Why Okaloosa County, FL, Is a Great Place to Build or Advance a Career

Garret O’Leary

Thanks to a vast collection of higher education institutions, like Northwest Florida State College and Okaloosa Technical College, and industry-leading employers, Okaloosa County is a destination for anyone looking to build or advance their career. 

Examples of some of the county’s key employers include IT-management company Bit-Wizards, accounting firms CRI and Warren Averett, Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport, Destin-Fort Walton Beach Tourism, Eglin Federal Credit Union, City of Fort Walton Beach, Emerald Coast Harley-Davidson, HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital, natural gas distributor Okaloosa Gas District, car dealer Step One Automotive Group, and internet service providers LiveOak Fiber and Cox. 

“Cox offers limitless career opportunities for employees to move up and across diverse teams, industries and locations, all within the Cox family of businesses,” says David Deliman, Gulf Coast area market vice president. “The company offers flexible work environments and schedules, promotes volunteerism and giving back to the communities we serve, and offers a very attractive suite of health and retirement benefits.” 

Cox is the largest private broadband company in the United States. It operates fiber-powered networks in more than 30 states, providing connections and advanced managed IT and cloud services for nearly 7 million homes and businesses nationwide. 

“At Cox, we offer a diverse array of career opportunities across various functions and departments, including retail and front-line sales, customer service, network operations, account management and administrative roles,” he says. 

Jen von Nida

Award-Winning Businesses

Businesses across Okaloosa County continue to win awards as great places to work, which makes the area even more attractive. 

For 15 years, Bit-Wizards has been named one of Florida’s Best Companies to Work For by Florida Trend magazine. The magazine ranks 100 companies in small, medium and large employer categories. 

The company has also been named to Inc. magazine’s Best Workplaces list for eight years. The list is made up of U.S. companies that excel in creating exceptional workplaces and company cultures, whether operating in a physical or virtual facility. 

“Corporate culture is important to us,” says CEO Vince Mayfield. 

Mayfield is also the CEO of TalkingParents, which strives to increase family harmony through better communication and transparency between parents who share custody. It, too, was included on Inc.’s and Florida Trend’s lists. 

TalkingParents is a co-parenting communication application made to help parents coordinate child custody matters. The company manages their communication and payments and creates “a complete record of what transpired,” Mayfield says. 

Both companies offer a variety of career opportunities in Okaloosa County. Bit-Wizards is a $12 million company with 30 employees, and TalkingParents is a $14 million business with 70 employees. In terms of positions, Bit-Wizards employs infrastructure and IT engineers and other tech specialists, while TalkingParents creates opportunities for software and development engineers as well as marketing and experience managers. 

Cox Communications

Excellent Jobs and Services

Also, offering great job opportunities is Warren Averett, a nationally recognized full-service business advisory firm. It provides services such as traditional accounting, like tax and audit, corporate advisory, risk and technology, HR and personal services. 

“We offer a wide range of public accounting and business advisory roles, from entry-level internships to experienced hires,” says Stephen Perkins, CPA and member of the firm. “We also have a variety of internal administration, operations, IT, marketing and more roles that keep the ship running.” 

Warren Averett has 14 offices with more than 800 team members across the Southeast. 

The firm was included in USA Today’s lists of America’s Most Recommended Tax Firms and America’s Most Recommended Accounting Firms in 2024, among other accolades. 

“Our recent client-satisfaction score (called the Net Promoter Score) was 89.7%, more than double the industry average in 2023,” Perkins says. “Throughout our growth, we remain committed to delivering top-tier service.” 

Speaking of service, Warren Averett has played a key role in the county for many years. 

“Warren Averett has been serving the community of Okaloosa County for over 60 years through our predecessor firms. With two offices in Okaloosa County, dozens of team members live, work and play here,” he says. “Serving clients in Okaloosa County allows us to focus on some of the key industry specialties of our firm, including real estate, health care, manufacturing, retail and hospitality and the various government and nonprofit entities that allow residents of Okaloosa County to thrive.”