There has been more than a little buzz both locally and in the national press about South Florida cities urging corporate executives to relocate. It’s because we have an amazing business story to tell them.

Our city has been among those making significant strides in recruiting new businesses across the board from the tech industry to financial services. And heck, just ask Vinny Viola of the Florida Panthers, Joe Lewis of Tavistock or David Beckham of InterMiami what an amazing place Fort Lauderdale is to do business.

The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t slow us down.

Rather, it provided further illustration to business executives across the country about the benefits of choosing our city as their home. And, with the economy on a rebound, we are boosting our efforts and are hoping to see some major gains.

This spring, Future Tech – an IT partner-of-choice for Fortune 500 companies, leading universities and hospitals – located its executive headquarters in the heart of the city. At the same time, Memic Innovative Surgery, an Israeli-based medical device company dedicated to transforming robot-assisted surgery, announced it will open a center here for its global commercialization, professional education and customer support.

Another new arrival is BelHealth Investment Partners, a private equity fund focusing on health care. It opened a new headquarters in our city for its investment team. Benefytt Technologies, a health insurance technology company, moved into offices in our uptown area, and Sincerus Pharmaceuticals is expanding in Fort Lauderdale with a new facility for manufacturing and research as it aims to meet a significant demand for its custom medicines.

PJ SOLOMON, a leading financial advisory firm based in Manhattan, chose downtown for its next satellite office. Amazon built a last-mile facility in Fort Lauderdale to increase efficiency with customer delivery in the region. KeySource Pharma, a supplier of generic pharmaceuticals, has located a sales and logistics office here.

Fort Lauderdale is emerging as a premier business destination and hub for a talented workforce. This incredible transformation will lead to a more diversified economy and higher-paying jobs for our residents. 

As Bob Swindell of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance recently said: “Now, more than ever, companies continue to choose Greater Fort Lauderdale’s highly competitive business climate and unbeatable quality of life.”

More and more companies are realizing what longtime Fort Lauderdale institutions like AutoNation, Citrix Systems and Microsoft already knew – we have a lot to offer business.

It’s a cosmopolitan community that cannot be ignored.

We have a workforce that is diverse and well-educated, a low-tax environment, outstanding connections through our airport to the rest of the world, and an extremely busy commercial seaport. That’s on top of our desirable lifestyle of year-round sunny weather, miles of beachfront, great shopping and dining options, incredible entertainment and nightlife, and burgeoning arts and sports scenes.

In Fort Lauderdale, we are literally in the center of the South Florida business scene. And frankly, business executives from around the nation know our community well because many already own second homes here.

Did you know the South Florida region was named one of the eight “New Gateway” Cities for Investment in a study by JLL? The Miami-Fort Lauderdale area was also ranked 9th among U.S. metro areas making the most net gains for business moves since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to LinkedIn news. Also, CBRE has named South Florida as one of the next 10 tech markets to watch.

I think the wave of success is just beginning.

The Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, our regional business recruitment arm, has indicated the pipeline of companies expressing interest in Fort Lauderdale has skyrocketed and that conversations about relocating continue with major financial services and tech companies.

The Alliance has relaunched its advertising campaign targeting company relocations and expansions as well as a direct digital effort focused on executives in targeted industries. The agency has also debuted Welcome Home, a relocation and recruitment guide for businesses. The guide showcases the area’s great quality of life as somewhere not just to visit but also live and work.

There are some recent local developments that will help with business recruitment.

Hines and Urban Street Development have announced plans for a 180,000-square-foot creative office building in the proposed FAT Village project along Andrews Avenue. Branded as T3 FAT Village, it is being specifically designed to serve technology, media/information and biotechnology/life sciences tenants.

That project comes on the heels of the opening of Main Las Olas, a Stiles Corp. mixed-used development that includes the first new premium office space downtown in quite a while.

There also is the new Alan B. Levan Broward Center of Innovation at Nova Southeastern University. This innovative space will focus on areas including cybersecurity, aviation/aerospace and spatial computing. Part of the center is LEVL5: SPACE DOCK, an initiative connecting our region to the Space Coast as well as national and international space networks. 

We are letting the world know that Fort Lauderdale is a gamechanger in business recruitment and retention. Our city – with all it has to offer – is a great place to do business.