Gov. Rick Scott will continue to streamline government and reduce bureaucracy and taxes during the legislative session and his second year in office, said Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll.
“Now Florida is ranked as the third business friendly state in the nation,” Carroll said. “We’re not going to rest until we are No. 1.”
Carroll was the keynote speaker at NAIOP of Northeast Florida’s meeting Friday, where almost 150 members and guests heard the former local legislator discuss economic growth, commercial spaceports, the Embraer deal and more.
“This legislative session we’re not going to rest on our laurels,” she said. “We’re going to move forward to even further reduce taxation on businesses and homeowners.”
Carroll is chairwoman of Space Florida and discussed the potential of commercial spaceports in terms of both business and education opportunities. GPS, cell- phones, scratch-proof eyewear lenses, medical equipment and national security were all examples Carroll presented as everyday benefits of the space program and its technology.
“It enables us to have a better quality of life,” she said of space technology.
Carroll said the recently awarded Embraer deal will bring 50 jobs to Jacksonville for the production of the Super Tucano military aircraft. She said it has been in the works for more than a year and required community support and her personal advocacy and relationships.
She asked for more community and elected official support for future defense contracts like Embraer, which is weighed when officials make such decisions.
Carroll said she talked to Embraer’s president just after the contract was awarded and was told hires would begin “next week.” Carroll said the immediacy shows how quickly companies work and how jobs can be created.
The Embraer deal is postponed after the U.S. Air Force put a hold on the contract following a lawsuit filed by the company’s competitor on being excluded.
Carroll said after the event she is not worried about the stop order.
356-2466