florida gulf coast ecomomics

florida gulf coast ecomomics

Economic Impact of Florida Gulf Coast

1. Economic Importance of Florida Gulf Coast

To finance the activities of those social services of the Gulf Coast which guarantee environmental conservation, culture, including art and science. Beautiful coastal and marine environments have a very high intrinsic value, which justifies their allocation and treatment, protected in their actual condition. At the same time, the damages that may affect these environments often have a high cost and affect the demand for goods, including goods, which are environmentally produced on the coast. During the summer months of 2010, the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, which killed marine life by causing huge oil slicks in the sea, was one of the global environmental events.

Many of these human residents are of a high social status: they have higher incomes, they tend to have higher levels of education, they live in larger (and more expensive) houses, and they have a higher population density. These residents are crucial for the Gulf Coast because they work in multiple areas of proposed economic development, including government, environmental and ecological research, industry, recreation, tourism, and healthcare. They impact the Gulf Coast’s economic performance because of the combination of natural resources and institutions created by man. Financially, the conditions for these natural resources and human-institution interaction to harmoniously manifest are (a) the actual and perceived (by residents and visitors) cleanliness and safety of marine and coastal environments and (b) the aesthetic qualities of marine and shore environments.

Economic impact of Florida Gulf Coast. A key economic characteristic of the Gulf Coast is its dependence on the natural environment of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill region. Its economic importance is based on its natural resources: its coastal and marine environments provide breeding and feeding habitats for hundreds of species of plants, which in turn sustain substantial economic activity. These environments are important because natural resources alone do not fully explain the economic importance of this region. Besides these natural resources, the coastal environment of the Gulf Coast region also contains communities of human residents and workers.

2. Key Industries and Sectors

A solid and growing finance and insurance industry help buoy the overall health and well-being of Florida’s Gulf Coast economy. In a state with the 3rd largest population nationally and a $1 trillion economy on the books, its finance and insurance industries are equally impressive. The Gulf Coast metro areas of Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island employ 33,630 people, attributing to the financial, information, and professional business service cluster, the third largest industry sector by employment in the region. Evidenced through employment and industry data, this region’s major industries include information, finance and insurance, real estate rental and leasing, professional and technical, and scientific services including support services for professional services, management of companies and enterprises. Though their existence may be less visible to the untrained eye, employment in these industries is vital to ensuring the overall well-being of the region as a whole.

Florida’s Gulf Coast is home to a wide and diverse economy. As of January 2018, there are an estimated 1.4 million people employed within the region, which make up approximately 14.2% of jobs in the entire state. Among their top industries is construction, accounting for close to 30,000 jobs within the region, ranking it third in the state. Florida’s Gulf Coast lays claim to significant agricultural production as evidenced through exports. Agricultural production accounts for 38% of the total land use within the Gulf Coast region and is identified in four of the eight major commodity groups by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services as significant industries that include horticulture, fruit and vegetables, feed grains, and nursery and greenhouse.

3. Tourism and its Contribution to the Economy

The beaches along Florida’s Gulf Coast are not just a beautiful backdrop for residents and tourists alike to bask in the fun. The beaches whose sandy stretches total over 1,200 miles provide a herd of direct as well as indirect economic benefits. The appeal of the Florida coastline is undeniable. A report released by the Florida Beachfront Division in 1999 noted beach-related shopping and dining activities by visitors along the Gulf Coast generated an estimated $2.2 billion dollars annually in retail sales and $230 million in state sales tax revenues. Some found the return on investment from local beach nourishment projects to be as high as 20:1. Countless researchers have detailed tourism spending over the years, illustrating a wide array of measures for local and state revenue. In 2011, the Tampa Tribune interviewed Dr. Maureen Hays and Dr. Ko Koens, visiting professors at Koeme Nueve Leiden University in the Netherlands, discussing the possible implementation of “user fees” for visitors of the beaches. They relayed that in 2005, 2006, and 2007 tourism in the state of Florida along the gulf coast was estimated at a total of $3 to 4 million spent in retail.

