Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) holds a press briefing to promote manufacturing growth in Wakulla, Florida.
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00:00...over dinner, and just wanted to, on behalf of Wakulla's EDC, we're thrilled to be here for this announcement
00:08and appreciate your commitment to Wakulla County.
00:11The 300 jobs that Point Blank is bringing to our community will pay an average annual wage of $52,900
00:17with an addition of $8,300 of employee benefits, generating $3.5 million into our local, state, and federal tax base
00:27to be invested back into our community.
00:30These new Florida jobs will generate $38 million in earnings directly from Point Blank,
00:36and they will also create an additional 213, I call them ripple effect jobs, for a total earning for our community of $46 million,
00:47further strengthening and diversifying our economy.
00:50Duke Energy is one who, a partner who has been involved in this project in so many ways,
00:56has provided this economic impact analysis.
00:58So you're hearing a consistent theme today of partnerships.
01:02We're excited as a community to be able to offer the Wakulla County School System and our War Eagle Technical Academy,
01:10Tallahassee State College, and Wakulla Environmental Institute, and the FAMU-FSU School of Engineering
01:16to improve our local talent and technology pipelines while having you in return as a strong community partner.
01:24Today's celebration would not have happened without the help of Opportunity Florida,
01:30Florida's Great Northwest, Triumph Gulf Coast, Duke Energy, Career Source Capital Region,
01:36Wakulla's Board of County Commissioners, and the Florida Department of Commerce.
01:40And we would be remiss if we did not also acknowledge that little train that kept on pushing our local business community.
01:49In a world where most EDCs are fully government-funded,
01:53our business community contributes over half of the funding needed to operate Wakulla's Economic Development Council.
01:59Today's announcement is the first of its kind for Wakulla County and won't be the last.
02:04will bring a major economic impact to our entire region while we build a stronger community here at home
02:11on a foundation of strong families that are sustained by the excellent jobs that you guys are going to be providing.
02:19So with that said, it is Wakulla County's privilege and honor to welcome the leader of the greatest state in our nation,
02:26our governor, Ron DeSantis.
02:28Oh, thank you. Good morning. Please be seated. Thanks so much. Thank you. It's great to be in Wakulla County.
02:40We were staying up late last night to watch Florida State baseball. That didn't quite go as well as we,
02:47I can tell you, I've got some very sad kids this morning because they were very much into that.
02:51But this is here, this is great to be here to have this great announcement and to really show that we are making huge progress
03:00in not just the economy. We're ranked number one in Florida on the economy last two years by both CNBC
03:07and by U.S. News and World Report of all 50 states. And you can see the statistics and everything.
03:14But one of the things we've really done is, since I've been governor, we've added over 100,000 manufacturing jobs.
03:20You hear a lot of talk about this, obviously nationally. In Florida, we're showing how it's done.
03:26And this initiative that has now led to point blank being able to really produce some great jobs is a good example of how that works.
03:37Now, Florida, if you look at all 50 states, we have the lowest number of government employees per capita.
03:47So we have a limited government. We have paid off, if you look at 180 years of Florida history
03:54and the amount of debt the state had accumulated, not actually that much compared to some of these other states.
03:59But just since I've been governor, we've paid off 41 percent of that and counting.
04:04So we now have the lowest per capita debt of any state in the United States of America.
04:09Your share of the federal debt, if they were to just make everyone pony up to pay it off as a U.S. citizen, it would be over $105,000.
04:19Your share of the Florida debt is about $450.
04:23So this is much and declining every day.
04:26We also have one of the lowest tax burdens in the country, second lowest amongst for state tax burden.
04:32And we're also working on local relief with property tax, and so stay tuned on that.
04:38We want to deliver victories there.
04:40But no state income tax, and we're working with the legislature to eliminate a tax that Florida was really an anomaly on,
04:48and that's taxing business rent.
04:50It makes no sense. It's not good for the economy.
04:52So I think that that's going to go the way of the Buffalo.
04:54We've done a lot to reduce it, but I think we're going to be able to eliminate it.
