Guest Author
To promote health, safety and sustainability in Florida’s trillion-dollar economy, the Florida Chamber, through the Florida Chamber Safety Council, held a multi-day conference at the Walt Disney World Resort for leading business executives and industries to attend and partake in, with the aim of supporting the ambitious decadelong goal of the Florida Chamber: to make Florida home to one of the world’s strongest and most dynamic economies by the year 2030.
To achieve that, Florida’s businesses will have to adopt policies that encourage best practices within their respective fields and industries, and ambitiously lead on issues that are increasingly defining the economic challenges of our time: worker retention and climate change.
To retain workers, businesses must create workplace environments that are welcoming and full of opportunities. Workers want to be rewarded for their work and to be provided the ability to rise within the ranks of the business to which they commit countless hours of their lives toward.
Businesses will have to do more than just provide fair wages and dignified workplace environments, they will have to commit investments in talent empowerment and work to find innovative and creative ways for workers to stay engaged and inspired in the work that they do each and every day.
This is essential, for the long-term success of any business depends on the strengths of its workforce and the collective abilities it possesses when tasked with the responsibility of productivity and continued growth.
For Florida to win the future, businesses will have to create workplace environments that attract the nation’s best and brightest while working to be leaders on issues such as climate change with authenticity and meaningful commitments.
It’s why sustainability held a key spot of importance at the conference, for the Florida Chamber understands the pivotal role environmental stewardship and climate action must play to create the strong, resilient and prosperous economy of tomorrow.
Florida’s unique position and geographical characteristics demand that we, as residents and caretakers of this State, take climate change seriously, for the worsening weather events, eroding shorelines and rising seas call for us to act boldly and without delay.
Through private sector engagement on climate, Florida will be able to lead on climate action solutions and implement new and bold innovations that uplift populations and communities without government interventions and onerous mandates.
In recent years, Florida has earned its place as one of the most desirable places to live, work and play in the United States.
Our state’s economy has grown exponentially despite economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and a fast-growing population rate has helped propel Florida to become one of the most populous states in the country, surpassing New York State in recent years.
Despite these apparent strengths, we must remain focused on the issues that are impacting the competitiveness of Florida’s businesses and work to address systemic challenges that hold back the talent and contributions of Florida’s vibrant workforce.
The conference aimed to achieve just that, and brought to focus the key tenets that matter most to business today: health, safety and sustainability.
As a Floridian, I encourage business leaders and private sector stakeholders to invest in workers, act on climate change and build an economy that benefits the well-being of every Floridian, for if you do, Florida’s economy will grow vastly in size and become a magnet for talent the world over.
That’s the state we must become — and an achievement worth striving for.
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David Acosta is a master’s candidate in International Relations at Harvard and Climate Action Advocate.
