Report: 2004 Financial Florida (June 10 2006 )An ambitious research effort has been undertaken to document Florida’s financial services industry, and identify opportunities for expansion and growth. The research focused on cluster economics, comparing the competitiveness of financial services metroplexes nationally and internationally, and identifing targeted opportunities to bring Florida to the forefront of the next generation of the financial services industry. The focus of the research was statewide, with details provided (where available) at the county or MSA level. The research was completed in 2004, and released at the January 27 meeting of the Enterprise Florida Board in Tallahassee.
The project was coordinated by Guy Hagen of Innovation Insight Inc. Research deliverables were performed by Innovation Insight, the University of Tampa College of Business, the University of South Florida Center for Economic Development Research (CEDR), the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, and individual members of the Florida Financial Services Cluster Initiative (now formally incorporated as Financial Florida, an industry-led public-private association). Additional research was contributed by the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation, research faculty at the two universities, and participating members of the Florida Financial Services Cluster Initiative (FFSCI).
The investors in the research effort included:
• The Florida High Tech Corridor Council
• Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission
• Pinellas County Economic Development
• Tampa Bay Partnership
• Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce
• Miami-Dade Beacon Council
The research helped to establish a new statewide industry organization, and successfully established “financial services technologies” as an official high-impact designated industry sector for the state of Florida.
Over 600 pages of research results were produced in several reports, all of which are available from the Financial Florida website. The executive research briefing is available for download as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file here, or to order as a reprint here.