THURSDAY'S CUP: Is the recession moving out of town?

The latest anecdotal evidence of an economic rebound on the Gulf Coast lies in an unlikely place: An 11-year-old moving company that suffered its two worst years in 2009 and 2010.

That company, Sarasota-based Pampered Movers, topped out at 150 jobs for 2010, says founder Pat Martin. But the company, which provides packing and unpacking services, already completed 150 moves through mid-March and has another 100 jobs booked through April.

“It was so slow last year, it was frozen,” says Martin, who runs the nine-employee business with three sons. “Now it's so busy it's unbelievable.”

Martin ran a moving business in New York for 15 years before she and her family moved to Sarasota in 1999. She says the growth explosion stems from word-of-mouth referrals and sheer volume. The latter, volume, is from both people downsizing based on the economy and traditional empty nesters, says Martin.

A majority of the 2011 moves the company has done, Martin says, have been in-town, between Sarasota and Manatee counties. Martin expects the dramatic business increase to last at least through the rest of 2011. She has kept the full-time employee count at nine, although the firm hires up to 20 people on a temporary business for large jobs.