 |
Looking at the surrounding scenery, it’s easy to forget that Florida ranks fifth in the United States in high tech employment, is third in high-tech exports and has one of the best broadband capabilities of any state. If you’re not local, you may not recognize that the Southeast tri-county area was named the 6th largest metro area in the nation by the US Census Bureau. The metropolitan statistical area (MSA) of Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties includes over 5.2 million people. Other items that demonstrate South Florida's impressive business climate include the following:
- In 2006, the State of Florida surpassed $100 billion in trade and led the nation in high-tech export growth by dollar value, according to the American Electronics Association.
 In 2006, Boca Raton became the vanguard of pandemic flu virus research with project Check Mate between IBM and biotech giant Scripps. The partnership will combine the biological scientists at Scripps with IBM's supercomputer Blue Gene, billed as the worlds fastest super-computer. Chemical equations will become mathematical equations, with IBM using chemical data from Scripps and its super-computers to analyze and isolate viral and infectious disease containment solutions.- Florida was ranked the third largest high-tech exports state in the US (behind California and Texas)
according to a 2006 "State of High Tech" report published by CIO Insight and using research from the American Electronics Association
- Florida ranks third for fastest-growing companies in the nation, according to the 2005 Inc. 500 release report. California has the largest number of companies on the annual list published by Inc. magazine, while Virginia finished second. Companies on the Inc. 500 generated 25,180 new jobs in the past year, a 35 percent increase from a year earlier. Boca Raton had the highest number of fastest growing companies for any city in the state of Florida
- Fortune Magazine's 2005 list of America's most admired companies included five InternetCoast companies. The list included two Fort Lauderdale companies: AutoNation, the car retailer was ranked number 1 in its industry and Spherion Corp., a staffing and executive research firm. Lennar Corporation, Ryder System and World Fuel Services Corporation were also listed
 According to a 2005 Small Business Administration study, six of the
top 20 cities for new business creation
in the United States are in
Florida -- more than any other state. This yen for entrepreneurship
is strong in Florida, where more than 20,600 new business are
formed each year- A 2004 study published by the non-profit firm Milken Institute, a non
profit economic think tank in Santa
Monica, CA, ranked the Boca Raton/West Palm Beach metropolitan area fourth nationally in economic performance. The study was based on employment, average salaries and technology growth. The region received high marks for attracting high-tech startups at a time when other areas recorded sharp cutbacks
in the sector. Overall, seven Florida areas ranked in the top 20 of the study, the "2004 Best Performing
Cities Index," which ranked cities based on their ability to create and sustain jobs. The Fort Myers-Cape
Coral area ranked first. Other Florida metro areas included Daytona Beach, fifth; the Sarasota-Bradenton area, sixth; the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area, 12th and Naples, 15th. "Florida's economy has been creating new jobs at a brisk pace" and has benefited from a tourism rebound and job growth in health care services, the report said
- A 2004 study published by Chief Executive magazine ranked Florida as the third best state for business. Considering such factors as taxation, regulation, labor laws, litigation and education, executives ranked Florida No. 3, behind Texas and Nevada. Arizona and North Carolina ranked No. 4 and No. 5. Texas, Nevada and Florida have created a welcoming business environment, with low costs, low taxation and relatively better regulation," said Edward Kopko, CEO of Chief Executive Group, which publishes the controlled-circulation magazine that reaches 42,000 chief execs and their peers. The least attractive places for business, according to the poll, were, in order, California, New York, Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., and Hawaii
- A survey published in the March 2004 issue of Inc. Magazine ranked West Palm Beach the fifth best city in America in which to do business followed closely by Ft. Lauderdale coming in at number 7. Of the top 25, six Florida cities made the list, pushing the state to No. 1 overall. The survey compared current and historic job growth trends and diversity of industries within 277 metropolitan areas in the United States
- The annual list compiled by Fortune Magazine of "Americas Most Admired Companies for 2004" included six InternetCoast based companies. Two of the companies, AutoNation Inc. and Lennar Corp. were ranked No. 1 in their industry sector. AutoNation, the world's largest auto retailer, was ranked first for the third year in a row in it's group. The other InternetCoast companies ranked as most admired were Jacuzzi Brands of West Palm Beach, Office Depot of Delray Beach, Ryder Systems Inc. of Miami and Spherion Corp. of Ft. Lauderdale. Twelve other Florida companies including Outback Steakhouse, Publix, Tech Data and Winn Dixie made the Fortune list
 Business 2.0 magazine rated West Palm Beach as the highest growth
city in their 2004 "Top 20 Boom
Towns in America". Job growth was projected to be 16 percent by 2008 at projected major employers
would be Citrix, Pratt & Whitney and the Scripps Research Institute- South Florida is home to two of the world's six communication hubs (BellSouth Corporation's Multimedia Internet Exchange (MIX) and Terremark Worldwide Inc's NAP of the Americas). Taking advantage
of the numerous undersea fiber optic cables that run from Latin America to the USA and Europe, the Network Access Point (NAP) in Miami serves as a major switching station for global Internet traffic (one of five
in USA). Additionally, Florida is leading the way in the research and development of advanced network applications through the AmericasPATH (AMPATH) via the Internet2 Abilene network.
- Ranked as the 5th largest cyberstate in the US, Florida is home to more than 230,000 high-tech workers and 10,000 high tech firms. One in ten of all new jobs created in the nation are created in Florida
- Florida is the unrivaled business gateway to the Americas, and especially to Latin America. In the current economy, Florida has become the hemispheric hub for Internet portals
- With three international airports and three active seaports, South Florida is the Americas' commercial crossroads and serves as a hemispheric hub for international business, transportation, cross-border trade and investment, banking and finance, and telecommunications
- With more than $476 billion in gross state product, Florida's economy is the 5th largest in the Western Hemisphere and the 15th largest in the world
- Florida has been rated #1 as the most desirable place to live for 4 consecutive years (Harris Poll)
 No other site in the Western Hemisphere can match South Florida's unique combination of a strategic geographic location, state-of-the-art infrastructure, multilingual workforce, and concentration of corporate and financial resources, all in a world-class pro-business environment and an attractive geographical setting. Like to know more about the InternetCoast business climate? Click the following link for the most recent Florida Economic Research Report. |
 |
