Recovery Requires the Right Climate
PrintBy Dave Hodges
Latest figures show state’s economy is beginning to respond.
Key measures of Florida’s economic health are moving in the right direction, giving state government and business leaders encouragement that an emphasis on boosting employment is producing results.
They heard more of that evidence Thursday during the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s Capitol Days conference at Hotel Duval, where Carrie Blanchard, director of research and public policy for the Florida Chamber Foundation, gave a report and a forecast.
For the first 11 months of 2011, Florida added 120,200 jobs to its economy, one of the three best growth rates in the U.S., along with those of Texas and California.
Blanchard said the unemployment rate is declining, as are the numbers of initial claims for unemployment compensation. There was a 28-percent drop in Florida in jobless claims in 2011 compared to 2010. The comparable change for the nation as a whole was 11 percent, she said.
“We must temper that with the understanding that we also had a bigger hole to climb out of,” she said of Florida.
Florida also gained 108,000 residents from other states during 2011. The state’s net in-migration in 2011 was the highest it’s been since the Great Recession began and was second only to Texas last year.
“In 2011, personal income also grew in Florida by 4.7 percent over 2010,” Blanchard said.
“As the economy recovers, we will continue to see a rise in personal income, which is a good thing for the economy. When people’s incomes rise, they have additional purchasing power to buy durable and nondurable goods, as well as services,” she said.
For 2012, employer expectations are improving, with a recent survey showing 17 percent of Florida employers looking to increase staffing during the first quarter and only 6 percent expecting to cut positions. Consumer confidence is also up — a measure of how the economy may perform in the future.
“Going into the year 2014 Florida is expected to average as much as a 3.9-percent increase in employment growth,” Blanchard told the chamber members. “It’s encouraging to know that Florida is actually beating expectations of what was projected for this year already.”
State officials who spoke stressed their continued commitment to helping Florida maintain its edge as a place where companies want to set up shop and grow the workforce.
With jobs representing such a high priority, the heads of various departments told the audience that their goal remains the lessening of obstacles that cause such side-effects as delays in permitting and licensing, or a business climate where too much about tax and economic policy is uncertain or unpredictable.
“You want to be in a state where you know that once you put your risk and your money and your time and effort on the table, that you will be able to turn a profit,” said Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll.
When Gov. Rick Scott took office a year ago, one of his first actions was signing an executive order putting a moratorium on further regulations and a review of all existing administrative rules.
“As we continued our path down this road, we looked at government to see for the function of government, are we doing the right things, are we doing them the most prudently, efficiently and effectively, and are we being prudent with the taxpayers’ dollars?” Carroll said.
The annual Capitol Days events are sponsored by the Florida Chamber for its members to meet with state-government leaders and legislators and voice their concerns. Carroll and others, in fact, said they want that input.
The business goal is a state with well-educated and trained workforce and “a climate where people are comfortable and assured that when they open the doors in Florida, it’s going to be a business climate that is going to produce growth and development,” Carroll said. “We have companies that are looking to Florida and coming to Florida because of that attractiveness. You are certain of what to expect on the regulatory side, on the taxation side, as well as the profitability side.”
Ananth Prasad, secretary of the Department of Transportation, stressed the importance of transportation investments as an essential for future business growth. Lisa Vickers, executive director of the Department of Revenue, discussed a proposal to create a single, one-stop registration portal that a new business could use to register with all the state regulatory agencies at once. Vickers said the ultimate goal would be to have local governments be able to use it, too.
Karen Moore, CEO of Moore Consulting Group and chair of the Economic Development Council of Tallahassee-Leon County, said later she was encouraged by the speakers’ remarks.
“They want to streamline processes and they are about getting jobs. There was really an acknowledgement of the businesses as the job creators,” Moore said. State leaders know they need to create an environment where companies can thrive, expand and hire more.
In the Tallahassee area, Moore said she has seen a similar unity among local leaders to push toward economic development goals.
“I don’t know if I can remember a time in the last 30+ years with all the players at the table saying this is a good thing and we should all be working together,” she added.