04:58We lead the nation in new business formations.
05:01Every year for the past five or six years, more businesses have been formed in Florida than any state.
05:07And here's the thing.
05:07We're the third largest state, so you'd think, obviously, even if we weren't somehow doing well,
05:12we're going to have more business formations in small states.
05:15But, you know, California has almost twice as many people.
05:19We have 23-plus million.
05:21They're close to 40 million.
05:22And, you know, we have more business formations in Florida than in California.
05:28I think as people realize their businesses aren't going to burn down in Florida,
05:32and you're going to be able to actually keep law and order.
05:35And I see what's going on out there, and it's, you know, really disgraceful to be letting the inmates run the asylum.
05:42I just have never quite figured out.
05:44You've got people out there, they are supposedly objecting to the enforcement of immigration laws.
05:54And so they're protesting that, which, first of all, the federal government has a right to do.
05:59That's the laws of this country.
06:01And you have every right.
06:03The Trump administration, DHS, has every right to be enforcing the laws.
06:08But you have some of these people, they're objecting because they don't want to get kicked out of America,
06:15and yet they're burning the American flag.
06:18And yet they're waving the flag of the country that they don't want to get sent back to.
06:23Can you please make this make sense to me?
06:25I mean, it's insane.
06:27And so what happens in California, I think a lot of people over the years, they just haven't felt safe,
06:34particularly in places like L.A. and in San Francisco,
06:37because, you know, they really do let the inmates run the asylum.
06:43When you try to do that in Florida, the chances of you getting away with that is precisely zero,
06:49because we will hold you accountable and do that very quickly.
06:52So the business formation has been good.
06:55But I do think the public safety has been a big part of the economic success,
06:59and I think it's really hurt some of these states that have walked away from it.
07:02So we've been able to do that.
07:04We've had a lower unemployment rate than the nation as a whole for, I mean, years now going.
07:12We've grown the economy in Florida since I became governor.
07:16I don't know.
07:16It's probably up more.
07:17I used to say we grew at 30%.
07:21I think it's probably closer to 40%.
07:23Some even say we've grown at 50% Florida's economy.
07:26But we have the second highest GDP growth as a percentage of any state in the country.
07:32The only state ahead of us is Idaho, and it's a beautiful state.
07:36But, I mean, it's only a couple million people, so it's a lot easier to have a bigger percentage jump for us.
07:41We've got 23 million people.
07:42So that's great, and we're working on, and I know Corey Simon's here, Senator.
07:48He's done a great job for you guys, and I know this is not his fault, but there's still not a budget done in the legislature.
07:55I think it's coming.
07:57I think it's coming.
07:57Everyone just kind of, you know, you wait by the state capitol.
08:00It's almost like, you know, the Vatican.
08:02You have the white smoke, you know, Habemus.
08:04It's like, when is a budget?
08:06Do we have a budget?
08:07And all this stuff.
08:08But suffice it to say, we've been able to do really big things for the state.
08:15I'm going to mention what we did here to help this project.
08:18We've increased teacher salaries more than has ever been done in the history of Florida.
08:23We've done bonuses for law enforcement that had never been done before.
08:27It's been huge for the people that wear the uniform.
08:30We've invested massive resources into restoring and nurturing our natural resources, whether that's our springs, whether that's our everglades, whether that's our coastline.
08:41Really historic things have been done in that realm.
08:43And then in infrastructure and transportation, we've put billions of dollars into accelerating these projects, and we're having great success on that.
08:53And we've returned billions and billions of dollars to taxpayers.
08:56But with all that being said, current year, we're spending less than what we spent the year before.
09:04And I think when this budget's finished, I think we're going to end up spending even less next year while hopefully still being able to do the things that people really want us to do.
09:14So, you know, these other states, New York, for example, we have probably three, maybe four million more residents now in Florida than in New York.
09:24They've contributed to a lot of those residents because they've been fleeing.
09:29And yet, with three, four million more people, our budget for the state of Florida is less than half of New York State's budget.
