WELCOME

Gray Swoope
Florida Secretary of Commerce
President & CEO of Enterprise Florida, Inc.

Florida friends,
Welcome to Enterprise Florida's inaugural newsletter designed specifically for our statewide community. Every month, we will update you on the economic development stories most pertinent to your business and the Florida economy and tell you about upcoming events, useful resources and other items of interest. In this space, I will share my thoughts on recent developments and I invite you to share yours by replying to this message.

To continue to receive timely updates on Florida's economic development efforts, I encourage you to follow us on your favorite social media channel, whether it's Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or RSS - you'll find us on all of them!

As 2012 gets under way, Florida has a lot going for it: 130,000 net new jobs created, businesses continuing to invest in our state and a housing market showing signs of stabilization. The two recent successful EFI-led trade missions to Brazil and Israel underscore Florida's vibrant trade sector, while the high volume of inquiries and active engagements for our business development team show that Florida continues to attract companies with its superior business climate and skilled workforce. I look forward to a great year for all of us!

-gray

HELPFUL LINKS

Why Florida?
Florida Knowledge Center
Florida Labor Market Statistics
Florida Incentives
Economic Development
  Legislative Agenda
Region/County Statistics
Florida's Industry Clusters
Florida Tax Advantages
Florida Rankings
International Advantages

FEATURED STORY

Chico's FAS Expands Its Headquarters in Fort Myers

Last month, Chico's FAS announced the addition of 150 IT jobs at its headquarters campus in Fort Myers. It is exciting to see a global company like Chico's that started in Florida continue to invest in its hometown. Chico's will invest $25 million in a new building in Fort Myers and add 150 jobs, for which the average annual pay will be $75,000. Thanks to Crystal Sircy and her EFI business development team and Sue Noe at the Fort Myers Regional Partnership for their diligent work on this corporate headquarters expansion project.

Chico's FAS, Inc., a specialty retailer of clothing, accessories and other gift items, currently employs approximately 1,250 at its corporate headquarters in Fort Myers. Since 2002, Chico's has added more than 850 positions at its local offices and continues to add headcount to support its growth. In addition, the company has invested more than $200 million at its headquarters location over the past few years. more

Corporate Headquarters: Why They Matter

Corporate headquarters are a prized win in economic development circles thanks to their high wage and high-skill employment, the visibility, prestige and stability they bring to the local community and the state, their corporate citizenship role, spin-off potential and other benefits. Therefore, headquarters jobs are a key diversification target for Enterprise Florida. A string of recent relocations or expansions of corporate, divisional or regional headquarters confirms Florida's success in maintaining a business climate that enables the growth of such operations. Here are just a few of them:

Emerson Process Management, LLP Opens Latin American Headquarters
Emerson, a global manufacturing and technology company cut the ribbon on its new facility, where it will add 51 new jobs at an average annual wage of $96,000. more

Web.com's Growth Means 200 New Jobs for Jacksonville
Web.com Group Inc., a homegrown company, plans to create more than 200 new jobs during the next two years, most of them at its Jacksonville headquarters. more

HBO Latin America Grows Florida Footprint & Adds 101 Jobs
HBO Latin America is growing its Miami-Dade County presence, expecting to add 101 jobs over the next two years and soon to relocate to a new headquarters in double its current space. more

Nassau County Is Home to the New Headquarters for ALM Technologies
Ga.-based ALM Technologies Inc. (a.k.a. Definitive Design Inc.), an aerospace manufacturing company, will relocate to Yulee in early 2012, creating 30 net new positions during the next three years. more

Eastern Shipbuilding Creates 500 New Florida Jobs
Eastern Shipbuilding has announced plans to create 500 new Bay County jobs and invest $17 million in new equipment. more

If your company's headquarters are outside the state, consider the advantages of a Florida location. Call 407-956-5600 or e-mail us for more information today!

RESOURCES TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS

Take Advantage of the Best Employee Training Programs in the Nation
To stay competitive, your business needs workers with current skills and knowledge of new technologies. Florida offers training programs that can help your new or current employees upgrade their skills while saving you time and money. Florida's job training programs were rated #1 by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The Quick Response Training (QRT) and Incumbent Worker Training (IWT) programs administered by Workforce Florida offer funding to support the customized employee training needs of eligible companies.

Quick Response Training
For QRT, the company may use in-house training, outside vendor training programs or a local educational entity to provide training. Reimbursable training expenses include: instructors'/trainers' wages, curriculum development, and textbooks/manuals. To be eligible for a QRT grant, a company must:

  • Produce an exportable good or service
  • Create new, full-time, permanent, high-quality jobs in qualified targeted industries
  • Require customized entry-level skills training of 24 months or less which is not available at the local level
  • Meet certain wage requirements

Over 470 companies in Florida benefited from the QRT program and more than 6,864 Floridians were trained in FY 2010-2011. more

Incumbent Worker Training
The IWT program, provides training to currently employed workers to keep Florida's workforce competitive in a global economy and to retain existing businesses. The program is available to all Florida businesses that require skills upgrade training for existing employees:

  • Have been in operation in Florida for at least one year prior to application date
  • Have at least one full-time employee
  • Demonstrate financial viability and are current on all state tax obligations.

Since its inception, IWT grants have helped provide customized training to more than 98,000 Floridians at more than 1,000 businesses throughout Florida. more

Find Success in New Markets with Customized Exporting Assistance
Enterprise Florida and its partners offer a number of services to help Florida companies expand globally. One of the latest programs is a scholarship to assist qualified manufacturing small businesses in Florida who are "new-to-export" in developing a customized Export Marketing Plan.

In partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration, Enterprise Florida, Inc. and the U.S. Commercial Service, the Florida Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network will work with qualified businesses to identify key target markets, design country launch strategies, and expand their overseas promotion campaign options.

Upon completion and acceptance of the Florida SBDC Export Marketing Plan, each company can apply and automatically be approved for an Enterprise Florida grant up to $1,500 to be used for an Enterprise Florida Trade Mission or a standalone Gold Key with the U.S. Commercial Service. more

See the full list of upcoming Enterprise Florida international events in which you can participate, visit our Events calendar.

2/14 - 2/19: Singapore Air Show 2012

3/6 - 3/10: CeBit 2012

3/11 - 3/15: Pittcon Conference & Expo 2012