Jobs Outlook Rosy in Broward County
Everything’s coming up jobs in Broward County.
In a Kaufman Rossin survey of 200 local businesses, 60 percent said they plan to increase staff this year. Seventy-six percent said their businesses are healthier this year than last, according to the survey released Thursday at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance’s mid-year meeting in Fort Lauderdale.
Marketing Florida as ‘the only state to master the sun and the Cloud.’
In comparison, 49 percent of the 175 businesses surveyed in 2014 said they planned to increase staff, and 66 percent said their business was “generally improved” increase staff.
“Our new job announcements, in addition to the strong employment increases we saw in 2014, are confirmation that our economy is one of the strongest in the nation,” said Bob Swindell, president and chief executive of the alliance.
The alliance said that during its first two quarters, ending in March, the economic development agency helped Broward attract more than $29 million in capital investment for company relocations and expansions. The county added 390 jobs and retained 406.
Still, there’s more to be done, said Bill Johnson, Florida Commerce secretary and Enterprise Florida CEO. He urged alliance members to lobby their state legislators for a marketing budget for Enterprise Florida, the public-private partnership that works to attract new business.
“I need your support,” he said. “The economy is back, but this is not the time to sit back. We can do better.”
Johnson, who began his new job in March, has committed to creating 1 million jobs over the next four years. He said Florida has to compete for business and the state legislature has earmarked “zero dollars” for Enterprise Florida’s marketing budget.
“New York will spend $140 million to market their state as a business destination,” Johnson said. Florida also is going head to head for jobs with Texas and California.
He said he will focus on bringing in high-wage jobs and on rural and low-income areas that need jobs.
South Florida has done well in its recovery from the recession, Johnson said, but there’s additional potential in attracting new businesses, such as port-related companies.
In 2014, Broward was second only to the fast-growing market of Dallas and tied for No. 2 with San Francisco, favored as a business location for its proximity to Silicon Valley.
On Thursday, alliance Chairman Mike Moore announced the company relocations and expansions the agency assisted with, including:
- In Miramar, aviation component company, 1st Choice Aerospace, said it would add 40 jobs with a capital investment of $4.5 million, and Aero Accessories and Repair, which provides mechanical repair, is creating 30 jobs and making a $2.2 million investment.
- In Pembroke Pines, Brazilian company Allied General Industries is adding 33 local jobs and making a $6.4 million investment, part of a U.S. expansion.
- In Fort Lauderdale, Charter Schools USA announced it would add 159 jobs, retain 188 jobs and make a $1 million capital investment in its headquarters.
- In Deerfield Beach, Italian lemon juice distributor Polenghi is creating 17 jobs and making a $3.7 million capital investment. Syntax Coated Products, designer and manufacturer of adhesive products, is adding 20 jobs and making a $3.7 million capital investment.
The alliance also said Thursday that UniPharma, a Venezuelan pharmaceutical manufacturer that had located in Tamarac last year, will be hiring 100 people at an average salary of $49,555 a year and making a $50 million capital investment.
Tim Rubin, CPA, is a Business Development Director at Kaufman Rossin, one of the Top 100 CPA and advisory firms in the U.S.
