West Palm Beach September 2026

T wenty-five companies could have grown anywhere this year. They chose the Palm Beaches. Between October 2025 and June 2026, those companies created or retained 1,605 jobs across the county, from Boca Raton to Jupiter and west to the Glades. Of those, 1,421 are brand new positions. The other 184 belong to people who kept the job they already had, at employers who were weighing whether to stay. Together, those companies committed $374.8 million to facilities, equipment, and payroll here rather than somewhere else. WHAT THIS LOOKS LIKE ON THE GROUND Voloridge is expanding its corporate headquarters in Jupiter and adding 200 positions. Serta Simmons kept 150 manufacturing jobs in Riviera Beach, which means 150 families did not have to worry about a plant closing. West Boca Medical Center is adding 68 positions as it expands care in the western communities. Notice what most of these have in common. They are companies already operating here, growing where they stand. This is not sprawl. It is existing businesses getting bigger. WHY WE KNOCK ON DOORS Recruiting new companies is only half the job. By the end of September, the Business Development Board will have assisted 200 local employers and asked each one the same question: what do you need to stay and grow here? That is how you catch a problem early, before a lease expires or a corporate parent starts shopping other states. A company saved is worth as much as a company recruited, and it rarely makes the news. THESE ARE CAREERS, NOT JUST JOBS The corporate headquarters operations in this county employ 9,644 people at an average salary of $235,462. The countywide average wage is $77,246. That is roughly three times over. Wages like that ripple outward. They fill restaurants, hire contractors, support local shops, and strengthen the tax base that pays for schools, parks, and public safety, whether or not you ever set foot inside one of those companies. BUILDING THE PIPELINE AT HOME Colleges and universities in Palm Beach County awarded 20,154 degrees and certificates in a single academic year. Before a company we assist posts a single opening, we introduce them to those institutions and to CareerSource Palm Beach County. The goal is simple. When a good job opens up here, the person who fills it should be someone who already calls this place home. THE PART THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN UNIMAGINABLE TEN YEARS AGO A quantum computing headquarters in Boca Raton. A nuclear energy headquarters in Palm Beach Gardens. Neither was an option for anyone graduating in this county a decade ago. Both are hiring right now. And the résumés landing on their desks have local addresses on them. - Submitted by Kelly Smallridge, President and CEO, Business Development Board of Palm Beach County - - Photos provided by the Business Development Board - COMMUNITY 4 W E S T PA L M B E A C H | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 6 1,421 NewPaychecks for PalmBeachCounty Residents WHAT THE LATEST COUNTY ECONOMIC NUMBERS MEAN FOR THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE Photo Credit: Jason Nuttle