Florida Chamber CEO reveals ‘secret sauce’ behind economic growth as green states enter ‘death spiral’
Florida Chamber of Commerce (death spiral) President and CEO Mark Wilson talks to Fox News Digital about the latest statistics on population growth and wealth migration to the Sunshine State.
Behind Florida’s fine sandy beaches and lush green palm trees, a roaring and thriving economy doesn’t just work in the sunshine; it is a direct result of the “secret sauce” that combines strong growth of the private sector and strong fiscal diversity in high-tax policies, Democratic-led countries.
While hubs like New York and California are descending into what Florida Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Mark Wilson calls a “death spiral,” the Sunshine State is officially open for business as a global powerhouse. With more than $4 billion in wealth flowing through its borders every hour, Florida has leapfrogged Spain to become the world’s 15th largest economy — and Wilson says the state is just getting started.
“Part of the secret sauce in Florida is that we’re all on the same page,” Wilson told Fox News Digital. “The business community, our elected leaders, we understand that economic growth – expanding the private sector and reducing the public sector – that’s good for everyone in Florida. So we have 23.5 million people here, and we want to create economic opportunity and good jobs for everyone who wants to be in Florida.”
“I always say, if Florida were a stock, I’d invest everything I have in it. It’s because of our economic diversification strategy and our focus on business growth and job growth,” he continued.
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Wilson provided current statistics surrounding Florida’s population and wealth migration, which began early in the post-pandemic era. The number of new residents moving into the state every day has dropped from 1,000 to 500 to 600 people, while gross income has remained the same at just over $4 million, “24 hours a day, nights, weekends, holidays included.”
By 2030, Florida is expected to welcome 500 to 600 new residents per day. (Getty Images)
The Chamber’s 2030 plan aims to boost Florida’s economy into the top 10 by that milestone year, and Wilson remained confident in the state’s ability to achieve that goal, noting that the state is reportedly close to surpassing Australia in 14th place.
“Florida leads the nation by a country mile [in income migration],” said Wilson. “States like New York, Illinois, and California are losing more than $1 million an hour. And then, if you look at the deaths in New York right now, for example, New Yorkers are looking at raising income taxes, looking at raising property taxes. Of course, Florida has no income tax.”
“The biggest economic lesson in America right now is Florida’s tax revenue … our tax rates are down. But people are moving to Florida, they’re moving their businesses here, they’re investing in our communities … that’s actually driving more tax revenue,” he added.
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The direct failure of these high-tax states goes beyond the economy, as Wilson also responded to many reports in the new year that many prominent California billionaires and business leaders – Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg and others – have moved to Florida, as well as critics of the wealthy movers.
“Many people ask us, what is the secret of the success of Florida? And in the Florida Chamber, we believe that no one else is responsible for the success of Florida except Florida,” said Wilson. “We have to look at everything from pre-kindergarten readiness to, how do we cut child poverty in half? How do we make sure we have the best education system in the nation, the best legislative climate, the tax climate, the regulatory climate, and the best quality of life anywhere on the continent? And that’s exactly what Florida is doing.”
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“People of all incomes, from all different backgrounds move to Florida to work, retire, study, use our education system … Florida is a land of opportunity where everyone can succeed. We are very grateful that all these billionaires are moving to Florida because they bring their businesses, they invest in the communities,” he explained.
“In fact Florida brings the promise of freedom and free enterprise. If you have a family that wants to succeed or a company that wants to succeed, I think people realize that Florida is not just this idea and experiment. We actually do it and it works, and I think that’s what makes me so happy.”
“These billionaires believe that Florida can do this, and they want to be here to take advantage of this opportunity for innovation, creativity, resilience, opportunity for growth that we have here in Florida. And states like California, Illinois, New York, New Jersey – they’re literally killing innovation. They’re literally putting a lid on these kinds of opportunities that make America what it is.”
Wilson also praised the cleanliness of finances, managing the state like a business, staying within the budget while using collaboration between the private and public companies of Florida.
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“New York has been in the news a lot lately. Florida has more people than New York state, but New York’s state budget is twice the state budget of Florida,” the CEO elaborated, “so as they’re looking to raise property taxes and income taxes in New York, we’re looking to cut them.”
“The thing that doesn’t get a lot of credit is Florida has the least debt per capita of any state in America. Not just compared to the largest states of any state in America. It’s only about $1,000 per resident. We literally pay cash for things. And when Florida borrows money, we pay lower interest than any other state in the country.”
Looking ahead to 2030, Wilson says it’s easy to imagine what success looks like in Florida without growing GDP and income migration.
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“We found that even though we create 1 out of 10 jobs in America, we have more than 700,000 children who are living off the bread,” he said. “What we’ve found is, more than half of our poor kids live in just 15% — or 150 — of our ZIP codes. So by making schools in those ZIP codes the best schools in Florida … that’s the kind of economic development that’s going to grow communities.”
“We can’t be the 10th largest economy in the world if we don’t have our kids in grade school and if we don’t cut child poverty in half. So it’s all part of one big puzzle and there’s no silver bullet … and I think that’s why Florida is an example of where the rest of the country can go.”
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