Gov. Scott Celebrates Wawa's Expansion in Southwest Florida

Press Release

Today, Governor Rick Scott celebrated the grand opening of three new Wawa locations in Fort Myers as part of their expansion into Southwest Florida. The three new stores will each create more than 40 new jobs, for a total of more than 120 new jobs in Southwest Florida. Since its entrance into Florida in July 2012, Wawa has opened 62 stores and created more than 2,000 jobs for Florida families. In February, Governor Scott met with Wawa during a business development mission in Pennsylvania and announced the company's 2015 expansion plans were ahead of schedule.

Governor Scott said, "We met with Wawa during our trip to Pennsylvania in February to share how we are creating an environment that helps businesses succeed, and we are proud that our efforts are working as Wawa is continuing to expand in our state. By making Florida the best place to do business, we are helping job creators like Wawa build opportunities for families across the state. It is exciting to welcome Wawa into Southwest Florida and we look forward to seeing their continued success as they expand across our state."

During the February Pennsylvania business development mission, Wawa President and CEO Chris Gheysens met with Governor Scott to discuss Wawa's expansion plans in Florida. By the end of this year, Wawa will open 25 new stores in the Sunshine State. Next year, Wawa expects to break ground in Broward and Palm Beach Counties and also hit the milestone of their 100th Florida store.

Chris Gheysens, Wawa's President and CEO, said, "We are thrilled to celebrate this tremendous milestone in our Sunshine State expansion, as we open our hearts and doors in the Southwest Florida region -- ahead of our original schedule. This significant step into a new part of the Florida market not only furthers our ability to invest in Florida by building new stores and creating more jobs, but allows us to serve more communities and fulfill more lives each day. Governor Scott is the only governor of all the states we are located in that has reached out to us directly to help make our expansion processes easier and better, and that is both important and very valued by us as we have dedicated most of our growth to the state of Florida. We are honored and excited to open three stores on the same day, and welcome our new neighbors three times over."

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