Page 9 - Akerman | 2016 Guide to Doing Business in Florida

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTORY NOTES

Editor
Beppy Landrum Owen, Esq. | (407) 419-8463 | beppy.owen@akerman.com

Florida’s Historic Business Trends

Ever since Ponce de Leon first landed on Florida’s shores in 1513 in search of the legendary Fountain
of Youth, Florida has been a destination for entrepreneurs with extraordinary dreams and imaginative
commercial activities. Our stories are telling: Spanish explorers found rugged swamplands and saw the
future sites of gleaming cities. Henry Flagler set down a railroad to the remote tropics and opened up a
corridor to Florida winter tourism. Walt Disney built a child’s dreamscape, and the world’s favorite
Mouse, along with Florida’s tourism industry, let loose a “roar heard ‘round the world.” Our state’s
largest city of Miami has been called the Gateway to Latin America, and from our beaches NASA and
now private citizens have launched rockets, satellites and spacecraft connecting us to outer space.
Today Florida remains a land well-suited for the business of big dreams. Tourism remains a hot
industry, though technology, education and healthcare also continue to grow at a rapid pace. Even the
events of the recent economic crisis, serious as they are, have not destroyed Florida’s capacity to
dream and create; to the contrary, we’re seeing new innovation in fields of medical research and
healthcare, simulation technology, renewable energy, telecommunications, aerospace and
nanotechnology, to name just a few key industries.

Business-Friendly Climate

Florida is well known for its business-friendly climate, both figurative and literal. Well-developed
business laws, low corporate and personal tax rates, lack of state income tax, and favorable geography
make Florida a favored jurisdiction for all domestic and international business. Our 19 commercial
airports, 15 deep water shipping ports and two spaceports are among the busiest commercial sites in
the world. Supported by these ports, “Florida-origin exports” (meaning goods produced or with
significant value addition in Florida) account for more exports to Latin America and the Caribbean than
are exported by any other state. Florida is among the largest recipients of foreign direct investment in
the U.S., and Miami is a favored jurisdiction for international banking second only to New York in the
U.S. Florida supports offices of approximately 150 foreign and domestic banking institutions which
provide financing to other key participants in the commerce of the state. With the fourth largest U.S.
Gross State Product (following only California, Texas and New York) and one of the largest economies
in the Western hemisphere, Florida is a powerful economic engine for domestic and international
businesses alike.

Well-Qualified Workforce

Florida supports and actively develops its well-educated and well-qualified, extraordinarily culturally
diverse workforce particularly in the key industries of technology, tourism and international trade. With
12 public universities, seven medical schools, 12 law schools, dozens of graduate level business
schools and numerous private colleges and independent trade schools, Floridians have great access to
education; in fact, no Floridian lives more than 50 miles from a postsecondary institution of learning.
Florida ranks highly in the U.S. among states with workers with advanced degrees and supports tens of

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