than older workers. <br /> This, however, could also be an advantage, since younger workers are generally more flexible and more trainable. <br /> Community Development Department Indian River County 47 <br />