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Gunster.com | (800) 749-1980 F O R T L AU D E R DA L E | J AC K S O N V I L L E | M I A M I | O R L A N D O | PA L M B E AC H | S T UA R T TA L L A H A S S E E | TA M PA | T H E F LO R I DA K E YS | V E R O B E AC H | W E S T PA L M B E AC H CONTENTS YOUR 2015 FLORIDA OPPORTUNITY GUIDE WELCOME 6 Gov. Rick Scott and Florida’s economic development and workforce leaders invite you to join the legions of companies finding success in Florida. SIX REASONS TO CHOOSE FLORIDA 12 Why Florida Is the Right Choice for Business 14 Business Climate 16 Market Opportunities 18 Workforce 19 Infrastructure 22 Global Access 24 Quality of Life TARGETED INDUSTRY SECTORS 16 28 Success stories in high-impact industry sectors RESEARCH FLORIDA 34 Experts in Their Field 24 THE REGIONS 52 Florida Map Regional Statistics 54 East Central Cocoa · Daytona Beach · Kissimmee · Lake Mary · Melbourne Orlando · Palm Bay · Titusville 22 63 Northwest Crestview · Fort Walton Beach · Gulf Breeze · Panama City Pensacola · Tallahassee 67 Northeast Jacksonville · Palatka · Palm Coast · Ponte Vedra · St. Augustine 63 72 North Central Alachua · Gainesville · Jasper · Lake City · Ocala · Perry 78 Tampa Bay Bradenton · Clearwater · Lakeland · North Port · Sarasota St. Petersburg · Tampa 89 South Central Arcadia · LaBelle · Lake Placid · Moore Haven · Okeechobee Sebring · Wauchula 92 Southeast Boca Raton · Fort Lauderdale · Jupiter · Key West · Miami Port St. Lucie · Stuart · Vero Beach · West Palm Beach 101 Southwest Cape Coral · Estero · Fort Myers · Naples · Punta Gorda ACCESS TO OPPORTUNITY 104 Business Incubators / Venture Capital Firms 105 Florida’s Largest Companies 107 Economic Development Contacts 72 101 2 BUSINESS FLORIDA | 2015 www.BusinessFlorida.com BUSINESS FLORIDA 2015 Publisher ANDREW P. CORTY Associate Publisher JANICE G. SHARP EDITORIAL & DESIGN Editor JANET WARE Design Director ANNE MEYER Designer MARY ANN UPHAM WILL Researchers LAURIE GRAULICH, WELCOME TO LESLIE VASBINDER BUSINESS FLORIDA 2015 Copy Editor TIM MEYER Andy Corty ADMINISTRATION Business Manager BARBARA GOODMAN Staff Accountant JENNY SHEA Florida never ceases to amaze me. In the 19 years since we began PRODUCTION publishing Business Florida, this state has undergone a virtual metamorphosis. Director of Production JILL SOUTH Where once we were known primarily as the place CEOs went to vacation, DISTRIBUTION today, we’re the state they bring their companies to. Audience Development Director KAREN TYSON Print & Fulfillment Supervisor CONNIE GREENBLATT In the last year alone, Florida has welcomed many new business faces — Customer Relations MARSHA ALMODOVAR Amazon, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Deloitte and Hertz, to name a few — while, at ADVERTISING SALES the same time, witnessing the expansion of many more long-time corporate Director of Advertising National Sales Director LYNN LOTKOWICTZ friends, such as Northrop Grumman, Citrix Systems, Office Depot, Deutsche Senior Market Director Bank, Verizon and Mosaic. Central Florida LAURA ARMSTRONG Senior Market Director Why did these and dozens of other companies choose Florida? Why should South Florida MAGGIE CARUSO Senior Market Director you? The answers can be found inside Business Florida. Tampa Bay CHRISTINE KING Senior Market Director First, we present our case: six reasons why Florida is the right choice for North Florida JAIME MCKNIGHT business. But instead of tooting our own horn with a list of accolades, we let Sales Support Representative RANA BECKER the companies who chose Florida tell you why they did. In “Targeted Industry WEBSITE Online Project Manager JOYCE EDMONDSON Sectors,” we introduce you to still more companies, each representing one of Online Publishing Specialist ROBB BROWN nine high-impact industries we’re welcoming to our state, and, again, we let their CEOs do the talking. Finally, in “Regions,” we describe the assets each of PUBLISHED BY TREND MAGAZINES INC. Chairman PAUL TASH Florida’s eight geographic regions has to offer, along with the businesses President ANDREW P. CORTY they’re attracting as a result. Secretary BARBARA GOODMAN Treasurer JANA JONES Rounding out our content