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Florida is one of the fastest growing states in the nation and one of the strongest economies in the developed world. With 19 major commercial airports, 14 deepwater ports and plenty of roads and rails, Florida is the true gateway to the Western Hemisphere.
Complementing its transportation connections is a telecommunications network that is difficult to best. Dozens of undersea and terrestrial fiber-optic cables ensure Florida’s ready connectivity to Latin America, the Caribbean and beyond.
Multicultural
Workforce
Florida's Population
|
| Non-Hispanic White |
61.3% |
| Hispanic or Latino |
20.2% |
| African-American |
15.8% |
| Foreign-Born Persons |
16.7% |
| Households speaking languages other than English |
23.1% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006 |
Florida boasts one of the nation’s most diverse workforces and the fastest growing population. Compared to the national average of 6.4%, Florida’s population grew by 13.2% from 2000 to 2006.
Cultural and linguistic diversity is only one characteristic that sets Florida’s workforce apart. In its recent study titled “America’s Top States for Business,” CNBC rated all 50 states in 10 categories, and Florida rated the No. 1 slot for workforce. Among the factors considered for each state were: the education level of its workforce, the number of available workers and the relative success of worker training programs in placing participants in jobs.
Right People, Right Place
Access to skilled workers and Shands Jacksonville are reasons why IBA chose Florida, says President Bernt Nordin. [Photo: Kelly LaDuke] |
The presence of a highly trained workforce helped attract Belgium-based Ion Beam Applications (IBA) to Jacksonville, says its president, Bernt Nordin.
Widely acknowledged as a leader in particle therapy — a precise and effective clinical radiotherapy method used in the selective destruction of cancer cells — IBA needs scientists, engineers and technicians to accomplish its work, and the company found them all in Florida. IBA recruits many of its scientists from the University of Florida’s physics program in nearby Gainesville. The engineers and technicians needed to complement the scientists, says Nordin, are mostly Navy veterans.
“There are a lot of good, trained Navy people who have been based in Jacksonville and want to continue to live in this area,” he says. “There’s a good pool of talent to draw from, both ex-Navy types and scientists from the universities around here, which is part of the reason we like it here. There are other places with Navy bases, but we’ve found that we can find very good people here.”
Jacksonville serves as IBA’s U.S. headquarters. Nordin says service at Jacksonville International Airport provides easy access to his clients located in Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago.
“It feels like we made the right choice,” he adds, “and it’s nice to walk around with a smile on your face.”
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