Enterprise Florida

length as business, and we want to get govern- ment and business to communicate more effec- tively. The economic development undertaking of a state works best if you put the business world into the business of economic development with a government partner. And it’s worked very well in Florida.We have businesses that put up their good money to be part of this undertaking be- cause it’s a real value to them.” BVM: Do you see any opportunities for im- provement in EFI’s effectiveness? Antonacci: “Here’s what I think is the challenge: every day is a different day, and it’s hard to see what’s going to happen tomorrow.What the state has to do, to improve its human capital infrastruc- ture, is to work with our education system, all the time, to make sure that it’s keeping up with what industry is doing. Industry changes pretty quickly and you have to be nimble to respond. So, for ex- ample, this past year the legislature appropriated a portion of $85 million for specialized workforce programs, so that our colleges and schools can access resources to develop these kinds of quick- ly-changing job needs in their communities. And if we don’t do that, we fall behind, because peo- ple in other states are working just as hard.” BVM: And yet, there are some in the state leg- islature who don’t believe that the government should be funding business development at all - or even doing business with business. Antonacci: “I don’t think that any of the legis- lators are opposed to business and government working together to make Florida a better place. But where the debate sharpens is in the area of taxpayer incentives. Incentives are controversial because taxpayers don’t oftentimes see the im- mediate value in the expenditure of their money. And that controversy opens up the question: Is this a proper thing for government to do? So, it gets into the philosophy of governing.” ENTERPRISE FLORIDA BVM: What’s on your agenda as Florida’s Secre- tary of Commerce? Antonacci: “My agenda is coterminous with our Governor’s agenda –get people around the world and around the country to invest in Florida either with their capital or with their businesses. Our metrics show that we do a pretty good job of bringing capital to Florida, and the issue of bring- ing business to Florida is one that we work on assiduously, every day.We have a great product to sell and always have exciting things happening. Florida is open for business and we mean it.” BVM: Manny, can you talk about the responsi- bilities of your position? Mencia: “I manage the State of Florida’s trade development programs, which is helping Florida companies - with a strong emphasis on small and midsize companies - to find new clients, and sell their products in markets around the world.We work on the export side with between 2,200 and 2,500 small or mid-size Florida companies, every year. My unit is deployed statewide; I have field offices in Pensacola, Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando, Palm Beach, and my headquarters in Miami. Each of those offices has a territory they are respon- sible for. You need to have people in the market that can visit a company and assess its export readiness. “I also manage our network of foreign offices in 12 countries around the world, which are there to promote Florida, to develop foreign direct invest- ment leads, and to support our trade programs. And, as I see my mandate, it is also to help Florida