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Editor's Page
Indeed, in the afterglow of the Summit of the Americas in December 1994, when South Florida was envisioned as a "gateway of the Americas," it's understandable that the Europeans feel a bit slighted. For while Latin trade may be growing, it can't compare with the stake that the Old World developed economies have in Florida.
All told, the 15-member European Union has $12 billion invested in Florida, which amounts to 55% of total foreign investment in the state. Significantly, those investments have produced about 121,000 jobs, according to statistics that are four years old. "The contribution the Europeans make to Florida is sometimes overlooked because of the state's natural tendency to look to the south," says Rob Hoffman, the British consul. The British are the biggest foreign investors in Florida, with about $3 billion in the state (not including real estate). The Canadians are the next biggest. Among the Europeans, the Brits are followed by the French then the Dutch, whose interests are concentrated mostly in real estate. The luncheon guests said that businesses from their countries are attracted to Florida because of its location. They like being based in a populous, fast-growing market, which also has easy access to other fast-growing states throughout the Southeast. Then there's the promise of the Latin American market. "During the past five years," says Rocca, "investors from Europe have discovered that they can do business in Latin America better from here than from any other place in the U.S." That's good news because, as a recent study makes clear, Florida desperately needs to develop its international business relationships if it is to compete with its newly aggressive neighboring states. According to KPMG Peat Marwick's annual "international business profile," foreign companies employ about half as many people in Florida as in Georgia, Tennessee or South Carolina. In addition, Florida has fewer foreign-owned manufacturing and assembly plants than any Southeastern state except Mississippi. In his International Business column last month, David Poppe had more troubling news to report on Florida's international stature. Florida, with its unique location and its multiple ports, should be a trade pacesetter, but the state Department of Commerce reports that growth in exports of Florida-origin products - goods manufactured, harvested or mined in the state - has lagged national growth in this decade.
Part of the problem, according to some of the Europeans gathered for the luncheon, is that Florida has never figured out how to market itself as a business location. Florida speaks with so many voices because development rivalries abound statewide and even within counties. Europeans and others, who may be interested in investing in a plant or starting up a business hear so many conflicting stories that they are left in a muddle. "The messages not only confuse people in London and Birmingham, but I would suggest in New York and Chicago, too," says Hoffman.
The British consul tells an instructive story about a Florida development group touring England with a video describing why the Brits should set up businesses in Broward County. The presentation left many in the audience totally bewildered about where exactly Broward was located because it made no effort to set the county in any geographic context. No mention was made of the county's proximity to Miami, which Europeans know well, nor even that internationally familiar Fort Lauderdale is in Broward. It seems that rival cities in Broward financed the film and didn't want their better-known neighbor to steal their thunder.
Floridians are such a diverse lot that chances are they will never speak in one voice about anything, but the man who will try to make some sense of the cacophony of local development voices is John Anderson, the new chief executive of Enterprise Florida. This month, the newly expanded public-private partnership begins assuming the economic development activities of the state Department of Commerce, a process that's expected to take about six months. Enterprise Florida is unique nationally, and the way it handles the difficult issues of marketing the state and developing businesses is being closely watched by other states.
"Florida does project an image of fragmentation in internal competition," notes Anderson, "That often causes frustration among consuls who are trying to help Florida interests." Noting that if Florida were a nation-state it would be the 15th largest economy in the world, Anderson says that by speaking with so many voices the state loses the leverage of "that significant economic platform." Anderson, who formerly headed the Beacon Council, the primary economic development agency for Dade County, is familiar with the Europeans' concern about being overlooked in light of the growth of Latin interests in South Florida. "It's not willful," he notes, "but Miami has become like a family picnic."
That said, Anderson vows that Enterprise Florida will give the state's important trading partners the treatment they deserve. "I have every intention to systematize this relationship and to give vent to the Europeans as well as the Asians."
