Tourism, agriculture and construction have been the pillars of Florida’s economy for decades. But the Florida Chamber is pushing high-tech industries to join in on buoying the state’s $1.7 trillion-plus economy.
Florida Chamber President and CEO Mark Wilson has been laser-focused on growing the state into a top 10 economy — when measured as its own country — for the better part of a decade. He continued beating that drum during his remarks kicking off the Chamber Foundation’s third annual Florida Technology & Innovation Solution Summit.
Florida’s tech economy has grown in recent years. Aerospace has long been a bright spot, with the Space Coast legacy still going strong. Medical manufacturing is also in bloom, with Florida holding the No. 2 spot in both pharmaceuticals and medical devices according to later remarks from Commerce Secretary J. Alex Kelly.
Still, Wilson says, there’s a reality check to be had. “Part of what we have to do is be brutally honest about where we are and where we’re going,” he said. “Both things can be true. … Florida’s way further along than I thought, but wow, Florida has a long way to go.”
The starkest side-by-side: California pulls in more venture capital funding in two weeks than the Sunshine State does in a year. The Golden State’s $4.1 billion GDP also laps Florida’s and then some — at $104,000 to $57,000, the per-capita scoreboard isn’t ready for the highlight reel, either.
“We’re not going to fix that by Friday,” he said.
But there’s an election season cliché that fits the current state of play: It’s not the topline, it’s the trend. And the trend is looking good. Florida is setting the pace in new business registrations, and it’s caught the eyes of major technology firms and deep-pocketed investors.
The challenge, Wilson said, is accelerating that trajectory.
The Sunshine State may benefit from other states fumbling, Wilson added, suggesting that the current No. 3 for tech jobs could flip positions with No. 4 Florida if New Yorkers are confronted with a “$30 loaf of bread” at the corner store.
That’s a quip presumably in reference to Zohran Mamdani, the New York City Mayor candidate whose left-of-center ideology has been a recurrent talking point among conservatives after he upset disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the city’s Democratic Primary earlier this year.
“One of the economic development strategies to get people to leave New York will be to talk about Publix and how we do things in Florida,” Wilson joked.
The Chamber is officially nonpartisan, though its pro-business leanings more often align with Republicans than Democrats. But partisan divides aside, the Florida Chamber is angling for some of the same outcomes as the would-be NYC Mayor — namely, slashing poverty.
That goal has been at the forefront of the Chamber’s economic growth playbook. Its event series also includes an annual Florida Prosperity & Economic Opportunity Solution Summit, and cutting the number of sub-federal poverty line Floridians in half by 2030 is a stated goal.
“Why am I starting out a tech and innovation conference by tying together what happens in talent with what happens with these kids that are born into generational poverty? Because they’re all part of our solution over the next two to 30 years,” Wilson said.
Population growth is also adding to the state’s economic momentum and is expected to continue doing so through at least the end of the 2020s; another 2.7 million Floridians will walk among us come 2030, which represents a roughly 10% increase over the current population. They, in turn, will keep Florida contractors well-fed through continued demand for roads, housing, schools and the assorted infrastructure tying them all together.
Still, the state will need to add 1.3 million jobs. That’s no small task considering the state’s 10-million strong workforce already outnumbers the total population of 40 states. A quarter of the way through the so-called “Century of Technology,” the most logical solution is for Florida to embrace tech and continue chipping away at the Golden State’s — and, to a lesser extent the Lone Star State’s — stranglehold on the industry.
“Florida is already the startup state, and we need to show on stage to the world that this is already happening right here,” Wilson said.
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