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State Supply Chain Leaders Promote Growth Opportunities at Summit

By Elizabeth L. Brown

TAMPA (March 22, 2022) – Public and private stakeholders in the supply chain management industry gathered Tuesday to discuss ways to strengthen the state’s supply chain and maximize its growth at the 2022 Florida Supply Chain Summit.

This is the summit’s third year and first year back as an in-person event since the start of the pandemic. The event is being held at Hotel Alba in Tampa and concludes March 23. 

Organizers have lined up industry experts to address the leading supply chain management issues facing the state, such as manufacturing, technology, distribution center automation and robotics, global digital supply chain revolution, and the state’s cold chain distribution.

Jim Stock, co-director of the Monica Wooden Center for Supply Chain Management & Sustainability, kicked off the opening day of panel discussions and presentations by urging the crowd of 100 participants to take advantage of the summit’s opportunities and to “bring home something you can use.”

“We want to strengthen Florida’s supply chain,” he said. “Network. Collaborate. Make more business opportunities happen.”

The summit’s initial panel discussion focussed on how Florida can continue to grow and meet the needs of the influx of new residents. With nearly 1,000 people moving to Florida every day, the state expects four million more people by 2030.

Doug Davidson, chair of the Florida Chamber of Commerce Trade and Logistics 2030 Study, and market executive at Bank of America, said Florida’s economy is driven by three pillars - agriculture, tourism, and growth. 

“Florida has always been a place of great economic opportunity and natural beauty. That’s always been our story,” he said.

Expanding opportunities in trade, logistics, and manufacturing will help promote growth, he said, adding that the trade and logistics study will assess the ways the state should diversify its economy. 

Davidson said research shows that creating one manufacturing job has a multiplier effect because it leads to the creation of five more jobs.

And attracting more manufacturing jobs doesn’t necessarily mean opening a large auto plant. It could be small and medium-sized high-tech companies, he said.

“We want to be mindful of the quality of Florida as we continue to grow and develop,” Davidson said.

Fellow panelist TJ Villamil, senior vice president for international trade and development at Enterprise Florida, Inc. echoed Davidson’s sentiments.

Villamil pointed to several data points and rankings that show the potential for Florida to be an economic driving force.

• If Florida were a nation, it would be No. 15 among the largest economies in the world
• The state has the third-largest workforce in the nation
• Florida has a network of 15 deepwater seaports, 20 community airports, over 20,000 miles of highway, and more than 3,000 miles of rail.

Working to help acquire and attain high-quality jobs in Florida is key, he said. 

“Expand, retain, and grow is the golden triangle,” Villamil said. “We’re not done yet and we can’t rest on our laurels. We have a lot of important work to do and the only way we’re going to do it is in lockstep with public and private.”

Henry Mack, the senior chancellor of the Florida Department of Education, said the state is cognizant that employers are moving to a skills-based hiring model. That is why the state has unveiled several workforce education initiatives including post-secondary certification programs.

The summit continues on Wednesday with panel discussions focussing on Space Florida, updates from the state’s largest ports, and how exporters and importers navigated the pitfalls from the pandemic.

For a full schedule of the summit program, go to floridasupplychainsummit.com.