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At the top of Florida's industrial heap is 66-year-old Edward Ball, who bosses the vast interests of the estate of Alfred Irenee du Pont, and who, as head of the Florida National Bank of Jacksonville, helped many of the new industries to start. Ball, with headquarters in Jacksonville, oversees an empire that ranges from banks (a total of 23 in the Florida National Group) to pulp and paper (St. Joe Paper Co.) and one of the largest privately owned forests in the U.S.
Ore & Atoms. Florida's real−and least expected−source of wealth is just now being discovered. Long considered poor in basic raw materials, the state has been finding uses for things that once were considered worthless. Around Jacksonville, two companies are mining ilmenite and rutile, from which the wonder metal titanium is produced. To the south, near Fort Myers, an oilfield is producing commercially. Oil was also found last month in a new area not far away. To the north, slash pine is feeding the paper and chemical industries. In the Everglades, Newport Industries and other companies are turning out tough ramie fiber, a promising substitute for Indian jute.
Around cigarmaking Tampa (635 million cigars last year), vast phosphate deposits provide the U.S. with 77% of its supply. And this industry will soon become even more significant when two companies begin production of uranium as a phosphate byproduct. To supervise this, the AEC recently opened a branch office at Plant City, near the west coast.
Miami's McGregor Smith, president of Florida Power & Light Co., has one yardstick of the area's growth−and his faith in the future. In the last ten years Smith, who has done as much as any man to lure new industries to Florida, has spent $151 million on expansion, more than doubled the company's capacity to 503,000 kilowatts. In the next ten years, for another $332 million, he expects to triple capacity.