Picture by Wyatt Kostygen: Jessu Panuccio speaks with other panelists at a Sept. 24 SB2 event at The Francis.

The message on jobs from Florida’s top economic official when he spoke at a recent SRQ event was basic and positive. “The recession is in the past,” said Jesse Panuccio, executive director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, during a keynote at the recent panel, SB2: Financial Forecast. The business leader spoke to SRQ Daily afterward about keeping the Gulf Coast infrastructure ready for more jobs in coming years.

Florida is situated in the corner of the United States, which presents some challenges in shipping around the country. As we diversify our economy past tourism and seek manufacturing, how do we overcome that challenge?  What Florida has better than any state, we are actually a global logistic center if you think at proximity to Latin America and South America. We have one of the best roadway infrastructures. We have good freight and rail lines. We have great airports and many of them, and 15 seaports that have had record investments in the last 15 years. What we tell manufacturers is, don’t just think about in-state business or U.S. business. You should be thinking about worldwide business. If that is your market, then Florida is actually a great place and better positioned than a lot of competitor states. And those manufacturers who do engage in overseas trade tend to have both higher revenues and higher wages because they are accessing bigger markets.

One of those ports in Port Manatee. How important will that port and others be as Florida continues to grow?  Our ports are a major resource for the State of Florida. If you think about what makes for a growing and sustainable and prosperous economy, it’s overall economic policy, tax policy and regulatory policy, but it’s also investing in the right places. Transportation infrastructure is how we move goods and people around. We are at a critical moment in terms of sea trade. The Panama Canal expansion is going to be completed soon. They are expecting a 25-percent increase in traffic over the next 10 years. Those business relationships, where they do trade, that is going to establish very quickly, and if our ports aren’t ready, we are going to miss out on that for years to come. So the dredging of our ports, getting Miami to 50 feet, getting that tunnel built, getting Jacksonville dredged, getting Port Everglades ready, and over here Port Manatee and Port of Tampa, all of that is important. What you’ve seen from Gov. Rick Scott and the Legislature over the past five years is record investments. We’ve never invested as much in our ports as we have now. We’ve done the right things. Part of the problem is federal. The Army Corps can be slow with some of the permits that we need. But luckily in last year’s water bill, we were able to get a provision in there that allows us to front the money and get repaid later.This is something where you see bipartisan agreement if you look at our Congressional delegation. We are, wherever possible, trying to position ourselves to be ready.

Picture by Wyatt Kostygen: Jessu Panuccio speaks with other panelists at a Sept. 24 SB2 event at The Francis.