Florida Chamber Foundation sketches 2030 goals for a Florida with 26 million people in it
By Richard Danielson
Tampa Bay Times
Published: Sep 27, 2018

The Florida Chamber Foundation unveiled a set of goals Wednesday aimed at creating a robust, competitive and inclusive economy for the Florida of 2030, when the population is expected to have grown 24 percent to 26 million.

The Florida 2030 plan was organized around questions like how can Florida create 1.7 million private-sector jobs, find 20 percent more water and accommodate 3 million more drivers as the state adds 5 million residents.

"Everything is accelerating," foundation executive vice president Tony Carvajal told a crowd during a two-day "Future of Florida" forum in Orlando. "The game is getting serious."

The plan's authors said they did three years of research and talked to 10,000 Floridians as they put together goals meant to be bold, not incremental, with a focus on changes that would affect all Floridians.

"It's not just about an economy," Carvajal said. "It is also making sure that we're bringing all Floridians along, that this is a story about prosperity and that we have paths to prosperity for every community in Florida. We're looking at that at the micro level."

The goals include:

On education: Making sure 100 percent of children are ready for kindergarten, 100 percent of third-graders can read at grade level, 100 percent of eighth-graders can read and do math at grade level, and 95 percent of high school students graduate within four years.

To develop workforce talent, seeing that 60 percent of Floridians between 25 and 64 have "high-value" post-secondary certificates, degrees or training. Improving access to early learning programs for children younger than 3.

To diversify the state's economy: Putting Florida in the top three states for technology jobs, research and development funding, patents issued and venture capital investments. Making Florida first in the number of overseas visitors and in the top five for manufacturing jobs.

Doubling the state's exports of goods and tripling its exports of services. Supporting the development of manufacturing and logistics clusters along inland corridors such as Interstate 10 and U.S. 27, which runs 481 miles from Miami to Tallahassee.

On infrastructure: Having diverse, attainable housing; providing access to public and private mobility services; connecting population and economic centers with high-capacity corridors; developing resiliency plans and making sure 100 percent of Floridians have access to high-speed internet.

"Affordable housing is the challenge across the state," Carvajal said. "This is a workforce issue. This is a family issue. This is a retiree issue. This is everybody across the state being impacted one way or another."

On enhancing the business climate: Having actuarially sound property insurance rates based on "actual risk and competition," is a big goal here, along with improving Florida's reputation for having business-friendly regulatory, environmental, labor, and occupational licensing rules, plus a legal climate seen as being in the top quarter of states.

Quality of life: Having one of the 10 lowest crime rates in the nation; working to ensure that less than 10 percent of Floridians live in households constrained by the cost of housing and that less than 10 percent of children live in poverty, with a pathway out for all those children.

Poverty in Florida has been on the decline, but 2.9 million Floridians are poor, 14 percent of all residents and 20 percent of children.

"That's 20 percent too many," Florida Chamber president and CEO Mark Wilson said.

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Contact >Richard Danielson> at rdanielson@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3403. Follow @Danielson_Times