Broward County Commission Regular Meeting
Director's Name: Maribel Feliciano
Department: Economic and Small Business Development
Information
Requested Action
title
MOTION TO APPROVE Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance (herein referred to as Alliance) Proposed Business Plan for Fiscal Year 2026 pursuant to the agreement between Broward County and the Alliance.
body
Why Action is Necessary
Pursuant to the County’s agreement with the Alliance, the Alliance must submit to the County a business plan for Board approval.
What Action Accomplishes
The Alliance submission and the Board of County Commissioners approval of the annual Business Plan will satisfy compliance with the terms of the agreement between the parties.
Goal Related Icon(s)
☒County Commission
☐Go Green
☐MAP Broward
Previous Action Taken
None.
Summary Explanation/Background
THE OFFICE OF ECONOMIC AND SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT RECOMMENDS APPROVAL OF THE ABOVE MOTION.
The Office of Economic and Small Business Development (OESBD) received and reviewed the Alliance proposed Fiscal Year 2026 Business Plan (Exhibit 1). Key proposed Market Measures have been summarized for Fiscal Year 2026 (Exhibit 1, page 18 of 22). The Alliance proposes the following goals in Fiscal Year 2026:
Business Attraction
Domestic Leads: 175 (no change from Fiscal Year 25); International Leads: 50 (no change from Fiscal Year 25); Average Monthly Projects in the Pipeline: 12 (no change from Fiscal Year 25); Number of Announced Projects: 12 (no change from Fiscal Year 25); Number of New Value-Added Jobs: 1,200 (decrease of 200 from Fiscal Year 25); Domestic Capital Investment: $100 million (no change from Fiscal Year 25); and International Capital Investment: $4 million (no change from Fiscal Year 25).
Business Retention
Corporate Visits: 120 (no change from Fiscal Year 25); Number of Retained Jobs: 300 (decrease of 200 from Fiscal Year 25); Number of CareerSource Partnerships: 12 (no change from Fiscal Year 25); and Dollar Value of CareerSource Partnerships: $1,000,000 (no change from Fiscal Year 25).
Marketing & Communications
Media Value Generated: $400,000 (no change from Fiscal Year 25); Advertising and Social Impressions: 10,000,000 (no change from Fiscal Year 25); and Total Visits to Website: 165,000 (no change from Fiscal Year 25).
Financial Support
Private Sector Dollars Investing in Economic Development: $3,237,786 (increase of $313,725 from Fiscal Year 25); and Public/Private Mix: $1.00:$1.45 (decrease of $1.00:$.05).
The changes to the Alliance’s key goals from 2025 to 2026 are as follows: reduction in three goals, the Number of New Value-Added Jobs, Number of Jobs Retained, and Public/Private Mix; and an increase in one goal, Private Sector Dollars Investing in Economic Development. Twelve goals remained unchanged: Average Monthly Projects in the Pipeline, Number of Announced Projects, Corporate Visits, Domestic Capital Investment, International Capital Investment, Domestic Leads, International Leads, Media Value Generated, Advertising and Social Impressions, and Total Visits to Website. The Alliance indicates focus on creating, attracting, expanding and retaining high-wage jobs and capital investment in high value targeted industries, developing more vibrant communities, and improving the quality of life for our area’s citizens.
The reasons for the reduction in 2026 market measure goals are due to the following reasons:
Number of New Value-Added Jobs - companies are postponing expansion and relocation decisions due to the continued high cost of money, macro uncertainty around the global economy, the elimination of statewide incentives including the Qualified Target Industry funds and state closing funds, and the overall higher cost of living in South Florida being a concern to companies.
Number of Jobs Retained - This reflects the fact that Florida and Broward County are being perceived as being more welcoming to businesses than many states, resulting in most companies continuing to remain in Florida/Broward County and not choosing to look at locations outside the area.
Public/Private Mix - This reflects the fact that the Fiscal Year 26 goal for Private Sector Dollars Investing in Economic Development increased by a smaller percentage than the increase budgeted public dollars investing in economic development for Fiscal Year 26.
The Office of Economic and Small Business Development (OESBD) received and reviewed the Alliance proposed Business Plan for 2026 (Exhibit 2) which outlines the key initiatives for the year and the team members responsible for carrying out the initiative. The Implementation Plan contains 90 initiatives under the following categories: Managing Expansion, Relocation And Retention Projects (ten initiatives, an increase of one from Fiscal Year 25), Marketing and Promoting Greater Fort Lauderdale / Broward County (37 initiatives, an increase of six from Fiscal Year 25), Securing And Enhancing Private/ Public Leadership, Collaboration And Investment (20 initiatives, no change from Fiscal Year 25), Providing Business Intelligence And Market Research (14 initiatives, an increase of two from Fiscal Year 25), and Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance Foundation (nine initiatives, a decrease of two from Fiscal Year 25). The description of individual initiatives and the Alliance Team Members responsible for carrying them out can be found in Exhibit 2.
Source of Additional Information
Maribel Feliciano, Director, Office of Economic and Small Business Development 954-357-6400.
Fiscal Impact
Fiscal Impact/Cost Summary
None.