Florida: It’s time to move on

By KATE McCARDELL
Floridan Staff Writer
Published: September 7, 2008

Introduced as a man who waits patiently at the shoreline for the best wave, Mark Wilson spoke on Florida’s economic changing of tides at the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce First Friday Power Breakfast this week.

As Florida Chamber of Commerce President and CEO, Wilson told a large crowd Friday that the Florida as they know it is over.

Now is the time to plan ahead for a different type of Florida, said Wilson, a Florida not about cheap living and beaches, but a state that could be known as the source of talent and ingenuity in the global economy.

Wilson said he is often asked when Florida’s economy will go back to the way it used to be.

“The answer is never,” said Wilson. “We led the country in job growth for ten years ... Now we lead the country in job loss ... We’ve been growing, and growing, and growing and growing and all of a sudden it’s over.”

Many people moved to Florida over the last few decades, drawn by the lure of the scenery and low cost of living, said Wilson. Florida is now ranked number 26 in the country for its high cost cost of living.

Why is the state in this mess? Two reasons, said Wilson.

“One, the rest of the world wanted to live here ... And second: Our elected officials and our business community failed to look at the next wave. They failed to plan for economic changes,” said Wilson.

“We knew in the late nineties and at the turn of the century that we were going through a world-wide change ... now I can have an accountant in India ...  This building could have been designed by someone in China ... things here can be done anywhere on the globe,” said Wilson.

But there is good reason for Floridians to stay positive, said Wilson.

“If Florida was a stock ... I’d cash in everything I own to buy it,” said Wilson.

Florida has so many things going right that some serious planning for the future could mean big success for the state, said Wilson.

He compared the state’s challenges to crossing a long bridge: “Do you turn around and go back or do you go to the other end?”
“The challenge is how quickly we’re going to get to the other side,” said Wilson.

Talent required

Wilson said a key element to a community’s success, and that of the state’s, is the type of jobs that will exist 20 or 30 years from now.

“All jobs are important, but the type of jobs to look at are jobs that are paying more than the ones in the community now,” said Wilson
The business community and local government should work together to set a policy, said Wilson, to bring in higher paying jobs.

“Someone is going to cure cancer, someone is going to develop the answer to alternative energy,” said Wilson. “Will they be here in Florida?”
In 20 years from now, required job skills will be very different than they are today, said Wilson.

“I think in terms of 2030 and 2020,” said Wilson. “My third grader will be entering the workforce in 2020.”

Wilson said the Florida Chamber of Commerce believes that Florida will soon be the third-largest populated state in the country.

He said Florida’s workforce will need one million more university degrees than the state is currently on pace to produce.

Something needs to be done to create, keep and lure talent to Florida’s communities, he said.

“You can offer every incentive in the world to lure a company to your community, but what that company’s going to want to know most is whether the talent will be there,” said Wilson.

Five more imperatives and one common agenda

Government and business leaders should consider several other elements that would make their Florida community a success, said Wilson: Innovation, infrastructure, business climate,  governance and quality of life.

“By the year 2030, we’ll have 10 million more people living in Florida, according to David Denslow at the University of Florida,” said Wilson “We damn sure better plan better and grow smarter than we did when the last 10 million people came in.”

He said too many businesses are focusing one their own agendas, when they ought to be banning together to present a common and clear agenda to government officials.

Wilson cited the book Good to Great, authored by Jim Collins.

The book begins with the statement that good is the enemy of great, said Wilson.

While good communities might pretend certain issues don’t exist, great communities confront their issues, look at the facts and come together to do something about it, said Wilson.

Build a dashboard

When a community is ready to work together, they should regularly monitor the state of the community as they plan for the future, said Wilson.

He referred to the gages on a vehicle’s dashboard, which show how various areas of the vehicle are doing, from gas to mileage and the state of the engine.

Wilson said a similar “dashboard” should be created in each Florida community.