09:39New York City's budget, eight million people, is more than the budget of state of Florida.
09:45Now, I would ask you, are they delivering better services than Florida?
09:50Are they have better roads and infrastructure than Florida?
09:53Do they have better education?
09:54No, of course not.
09:56So this can be done, and it can be done in ways that are sustainable and that really reinforce what makes Florida unique.
10:03So I'm proud of being able to work with people like Corey to be able to get this done.
10:07Now, one of the tools that we have is this Job Growth Grant Fund, which basically looks to support workforce, education, and or infrastructure, surrounding infrastructure that can help.
10:20And particularly when you're talking about industrial growth, to be able to have a place in an area where things are connected, roads, all the things you need to, you know, that can make the difference between something being viable for a business and something not viable.
10:36So we've been very strategic about how we've used the Job Growth Grant Fund over the years.
10:41We have done things, like we'll mention here.
10:43We've also done things like expand commercial driver's license slots.
10:48You know, these truck drivers make good money now because it's tough to get people to do.
10:54We were producing, I think, about 300 truck drivers a year, 400 truck drivers.
10:58Now we're doing 1,500, 2,000 truck drivers being produced with our programs.
11:03And part of it is because we use Job Growth Grant for our state colleges to be able to buttress that.
11:07We also have a program called the Rural Infrastructure Fund.
11:12And it allows the state to be able to provide support for our rural communities in service of their infrastructure needs.
11:21The reality is, is the rural communities, they don't have the same tax base that you have in some of the more urban communities.
11:29I mean, you've got some places in, like, South Florida where tourists pay a huge amount.
11:36Snowbirds, who aren't even Florida resident, contribute a lot to that.
11:40You may not have that as much in some of our rural areas, and so we've been willing to use this fund to be able to help.
11:48Incidentally, you know, we talk about property tax.
11:50Tax people say, oh, you know, the rural, the fiscally constrained, they need the tax people's property, otherwise they can't have revenue to run their government.
11:59Well, listen, I run the numbers, and if you took the fiscally constrained counties, I think you're like 30-some counties.
12:06Is that the number?
12:0731 counties.
12:08And if you said tomorrow there would be no tax on anybody's homesteaded property, personal residence, the amount of money that we would need in Florida to backfill all that revenue for those fiscally constrained counties is about $300 million a year.
12:29And I'm just telling you, that is budget dust.
12:31Like, that's easy for us to do.
12:33And I'm not suggesting that, like, we have to just do that, but I'd be willing, of course we're going to help with that.
12:39You know, we want homeowners to be able to afford to stay in their home, and if that means that we take this gigantic surplus that we've accumulated and help rural counties and fiscally constrained counties,
12:51I'd much rather do that and be able to get the property tax relief done than try to say, oh, well, we can't do property tax relief because the rurals aren't going to be able to raise revenue.
13:02We have revenue.
13:03We've got a lot of revenue that we're going to be able to do.
13:06So you can count on me to be able to help with that.
13:09We're working on this right now.
13:11I want to do property tax.
13:13I want to do a property tax rebate this year.
13:16We're working with the Senate on the budget on getting that through.
13:20I think that's really important for people.
13:22So all homesteaded Floridians, we want them to be able to get a rebate on a portion of their property taxes because, you know, it's local, but there is some of that that gets directed to state education.
13:33I can backfill that.
13:34I mean, that's no problem.
13:35We've got the ability to do that.
13:37So I'm hoping we can do that.
13:38But then we're working for the bigger project, which will need to go on the ballot in 2026.
13:43So I think everybody who looks at this does understand we do want people to actually own their homes.
13:51And at some point to say that you're 80 years old and you paid off your mortgage 30 years ago, and yet you still got to just stroke checks, and then people are telling you your property is worth twice as much as it was 10 years ago, and that goes up even though you do have some protection.
14:09That's not what we want.
14:11We want people to own free and clear.
14:13So stay tuned on that.
14:14So Rural Infrastructure Fund allows us to do that.
14:17So we saw an opportunity here in Wakulla.