is “Research Florida,” a special report in which you’ll meet some of Florida’s top researchers and learn about their work in © Copyright 2014 Trend Magazines Inc. All rights reserved. Business Florida fields as varied as physics, food science, pharmaceuticals, molecular biology is published in partnership with Enterprise Florida Inc. Every effort was made to ensure the accuracy of the information herein. However, Trend Magazines and mental health. and Enterprise Florida are not responsible for any errors or omissions that might occur. Also, advertising material and information is the responsibil- ity of the individual advertisers and appearance in Business Florida does not Yes, today’s Florida is a far cry from the Florida CEOs once merely visited necessarily reflect endorsement of the product or service by the publisher or Enterprise Florida; nor are the publisher and/or Enterprise Florida responsible for rest and relaxation, and Business Florida 2015 tells that story. I encourage for the contents of the individual advertisements. Reproduction in whole or in part of any text, photography or illustration without written permission from you to read about the opportunities other businesses are enjoying in the the publisher is strictly prohibited. Sunshine State and to seriously consider joining them in our dynamic Florida Trend Custom Publishing Division 490 First Ave. South, St. Petersburg, FL USA 33701 business environment. We’re waiting to welcome you home. phone (727) 821-5800 fax (727) 822-5083 CONNECT WITH FLORIDA BUSINESS Anywhere, Anytime ON THE » BusinessFlorida.com Your 24/7 Online Guide to Florida Business Opportunity WEB » FloridaTrend.com The Issues, People and Ideas that Define Florida Business 4 BUSINESS FLORIDA | 2015 www.BusinessFlorida.com Florida Hospital is ranked the #1 hospital in the state of Florida for the second year in a row. And ranked nationally in ten specialties. Cancer Cardiology Diabetes Gastroenterology Geriatrics & Heart Surgery & Endocrinology & GI Surgery Gynecology Nephrology Neurology Pulmonology Urology & Neurosurgery We thank you for trusting us with your care. We thank our clinicians for their commitment to excellence. FloridaHospital.com/USNews MKTGPR-13-16278 WELCOME WORKING FOR YOUR SUCCESS An Opportunity Economy Florida has long been the place where visionaries and innovators come to achieve their dreams. To expand their opportunities, the number one priority of my administration has been to make Florida the most business friendly state in the country. Thanks to the economic turnaround we have mounted here, Florida now ranks as the second best place in the nation to do business. We’ve worked hard to create an opportunity economy where growing, thriving industries create jobs and careers for generations to come. By cutting taxes for Florida families, providing historic levels of education funding in Florida and holding the line on tuition, we are putting more money back into the pockets of Florida families. Since taking office, we have worked to remove nearly 3,000 regulations on small businesses, paid down $3.6 billion in state debt, and our unemployment rate has dropped from 11% in 2010. Florida’s infrastructure is ranked second in the nation, and we are continuing to prepare our seaports for the post-Panama Canal expansion, which will create more new job creation opportunities. These strategies are creating the ideal business climate in Florida, and we will keep working to create an opportunity economy and to make Florida the best state in the nation for business. To continue Florida’s exceptional economic momentum, my goal is to Governor phase out state corporate income tax. Already more than 75% of Florida’s Rick Scott businesses do not pay a state corporate income tax, and last year we worked to eliminate the sales tax on manufacturing and equipment, saving the more than 18,000 manufacturing companies in the state approximately $141 million annually. As a businessman myself before being elected governor, I know firsthand the importance of lowering the cost of doing business to a company’s bottom line. As grandfather to three boys, I want Florida to be the best place for the next generation to succeed.