Managing Editor
Businesses and the general public don’t always agree, but an area survey found that both consider jobs and unemployment to be the top economic issue facing Northeast Florida.
In a recent survey by the First Coast Manufacturers Association, 46 percent of businesses and 55 percent of the general public responded that jobs and unemployment topped their list of concerns.
“Everybody is just uptight about jobs,” said association President Lad Daniels.
“The traditional drivers of the Florida economy are falling by the wayside, real estate being the foremost, and people are looking for the next white knight.”
Daniels said the FCMA is positioning itself to become a principal advocate for the port, considered to be a primary job creator. To that end, the survey included some port questions.
A large majority of both businesses, at 82 percent, and the public, at 77 percent, said they support efforts to deepen the Port of Jacksonville to permit passage of the larger cargo ships coming through the Panama Canal.
Just 3 percent each said they don’t support deepening the channel.
How to fund the deepening was another question, with multiple responses accepted.
Among businesses, 46 percent said funding should come from the State of Florida, 31 percent said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and 30 percent said importers and exporters.
Among the public, 48 percent said the importers and exporters and 46 percent said the shipping lines should pay.
Ulrich Research Services Inc. of Orange Park prepared the survey, which involved 252 business respondents invited by regional and county chambers of commerce and 228 members of the general public. Neither group knew the manufacturers’ association was the sponsor of the survey.
Among the other top economic issues facing Northeast Florida, businesses and the general public mirrored each other in their views, except for access to credit and bank loans, which businesses considered of more concern. The general public found the slow real estate market and health care costs to be more troubling issues than did business.
The lowest-ranked issue by both groups was funding and City budgeting, listed by just 3 percent of businesses and 7 percent of the general public as a top concern.
Daniels, a former City Council president, found that surprising.
“My interpretation would be the public is not engaged with governmental financing at the local level and is not recognizing there is a problem here,” he said.
In answer to another question, the highest percentage of both businesses and the general public responded that the regional economy was about the same as it was a year ago, 43 percent and 39 percent respectively.
However, a higher percentage of businesses, 40 percent, said it was getting better, compared to just 20 percent of the general public.
In fact, 37 percent of the general public said the economy was getting worse, compared to 14 percent of businesses.
The others were not sure or did not respond.
“It didn’t surprise me that business was thinking more optimistically than the general public. The business guys see business orders and markets firming up,” said Daniels. He said earlier manufacturers’ surveys found similar results.
However, Daniels said that manufacturers and other industry sectors are experiencing “so much uncertainty and it is all related to public policy.
“People are sitting on their hands and they are not investing and they are not hiring anybody. I don’t see that changing,” he said.
In other responses:
• Asked the biggest source of pollution in the St. Johns River, the largest share of both businesses and the general public, 40 percent each, said residential runoff. Another 32 percent of the public said industrial sources, as did 20 percent of businesses.
• The largest share of both businesses, at 44 percent, and the public, at 29 percent, said health care was the strongest industry sector in Northeast Florida compared to the nation as a whole. Respondents were asked to rate industries as stronger, weaker or average compared to U.S. industries.
• Businesses rated manufacturing and health care among the highest-priority industries to develop in Northeast Florida over the next decade, while the public ranked health care and information technology at the top.
Daniels said health care has received a lot of attention. Manufacturing, he said, is becoming “the white knight” for people looking for job creation, although hiring is slow.
“They’re saying, let’s find something to get us going,” he said.
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Top economic issues facing Northeast Florida
What do you think are the top three economic issues facing Northeast Florida today? (Multiple responses accepted; 12 issues identified.)
Businesses:
Jobs/unemployment 46%
Education/training of workforce 19%
Housing market 16%
General public:
Jobs/unemployment 55%
Slow real estate market 19%
(Tie) Housing market 17%
(Tie) Health care costs 17%
Strongest industries in Northeast Florida
Among 15 listed industries, which ones do you feel are stronger sectors for the economy of Northeast Florida, which are weaker and which are about average compared to the United States as a whole? Think in terms of a typical business year when the economy is not in recession.
Top three considered stronger than average
Businesses:
Health care 44%
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 32%
Transportation and warehousing 29%
General public:
Health care 29%
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 25%
Transportation and warehousing 17%
Performance of the regional economy
Compared to one year ago (mid-2009), do you think that the regional economy of Northeast Florida is getting better, getting worse or is about the same as it was one year ago?
Businesses:
About the same 43%
Getting better 40%
Getting worse 14%
Not sure/no response 3%
General public:
About the same 39%
Getting worse 37%
Getting better 20%
Not sure/no response 4%
High-priority industries
How would you like to see the economy of Northeast Florida develop over the next 10 years? Of industries listed, indicate whether you would make the industry a high priority, medium priority or low priority for economic development.
Top high-priority industries
Businesses:
(Tie) Manufacturing 65%
(Tie) Health care 65%
Professional, scientific and technical services 60%
Information technology 59%
General public:
Health care 70%
Information technology 57%
Professional, scientific and technical services 48%
Career recommendations
If your child or another young person came to you for advice on choosing a career, which of the following industries would you be most likely to encourage them to consider? (Respondents could choose up to three from a list of 11.)
Top three responses
Businesses:
Information technology 61%
Health care 51%
Professional, scientific and technical services 50%
General public:
Health care 63%
Information technology 61%
Professional, scientific and technical services 45%
Facilities to support
If an employer could create 1,000 new jobs in Northeast Florida by establishing a new business facility, what type of business facility would you support? (Respondents could choose up to three from a list of 10.)
Top responses Businesses:
Manufacturing 52%
(Tie) Professional, scientific and technical services 44%
(Tie) Information technology 44%
(Tie) Transportation and warehousing 30%
(Tie) Health care 30%
General public:
(Tie) Information technology 45%
(Tie) Health care 45%
Professional, scientific and technical services 38%
Manufacturing 30%