Future vision

This is as close to a crystal ball as you can get.

Paul Van Buskirk and David Farmer have developed a population-growth forecasting model that has proven to be spot on, and now the two entrepreneurs have teamed up to form a company in Bonita Springs called Metro Forecasting Models to take the model to other fast-growing areas of the country.

The data is hugely valuable to commercial developers and municipalities because it can help them plan for future growth. What's more, it can alert developers of dangers ahead. “We can warn ahead of time when we're overbuilding,” says Farmer, who previously was a land-development consultant in Naples.