Business View Civil and Municipal l January 2023

128 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 12 portion of the workforce migrated out of the area, causing the real estate market to plummet and unemployment to soar. When the space shuttle program was closed in 2011 similar effects were felt, but Malik maintains it was to a much lesser extent. “Frankly, it was one of the best things that happened because it forced the diversification of our area into the commercial sector that has taken a center stage now. Right now, the entire region is a hub of high-tech defense, aeronautics, and avionics. We have literally 1000s of engineers coming here with all CI T Y OF COCOA BEACH, FLORIDA on Florida’s Space Coast, visitors and residents can gather on the beach to experience the awe of a space launch from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Center, a spectacle not to be missed. For surfing enthusiasts, Cocoa Beach is a haven and has been rated the best surf spot in the US, by the travel blog, Park Sleep Fly. It’s always been a tourist-centric community,” says Mayor Ben Malik. “Of course, the growth really exploded during the Apollo program, the first space race.” When the Apollo program ended in the 1970s, Cocoa Beach and all of Brevard County felt the effects, as a large