Why Florida? Reasons to Do Business in Florida

4. A BUSINESS-FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT

Florida is an emerging force in today’s innovation economy in large part because of its sustained efforts to create the right conditions for creative, knowledge-based businesses to thrive. The state is strategic about its economic development activities, which include funding research and development, attracting venture capital, building state-of-the-art infrastructure, fostering innovative high-tech firms and growing a qualified workforce.

More than any other state, Florida’s economic development goals and initiatives have been created and embraced as a statewide vision. Economic development organizations throughout the state work together to help existing and prospective businesses find the right location(s) to match their needs. And thanks to the interactive website MyFlorida.com, many business-oriented functions of state and local government are easily accessible.

Florida consistently ranks among the best states for business and entrepreneurship because of its pro-business state tax policies and competitive cost of doing business. Business dollars go further here given Florida’s limited corporate taxes and no personal income tax. And the availability of incentives for job creation, capital investment, new and incumbent worker training and location in designated rural and urban Enterprise Zones and Brownfield sites means that land, labor and capital are simply more affordable in Florida than in many comparable states.

Florida’s regulatory agencies and local governments are committed to providing quicker, less costly and more predictable permitting processes for significant economic development projects without reducing environmental standards. Assistance in accessing enterprise bonds, micro-loans and venture capital further contributes to Florida’s reputation as a great place to do business.

Small business owners and entrepreneurs find plenty to like about Florida, too. Small Business Survival Index 2008 ranks Florida as one of the nation’s friendliest states for entrepreneurs, and the U.S. Small Business Administration puts Florida among the most highly efficient states in fostering the birth of new businesses.

In addition to 34 Small Business Development Centers throughout the state and the Disney Entrepreneur Center in Orlando, all of which provide one-on-one counseling, training and assistance to entrepreneurs at every level, Florida is home to dozens of high-tech incubators, accelerators and university-based research hubs. At the Florida Institute for Commercialization of Public Research in Boca Raton, a collaborative effort of university tech transfer offices statewide, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs seeking investment opportunities can find information about Florida’s newest innovations, as well as business plans for startup companies needing venture capital support.

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