SECURING FLORIDA ’ S FUTURE
by Dr . Jerry D . Parrish
As the Chief Economist for the Florida Chamber Foundation , my job is to look two to thirty years toward the future and map out the challenges and opportunities facing Florida . Through the Florida Chamber Foundation ’ s Six Pillar Framework , businesses can take an active part in measuring Florida ’ s progress toward creating economic prosperity and high wage jobs , remaining globally competitive , and fueling vibrant and sustainable economies .
It ’ s in the spirit of measuring our state ’ s progress that the Chamber Foundation has dedicated the past two years to research known as Florida 2030 . This project , led by Florida ’ s business community , is a once-in-a-decade strategic plan for Florida that goes beyond our state ’ s immediate needs and instead asks , what does Florida need to do between now and 2030 to remain competitive , to continue to grow and succeed , and to protect our state ’ s unique quality of life ?
In this process , the Florida Chamber Foundation has visited all 67 counties in Florida and has received input from more than 10,000 community , industry and business leaders . And from our research we can see two main things . First , most Floridians have a positive outlook on the future of our state . Second , the quality of life we have in Florida is a reason many people came here and is a definite competitive advantage that Florida enjoys over other states .
Preserving Florida ’ s quality of life is not only important to the people that live here now – it will be an even more important part of securing Florida ’ s future . The question then becomes - how can we be competitive and also pass on a state that can sustain itself to future generations ? We should invest in our people . One way we can do this is to help ensure economic opportunity . This can be done by creating opportunities for better education and training and working to
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