Local Veterinary Industry Is Growing

It's good to be in the animal health care business.

Veterinarians and veterinarian technicians are shaping up to be the two fastest-growing occupations in Pasco and Hernando counties during the next seven years, according to the Florida Agency of Workforce Development.

"The vet industry is growing very fast," said Bill Dobson, an economic analyst with the Labor Market Statistical Center in Tallahassee. "It's grown by 286 percent since 2000 ... More and more people are having pets and it's particularly common for older people to own them."

Other surging occupations include medical assistants, software engineers, networking systems analysts and technical writers.

The annual percent change for many of the aforementioned professions are 5 percent or higher, according to AWI statistics.

Those who make up the curriculum at Pasco-Hernando Community College are looking long and hard at the job trends as it hopes to add classroom space and focus on the best growth industries.

"We do research and we look at trends," said Stan Giannet, the provost at PHCC. "We talk to the stakeholders in those industries and we hear their forecasts for our district. We use all of that to see which workforce trends are blossoming in this county."

The college is developing programs and studies for computer numeric control (CNC), culinary arts with a focus on managerial students and digital design.

CNC is the method of controlling machines through digital electronic computers and circuitry. It is rampant in the aerospace industry, as well as among machinists and engineers, Giannet said.

There are no "vet tech" programs available at PHCC, but those who opt for the associate's degree program could continue their educations at any veterinary program once they advance to a four-year college.

St. Petersburg College offers veterinary courses.

The number of vet tech jobs will grow from 105 to 159 by 2016, according to AWI. The number of veterinarians in Hernando and Pasco counties is expected to jump from 58 to 85.

The five fastest-declining professions in the region are file clerks, photographic process workers, electrical equipment assembly workers, computer operators and gaming dealers, according to AWI.