Millions of individuals from around the globe have flocked to Florida’s coastlines in search of sun, clean beaches, and of course, fun. The warm tropical climate and seemingly endless supply of car-accessible beachfront property has not only attracted beachgoers but real estate developers, who developed many beachfront destinations near the gulf. Coastal strips quickly became high-end resorts with amenities including restaurants, nightclubs, and hotels that generate substantial tax revenue for the local community. Many of the open-access beaches have hosted various events that not just a “fun day in the sand” for visitors, but can act as an “extreme sports” demonstrator for things such as Frisbee, volleyball, and “beach blast” competitions. Nonetheless, the greatest revenue generator along the coast are various sporting events held annually by deep sea fishing charter boats and rentals of watercraft such as jet skis, boats, paddleboards, and kiteboards. The beautiful, clean shorelines attract visitors to Florida’s west coast year-round.

4. Environmental Challenges and Economic Resilience

The first article offers a comprehensive discussion of the methodology used by study teams to conduct the economic analysis of the pathways impacted by land loss within a regional impact model of six parishes in south-central coastal Louisiana. The focus of that case study is to illustrate the transition between the micro-scale analysis conducted by John Whitehead and O. Ashton Morgan (2009) and the Social and Economic Geographic Analysis (SEGA) model developed by NIST (2015) and the associated econometric model.

As the economic impact of the full range of environmental challenges becomes more clearly understood, policymakers will be better informed when designing strategies for local and regional economic resilience. Regional strategies of economic resilience are likely to involve proactive building of a broader suite of economic opportunities, including those developed from the resources that generate the very environmental challenges that the region faces. The growing recognition of the importance of these dynamic interrelationships between the economy and the environment is the focus of this special issue with a focus on the deltaic mini-region of south-central Louisiana and the Florida Gulf Coast. The four conceptual essays provide a strong set of arguments about the challenges that researchers and policymakers face in understanding the economic impacts of environmental changes on the delta.

5. Future Outlook and Opportunities for Growth

We draw attention to emergent logistical convergence of regional trade-related goods and services and the role of geospatial-based logistics clusters that are shown to catalyze and coalesce the flow of cargo through regions and nations. Empirically, the study reveals that where soft clusters exist, doubling the real, per-capita investment in infrastructure ($100k to $200k), attracts a 200% increase in trade value supporting 2.02 jobs per $1 million in logistic investment. Refinements to the current industry static measures can energize nationwide growth supporting and attracting high-wage paying logistics jobs and infrastructure. Such targeted industry analysis can promote awareness at all government levels and ultimately fine tune, enhance and assure that investments made whether public or private, all are in the best national economic interests. In practical terms, especially for Florida and the Gulf Coast, this study underscores that industries are coalescing in logistics clusters on US coastal areas and these are connected spatially, geographically, and logistically conducting business. Rather than viewing transport and logistics services as offering point-to-point operations, we observe a coalescence of logistics block-like industry presence that engages in U.S. wide and extended global commerce. With defensible direct and indirect supply chain linkages to economy, today’s development secured in trade-related logistics capacity, whether public or private driven, commands a new importance for national economic growth.

In conclusion, the historical data in the five counties demonstrates that sectors contributed the most to the state’s economic production. While the energy sector is substantial with employment increases and a reasonable outlook for the future, can the sector create jobs in similar output levels to the high incumbent employment sectors of retail trade and healthcare in the future? Will the job increases occur for local residents, instead of workforce commuting from other parts of the state or from other states or regions, and create a strong economic base? Some concerns and questions can be considered. The areas’ other key sectors are linked to the specific industry role. Military, retail trade, real estate, higher education have specific locations where their involvement occurs and yet others may be impacted long term in terms of tourism, especially if production of new energy support infrastructure detracts from the natural environment. Ground transportation infrastructure, especially for Port Tampa Bay, continues to be developed and road, bridge, and rail expansion into and within the state of Florida is experiencing growth and economic recovery, which does create jobs. However, the impacts are presently secondary to the Gulfside Florida’s tourism and second home resting place attractiveness, as the number of annual visitors has decreased with gas prices reaching record levels in the summer of 2008. As the state of Florida aims to attract new business, and expand existing business, the development of new infrastructure is a low hanging fruit awaiting to be plucked from the tree.