Enterprise Florida

came the first state in the country to place prin- cipal responsibility for economic development, international trade, research, and business image marketing in the hands of a business-government partnership. EFI’s ongoing mission is to expand and diversify the state’s economy through job creation, while championing Florida as the premier location for capital investment and business expansion and relocation. EFI recruits new business to the state, and works to retain and expand existing industry and business, focusing its economic development efforts on a wide range of industry sectors, in- cluding: aviation & aerospace, life sciences, infor- mation technology, defense & homeland security, clean energy, financial & professional services, and manufacturing. In 2011, Florida moved to optimize its econom- ic development structure by creating the Depart- ment of Economic Opportunity (DEO) and giving EFI’s President and CEO the additional title of Secretary of Commerce. A policy-driven Board of Directors, comprised of appointed members and a diverse group of investors representing some of the nation’s most notable corporations in Florida, oversees EFI’s operations. In addition, each mem- ber of the Florida Cabinet holds a position on the Board and the governor serves as the Board Chairman. Recently, Business View Magazine spoke with two members of EFI’s leadership team: CEO, Peter Antonacci, and Senior Vice President for Interna- tional Trade and Development, Manny Mencia. The following is an edited transcript of those conversations: BVM: Peter, what are Florida’s strengths as a state to do business in? If I wanted to open a new business or relocate to Florida, what would you tell me are some of the state’s benefits? Antonacci: “Everything comes under the head- ing of ‘business climate,’ and what we have is special. So, that includes permitting. The larger the business, the more permitting challenges, and ENTERPRISE FLORIDA PETER ANTONACCI CEO MANNY MENCIA SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT even if you set up a small business, you have some permitting issues. Our permitting sys- tem is user-friendly. “There’s no personal income tax and the corporate income tax system has been rat- cheted back over the last seven years, so the corporate income tax atmosphere is very positive.We are a right-to-work state, which means you don’t have to join a union to have the privilege of working.We have an excellent K-12 education system, and after K-12, our ap- prenticeships, our certification programs are excellent. So, we’ve got a robust workforce that’s highly trained, and if they’re not trained, we have facilities here to train them.We think that markets mean a lot, and between our airports and our seaports, we’re a gateway to the world.” BVM: How does EFI connect with business- es who want to come to Florida? Antonacci: “We continue to work with our site selection community to show our wares. If you’re not showing your wares all the time, you’re easy to forget, so we’re out there every day with our site selectors, showing what we have.” BVM: Does being a public-private partner- ship help those outreach efforts? Antonacci: “Some believe that government doesn’t communicate on the same wave-