Incorporate in Florida
Florida State Facts
If you think that Florida is all about oranges and retirees from New York, then you're in for a shock! Sure, Florida is a leading state in the production of citrus, vegetables, nursery stock, cattle, sugarcane, and dairy products , but did you know that Florida is the fifth leading employer of high tech workers in the nation and has no State income tax!.
Here is some more interesting facts about Florida:
Official name: State of Florida.
State nickname: "Sunshine State"
Total area: 65758 sq.mi, 22th Land 53997 sq. mi., 26th Water 11761 sq.mi., 3rd Coastline 1350 mi., 2nd Shoreline 8,426mi.
Capitol: Tallahassee
State flower: Orange blossom (Citrus sinensis )
State bird: Mockingbird
State song: “Swanee River ”
State tree: Cabbage Palmetto
State motto: "In God We Trust "
Adopted in 1899, the flag consists of a white field emblazoned
with a red X and the state seal, Florida's flag represents the land of
sunshine, flowers, palm trees, rivers and lakes. The seal features a brilliant
sun, a cabbage palmetto tree, a steamboat sailing and a Native American
Seminole woman scattering flowers.
Believe it or not, the current flag is the final in a long line of 15 previous ones!
Florida was admitted as 27th state of the U.S. - March 3, 1845 but it's history dates back a lot further than that. Archeological excavations show that humans first reached Florida around 12,000 years ago. Back then they would have encountered the saber-tooth tiger, mastodon, giant armadillo, and camels, whose bones have all been found at various Florida sites.
Skips forward a few thousand years and we find written records heralding the arrival of the Spanish explorer and adventurer Juan Ponce de León in 1513. Sometime between April 2 and April 8, Ponce de León waded ashore on the northeast coast of Florida, possibly near present-day St. Augustine. He called the area la Florida, in honor of Pascua florida ("feast of the flowers"), Spain’s Easter celebration. It is believed that other Europeans may have reached Florida earlier, but there is no concrete proof.
A few years later brings Hernando de Soto to Florida in 1539 where he went off in search of gold and silver. He wandered through Florida and most of what is now the southeastern United States. De Soto and his soldiers camped for five months in the area that is now the State Capital of Tallahassee. De Soto died near the Mississippi River in 1542. Survivors of his expedition eventually reached Mexico.
In 1559 Tristán de Luna y Arellano arrived with another band of Europeans in an attempt to colonize Florida. He settled into the area around Pensacola Bay but moved out two years later after a string of bad luck.
Spain was not the only European nation that found Florida attractive. In 1562 the French protestant Jean Ribault explored the area. Two years later, fellow Frenchman René Goulaine de Laudonnière established Fort Caroline at the mouth of the St. Johns River, near present-day Jacksonville.
Florida's Business Climate
Florida is an economic leader in the U.S. , especially when it comes to job creation. In fact, in November 2003, Florida non-agricultural employment grew by 97,300 or 1.3% over the same month in the prior year. Over the same period, employment actually dropped nationally. That's the 20th consecutive month of positive over-the-year growth for Florida.
Florida’s unemployment rate is lower than that of the nation. Florida’s unemployment rate of 4.7 percent rate for November was 1.2 percentage points below the national rate and has been below the national rate for twenty-one consecutive months.
The state’s robust job creation is an excellent indication that Florida is considered to be a good place to do business. In fact, numerous nationwide business surveys support this contention.
According to the State's own web site:
- Florida has the seventh best business climate in the nation based
on the business friendliness of our tax system.
- Florida is the fourth most popular location nationally for business.
In a trade journal readers’ poll, industry leaders picked Florida as
one of the top states they would consider for expansions based on criteria
such as transportation access, workforce training, and incentive programs.
- Florida ranks fourth in Site Selection’s 2003 annual business climate
ranking.
- Florida is the 4th ranked Cyberstate. Moving up a notch from 5th place,
Florida's high-tech employment totaled 271,177.
- Florida is the state with the 3rd highest number of companies on the
Inc. 500 list. The Inc. 500 list ranks America's fastest-growing private
businesses and helps identify entrepreneurial ventures on the cutting
edge of U.S. economic growth.
- Six Florida metro areas rank among the top 25 best locations for entrepreneurs.
The six areas are Fort Lauderdale (4), West Palm Beach/Boca Raton (6),
Miami (8), Orlando (10), Jacksonville (19), and Tampa/St. Petersburg/Clearwater
(25).
- Florida ranks fifth on the Small Business Survival Index. The eighth
annual Small Business Survival Index ties together 21 major government-imposed
or government-related costs impacting small businesses and entrepreneurs
across a broad spectrum of industries and types of businesses.
- Florida ranks second in the nation on TechNet's State Broadband Index.
The report ranked the top 25 states based on the extent to which their
public policies spur or impede broadband deployment and demand.
- Florida is a trade leader as the 3rd largest high-tech exporter in
the nation, sending $9.4 billion in goods to other countries.
- The Forbes/Milken Institute Best Places for Business and Careers ranks the top 200 metropolitan areas based on job creation, income growth and technology prowess. This year’s list includes 16 Florida metros, including nine in the top 50.
Florida has taken great measures to make sure that everything a resident or business owner needs can be found quickly and easily. MyFlorida.com is a single point of entry for information about the State of Florida, increasing access to information, products and services. Floridians, visitors, businesses and Florida government now have an easy-to-use single point of access to content on more than 100 web sites statewide, housing more than 750,000 web pages. One of the most technologically advanced state portals in the nation, the Enterprise Portal ranks in the Top Ten best government portals.
Of course, Florida isn't all work and no play. Home to some pretty serious theme parks, such as DisneyWorld, Busch Gardens, Sea World, Universal Studios, and a seemingly endless list of smaller attractions, Florida has something for everyone. And don't forget the beaches!
If you are looking for a more offbeat adventure, then visit St. Augustine, often called Florida's haunted city. Florida's Key West has their own haunted claim to fame including the only allegedly haunted Hard Rock Cafe in the world!
There is something for everyone in Florida. And, as an added bonus, it doesn't snow!