Economic Summit Luncheon, Gov. Bush on Regionalism

June 2004

West Palm Beach – At the “South Florida Economic Summit 2004-The Power of Regionalism” on Thursday, Gov. Jeb Bush told a group of the region's business leaders “A collaborative effort will be the best way for South Florida to further emerge as an epicenter for growth.” The Summit brought the leading South Florida economic development groups together (the Broward Alliance, Miami-Dade Beacon

“The region can flourish if leaders find ways to work together in solving economic development, growth management, education and transportation problems,” Bush said in his keynote address. "The South Florida region has everything including the most talented group of diverse people to be able to provide goods and services to not only this important market but the rest of the world. Working together, we can accomplish a lot more."

Kevin Audin, Chair of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County, said “South Florida's business climate, infrastructure and the unbeatable quality-of-life makes the tri-county region a premier location for relocation and expansion. It is our job to market the counties as a region to identify new industry groups and related business clusters to insure the future of southeast Florida. “

The summit was billed as the first large-scale effort to improve and aggressively move forward the way Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties join forces on issues and ideas that could positively affect the economy of South Florida, the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the country. Bush applauded the way the region's economic leaders supported two major initiatives – the Business Development Board and the Palm Beach County Commissioners efforts to secure the new Scripps Research Institute to Palm Beach County and Miami's bid to become the permanent home for the Free Trade Area of the Americas. He urged the counties to continue and the leaders to quickly develop strategies, especially in the growth management area.

"In order to grow as an international business center in South Florida, we are not independent," said Calixto Garcia-Velez, chair of Miami-Dade County's Beacon Council. "We're here to work together.” Bush chaired the Beacon Council, the county's economic development arm, in the mid-1980s and knows the importance of regionalism. Look at the InternetCoast, this is a great example of collaborative efforts and that regionalism gets so much more done.” Bush said.

The future of our region depends on cooperation," said Larry Behar, chair of the Broward Alliance.
Meri McGuiness-Mass
Director of Marketing
Business Development Board
Phone 561-835-1008
Fax: 561-835-1160
mmass@bdb.org
www.bdb.org

The BDB is the "Official Economic Development Organization of Palm Beach County" and Enterprise Florida partner