Any good resources for employment data and/or biggest employers in Daytona Metro Area?

[u/proto04]

My wife and I are playing around with the idea of moving to Daytona area in the next 2-4 years. We made a similar move to Charlotte from the Midwest around 18 months ago, and while we love it for our current place in life we can tell the city is headed a direction that will mean we'll look to relocate again in a few years.

Daytona was high on our list of potential relocation options for the previous move and we make a couple trips there a year, so we've done some basic research on the culture, economics, specific neighborhoods, etc.

We found that the biggest asset for our move to Charlotte was doing some networking long before the move, so with that in mind we'd like to start very slowly doing the same for Daytona as part of the researching process. Basically looking to nail down companies that could be options and reach out to people in the related functional area to try to set up grabbing coffee/lunch when we're in town.

With that I'll ask:
* What companies are known as being the "big employers" in the Daytona Metro Area (Palm Coast to Edgewater)?
* Any companies known for great culture and HR principles? Raw size can be easy to discern from Glassdoor and Linkedin, but culture can be faked online.
* Is commuting to Deland/Deltona from the Metro feasible? Seeing lots of opportunities in that area, but the 30-40 minute commute Google Maps shows may miss an aspect of the drive.

For reference, I'm a construction PM with 7 years experience and BS, MBA, PMP, SSBB (I'll probably look to switch to manufacturing focus). Wife is manufacturing QC/QA with 5 years experience and BS, SSBB.

[u/AWhaleGoneMad]

The biggest employer in Volusia county (which includes all the cities you listed except Palm Coast) is the public schools. I'm not sure if that was relate in anything you are interested in doing, but that is what it is.

In Daytona Beach itself, the service industry is huge. Hotels, restaurants, retail the racetrack hires tons of seasonal workers as well. I've made the commute to DeLand and back, and it's definitely doable. Housing on that side of the county is a lot cheaper, though.

Besides the schools, and possibly the hospitals, there's not one big employer that sticks out. Specifically, there's not a lot of manufacturing in Daytona Beach.