Episode 31 | Florida: A Growing and Diversified Economy

Dr. Jerry Parrish, Chief Economist and Director of Research, Florida Chamber Foundation joins Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss the diverse and growing economy of Florida.

The conversation begins with Dr. Parrish discussing the current state of the Florida economy and The Florida Scorecard. Expanding upon the conversation about the economy, Dr. Parrish talks about The Florida 2030 Blueprint and what the Florida Chamber is doing to prepare for the continued growth of the Florida population.

Before COVID, Florida since 2015 was creating 1 out of every 11 jobs in this county. – Dr. Jerry Parrish

Today 800 net new individuals a day are moving to Florida.

Because of COVID, you will see more and more people move to Florida. – Dr. Jerry Parrish

Individuals are moving to Florida for the quality of life, job opportunities, and the #1 Higher Education System in the United States.

The State also has a vast hospitality and tourism industry that employs hundreds of thousands of individuals in the State.

Our tourism industry has been the trainer of people for all industries in the State of Florida and has been for a long time. – Dr. Jerry Parrish

Individuals working in these jobs understand people skills and how to deal with conflicts without escalating the situation. This is an incredible skill that is tremendously valuable for any industry. Dr. Parrish goes onto discuss why these skills are so important.

The Space Coast is back and operating at full capacity once again with the average manufacturing job in Brevard County paying $90,000 a year.

Over the past few years, Florida has been growing manufacturing jobs at 3 times the U.S. rate. – Dr. Jerry Parrish

Florida also has a thriving agricultural business with over 47,000 commercial farms and ranches using over 9.45 million acres in the States to farm and raise livestock.

Palm Beach County is the #1 agricultural county in the State of Florida. – Dr. Jerry Parrish

The agricultural industry in Florida employs over a million individuals and contributes more than $131 billion to the state’s economy each year.

With an influx of tech companies relocating to Florida and creating new high-paying jobs, Grayson asks Dr. Parrish what new businesses might be founded in Florida over the next 10 years.

Florida has a booming autonomous vehicle industry with Argo AI operating and expanding in Miami-Dade County. With the signing of HB 311 by Governor DeSantis, Florida became the most AV-friendly State in the country. With great weather, an incredible talent pool and some of the best universities in the world, the future of the autonomous vehicle industry is being developed in Florida.

With the Florida 2030 Blueprint, we are setting the stage for by 2030, we can have an economy that nobody will want to leave. There won’t be any reason why somebody wouldn’t want to come to Florida to do business.

Florida will be a business-friendly State. We will have the technology that we need. We will have the talent that we need. Talent is the key to economic development. – Dr. Jerry Parrish

Wrapping up the conversation, Grayson and Dr. Parrish discuss Mayor Suarez‘s savvy use of Twitter to recruit tech companies to Miami and what Florida’s economy will look like in the future.

Recorded on Tuesday, February 23, 2021

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