This week, Gov. Rick Scott highlighted Floridas role in international business as he announced two companies would be bringing jobs to the Sunshine State.
Gov. Rick Scott announced on Thursday that Brinks Regional Services will locate its Latin American headquarters in Florida, bringing 105 jobs and more than $2.5 million to Miami-Dade over the next three years.
Job creators like Brinks have been the reason Floridas unemployment rate has remained below the national average in the last six months and why more families can live the American dream in the Sunshine State, Scott said before pointing to Floridas economic rebound during his three years in office. My priority since taking office has been to turn Floridas economy into the No. 1 state for business. With more than 440,000 private-sector jobs created since December 2010, its working in Florida and we will keep working until every Floridian has a job that wants one.
Based out of Virginia, Brinks has customers in more than 100 nations across the globe. The new location in Miami-Dade will contain a financial services center supporting operations in more than 10 Latin American nations.
Orlando Bravo, the CFO of Brinks Latin America, pointed to ties between that region of the world and South Florida as one of the reasons his company will be building the new center.
Brinks decided to institute the LATAM Shared Service Center in Miami due to its ideal location and convenient access to all countries in Latin America, rich cultural ties to the region, and a highly qualified workforce with extensive experience and strong expertise working and serving the Latin American markets, said Bravo on Thursday.
This was not the only international business expansion Scott announced this week. On Wednesday, the governor said Israeli manufacturer Krausz Industries will be locating its North American headquarters and, eventually, a manufacturing facility in Ocala, bringing 22 new jobs and almost $2.5 million into the area.
In making the announcement, Scott pointed toward his efforts to have the Legislature eliminate the manufacturing sales tax. This ranked as one of Scotts chief legislative priorities this year.
Manufacturing businesses like Krausz can continue expanding in Florida because of our work to eliminate the tax on manufacturing equipment, Scott said.
The governors team noted Scotts budget this year contained $100,000 for an economic development office based in Tel Aviv.
Danny Krausz, the president of Krausz Industries, said his company chose the Ocala location to base its North American operations over competition in Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Krausz Industries is proud to call Florida our North American home to serve customers with superior products and excellent service, said Krausz. We found Ocala to be an ideal location with convenient access to transportation across the continent and to shipping channels along the East Coast. The highly skilled workforce in the area, with the skills we need, is also a huge advantage.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com.