14:20So earlier this year, I announced $3.5 million to Wakulla County for the development and construction of two county-owned buildings at Opportunity Park.
14:32Now, these facilities, I think it's over 100,000.
14:36Each of them are over 100,000 square feet.
14:39They will be able to house high-skilled, high-wage jobs in targeted industries and help drive long-term economic development in the region.
14:48The latest award that we did earlier this year builds off the $4.5 million that we did in December through the Rural Infrastructure Fund.
14:57So the state is in for $8 million for Opportunity Park because we see the possibilities and we see the potential here.
15:06You also have, and I know we have some representatives, Triumph Gulf Coast has contributed $13.5 million.
15:14University of West Florida Haas Center invested a half a million dollars.
15:19And so this has really been a team effort.
15:22These are just the infrastructure improvements are projected to generate more than $13 million.
15:28But the economic impact is projected to be $64 million in wages and for participating workers.
15:36And you guys know how the economy works.
15:38If people are able to find gainful employment and actually earn a decent living, then they're going to be able to spend that money here locally.
15:46It helps businesses.
15:47It helps things move.
15:48And I'm proud that because of this, that Point Blank Enterprises is a leading manufacturer of body armor and protective solutions for law enforcement and military personnel, that they are going to expand into this new facility.
16:04So you think about things that you manufacture.
16:07These are things that save the lives of our law enforcement personnel, particularly when they have to go in very dicey situations.
16:16And we've had instances, probably more than I can count since I've been governor, where you'll have law enforcement get shot and this protection is the difference between having a fatality and not.
16:29And so I appreciate what they're doing.
16:31It's really, really important.
16:33I think was mentioned you're looking at over $60,000 for the average employee in salaries and benefits.
16:41That's something that is meaningful.
16:44Obviously, we would love to see inflation go back to zero so that people aren't losing ground.
16:51And I know it's been rough over the last four years, in particular, as people have seen prices go up.
16:57So hopefully we'll look for some stability there.
17:00I know in Florida, people have seen it happen because you have, I mean, how much money has the Fed printed?
17:07How much has Congress borrowed and spent?
17:08You know, there is going to be ramifications from this.
17:11You can't just, there's not a free lunch.
17:14And hopefully we'll be able to see that get under control.
17:16But I'm excited here for Point Blank.
17:19I think this is a great announcement for Wakulla County.
17:22And I'm just proud as governor.
17:25You can be governor when you have 23 plus million people.
17:28And you could spend your entire time focused on South Florida, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville.
17:37You can be governor and get reelected even without ever even visiting any of our rural communities.
17:44Like the math, you can do that.
17:46And that's what some people have done.
17:47I was the first governor that had done public events in my first term in all 67 Florida counties.
17:54And when we're doing public events, it's not just me stopping by, you know, to have lunch somewhere.
18:00Although I will say, you know, we've got some good stuff in our rural communities.
18:03And we may have done that a time or two as well.
18:06But it's showing up with announcements and initiatives that are moving the ball forward for rural Florida.
18:14I know that Corey is very much in tune with this given so much of his district.
18:19I mean, he's kind of got the heart of Tallahassee.
18:21And then he's got rural pretty much other than that.
18:24And I know he's been a big champion for rural Florida.
18:26Ben Albritt, the president of the Florida Senate, has been a big champion for rural Florida.
18:31So I think that, first of all, I just, I did all those events and we continue to do, we continue to support because it's the right thing to do.
18:39As you get elected, you've got to represent the whole state.
18:41You can't just pick and choose.
18:42But I also see the potential.
18:44I think you're going to continue to see some really good stuff.
18:47And this is an announcement that really proves that point where results are being put forward.
18:54And that's what it's all about, producing results for people.
18:56So I appreciate you guys, your investment in this.
19:01The state, we're happy to have played an important part in this.
19:05And I'm really looking forward to point blank and everything that's going to happen with this potentially really game-changing facility.
19:13So thank you all.
19:13God bless.
19:14And I'll be back soon.
19:15See you later.