The Huge Economic Impact of Florida’s Entrepreneurs
Bottom Line: Florida’s maturation from an economy wholly reliant on tourism, agriculture and housing two decades ago into the 13th largest economy in the world most recently, has been remarkable. Florida’s rapid success and development into one of the world’s top economies wouldn’t have been possible without good policies setting the stage for business success in our state, and it wouldn’t have happened without entrepreneurs taking advantage of the opportunities within our state. Florida’s economy now generates $1.23 trillion in economic activity annually and has been found to have been #1 for new business formation over the past year. That’s in addition to Florida being the top state for business relocations over the past year as well. For as impressive as Florida’s story has been in recent years, what’s been happening most recently has been the best story yet. On that note, enter the latest info on Florida’s Entrepreneurs.
A new worldwide study on entrepreneurship conducted by Shopify has provided additional insight into Florida’s entrepreneurial growth. Over the past year Florida’s growth derived from startups has been phenomenal. To put this in perspective here are the growth benchmarks:
Florida’s economic growth rate has essentially doubled the national average over the past year and as impressive as that is, enter into the conversation the growth rate of Florida’s startups:
- Business activity: 9.5%
- Jobs added: 9.5%
- GDP Impact: 9.6%
In what’s already the fastest growth economy in the country, Florida’s entrepreneurs are proving to be the tip of the spear with a growth rate for new businesses and business activity that’s greater than double Florida’s overall growth rate. That’s not just great news today, it’s setting up success for years to come. Most jobs are added by successful startups in years 3-5. Meaning that as positive as the impact of startups have been in Florida over the past year, we should see an even bigger impact for what’s already happened a couple of years from now. And with Florida remaining the top state for new business formation, it’s yet another great Florida economic story which continues to get better with time.