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International Cornerstone Report
International Cornerstone may not result in the makeover of a state agency, as the original Cornerstone report did, but at least it will shine a brighter light on the services sector of Florida's economy, often denigrated for low pay.
Margaret LaRoe, executive vice president of the Florida chamber's research and education arm, says the report identifies legal services, insurance, engineering and banking as "active trade-support services" that provide many of Florida's better-paying service jobs.
Says LaRoe: "Half of our exports are trans-shipped - they aren't made in Florida - but even the trans-shipments through Florida do a great deal to create value-added jobs."
SEAPORT SUPPORT
Shoring Up The Ports
Though still underfunded by national standards, Florida's seaports lately have gotten a lot more financial support from the state government. Last year, the Florida Legislature fattened an annual state grant to the ports from $10 million to $15 million. And for the first time, legislators allowed the grant money to be used as leverage for a larger bond financing. Consequently, just before Christmas, the newly created Florida Ports Financing Commission parlayed this year's $15 million grant into a bond offering that raised $222 million for port expansion statewide.
Legislators may do even more for the ports during the current legislative session. "I'd like to find more money. It's certainly a project I'm working on," says state Rep. James B. Fuller, R-Jacksonville, who serves as chairman of the House Transportation Committee. "I think the ports are an asset we've maybe overlooked for a while."
Rep. Fuller notes that cruise lines and cargo shippers can choose from a long list of out-of-state ports, including Savannah, New Orleans and Biloxi. Those ports "have a ton of state money, of course, because they have state income taxes."
But Florida's ports are formidable competitors. Blessed with three of the world's leading cruise ports - Port of Miami, Port Canaveral and Port Everglades - Florida is a point of departure for about 79% of the North American cruise market. What's more, several Florida ports are major competitors for shipments of manufactured goods in cargo containers. The Port of Miami, for example, is not only the world's leading cruise port but also one of the nation's ten busiest container ports.
Seaports handle most of Florida's imports and exports, especially manufactured goods, such as tractors and automobiles, and bulk products like fertilizer. In 1995, 67% of the dollar volume of Florida's total trade with the world passed through its seaports, up from 61% the previous year.
To supply Florida's emerging markets in Latin America with consumer goods coming from Europe and Asia, both the Port of Miami and Port Everglades are expanding their container-handling capabilities. These ports are developing the infrastructure needed to accommodate some of the larger container ships now crossing the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Other improvements at Florida seaports are focused on the state's growing cruise market. Port Canaveral is building a 72,000-square-foot cruise terminal under a lease agreement with the Walt Disney Co., which will launch its cruise business there in early 1998. Also, Port Canaveral has widened and deepened its channel to accommodate bigger ships.
While individual seaports rely mostly on their own operating income and borrowing to fund themselves, they funnel requests for state aid through the Florida Seaport Transportation and Economic Development Council, a group that includes port directors and heads of several state departments.
During the current legislative session, the seaport council will make a big push for state-funded improvements to the roads and rail lines leading to seaports. A year ago, the council estimated that long-term road and rail improvements needed by Florida's ports would cost more than $900 million.
Rep. Fuller says it's particularly important for Florida ports to be poised for a boom in business should the U.S. embargo against Cuba come to an end. "I think it's not far off. And where is Florida in the mix? Right in the middle."
TRADING STATUS
Colombia's Cloud
Millions of dollars are riding on a diplomatic status report from President Bill Clinton, due as early as March 1.
Trade between Florida and Colombia - Florida's second biggest trading partner, behind only Brazil - was valued at $3.5 billion in 1995. A year ago, President Clinton refused to "certify" Colombia and five other nations as allies in Washington's war on drugs. Among the consequences: U.S. directors of the International Monetary Fund and the Inter-American Development Bank must vote against all loans to Colombia, regardless of their financial merit.
Clinton could cut off Colombians' duty-free access to the U.S. market for thousands of products. That measure would hurt more than 1,600 businesses in Florida, says Robert Ross, chairman-elect of the World Trade Center Miami.
South Florida business interests have campaigned hard to have Colombia's status upgraded. "The decertification of Colombia threatens to undermine Miami's role as a bridge between Latin America and the U.S.," Ross says. "Since drugs are illegal, they will be exempt from every one of the penalties. Only legitimate businesses will suffer."
