Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Development agency touts job creation
The Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance announced that it helped companies create 2,646 jobs in Broward County during the 2015-16 fiscal year.
That’s nearly double the 1,432 new jobs from a year earlier.
During its annual meeting Thursday at the Signature Grand in Davie, the economic development organization gave its annual update on the companies it assisted in job creation and retention, as well as capital investment in Broward. The Alliance also presented awards to those who have been instrumental in generating economic and job growth.
“It has been a great year,” said Bob Swindell, president and CEO of the Alliance. “The recovery from the recession is part of that, but it also speaks volumes to the Fort Lauderdale brand.” For the year that ended Sept. 30, the Alliance assisted 20 companies in job creation, retained 943 jobs and helped generate $210 million in new capital investment, the organization said.
Companies that added jobs in Broward County included: Ecolab’s Latin American regional headquarters in Miramar; Magic Leap in Plantation; and CHG Healthcare Services, Hotwire Communications and JetSmarter, all in Fort Lauderdale.
The Alliance also announced that two new companies have relocated or expanded in the county. Matrix Absence Management, a manager of disability, workers’ compensation and family-leave plans, has established a regional headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, creating 60 new jobs. And Zurich North America, a property-casualty insurer with more than 50,000 employees worldwide, has expanded in the county, opening a new office in Plantation and creating 80 jobs.
The Alliance also announced several awards. Terry Stiles, chairman and CEO of real estate development company Stiles Corp. in Fort Lauderdale, received the 2016 Ray Ferrero Jr. Economic Development Leadership Award. Other economic development leadership awards went to Rita and Rick Case, of Rick Case Automotive Group; Eric Roth, of Breakthru Beverage Group South Region; Doug Bartel, of Florida Blue; Debra Mink, of Mink & Mink real estate firm; Michelle Molnar, of Steven F. Greenwald Design; and Charles Webster, of Broward County Public Schools.
The city of Sunrise Scholastic Chess Initiative and the Broward County Public Schools Debate Initiative, led by the Gunster law firm, received the Alliance’s Educational Excellence Builds Business Partnership Award.