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Letter to the editor

Report urges state to focus on high-tech

By JAMES THORNER, Times Staff Writer
Published December 5, 2007

The latest report to rate Florida's economic progress starts with a striking premise: We'll never again be the low-cost state that earned us bragging rights as the Poor Man's Paradise and Redneck Riviera.

"We're not going to be the place where you can casually come down with $100,000 in your pocket and buy a home and retire for the rest of your life," said Tony Carvajal, executive vice president of the Florida Chamber Foundation.

The place we need to be, according to a study released Tuesday by the foundation, is an export powerhouse thrumming with high-tech industries and high-powered schools.

In the report - New Cornerstone Revisited -the foundation affiliated with the state's Chamber of Commerce was blunt about the state's successes. Florida's tops for jobs, having created nearly 1-million since 2000. State unemployment has hung below 4 percent for most of the decade. The state will soon pass New York as the third most populous state, and the Florida economy is about the size of Brazil's.

But it focused equally on the state economy's dark spots: 21 percent of the new jobs were in construction, home prices are too high for many middle-income workers and the state attracts 2-million fewer international tourists each year.

"The question is not, 'Is Florida over?'" said Susan Story, Chamber of Commerce chairwoman and president of Gulf Power. "The real question is, 'How can we position Florida to be the leading state of the 21st century, much as New York was in the 19th century and California in the 20th century?' "

The report urges the state to focus on export-oriented, high-tech industries. Every state pursues much the same jobs, but they're a golden ring worth grabbing. High-tech employment, be it in life science, aerospace or electronics, pays 70 percent above average, the report said.

"Where are we as a state? Are we moving forward? Are we standing still?" Carvajal asked. "The answer, obviously, is mixed."

James Thorner can be reached at thorner@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3313.

[Last modified December 4, 2007, 22:39:45]