Dear Fellow Floridian:

Over the past 18 months, I have had the opportunity to meet with many small business owners and their employees across our state. Despite the struggles of the past few years, these Floridians have displayed resilience in the face of a Goliath of economic challenges. On Monday, let us remember what Labor Day is really about: celebrating the American principle of hard work that helps strengthen our economy and cultivates innovation and progress.

This morning, just as every morning, approximately 2.2 million businesses across our state unlocked their doors to serve their communities. For Florida’s small businesses, serving the community not only means providing Floridians with a service or product, it also means employing four out of five of their neighbors. Small businesses are the driving force behind employment in this state. There is no doubt our focus needs to be on cultivating these businesses so that Floridians have access to a thriving job market.

Next week, we will be gathering with small businesses from across the state at our 2012 Small Business Leadership Forum to help our business community access resources and information that will positively impact their bottom line. This isn’t just a one-way conversation. I am eager to hear from these businesses about their successes, challenges and what we can do to help their business grow and employ even more of their fellow Floridians. There is still time to sign up: www.flsmallbusinessforum.com/register.

I look forward to seeing you in Tampa!

News of Interest

Tampa Bay Times: Ocean exploration, medical technology, defense businesses examples of innovation in Tampa Bay

Florida Today: Suborbital spaceflight industry may launch new era for Brevard

Orlando Business Journal: Apple to launch iPad Mini in October

Florida Today: What Apple's $1B victory means for consumers

Orlando Business Journal: Tropical Storm Isaac sends gas prices soaring

Orlando Sentinel: Greece plans 'special economic zones' to boost growth

Florida's Bottom Line

This issue of Florida’s Bottom Line focuses on Florida’s small business community and how to provide a stable economic environment so that we can continue to help businesses flourish and expand.

The companion website features business news updates and Florida By the Numbers, a collection of key statistics illustrating important changes in Florida’s economy over the past month. The latest data is shown on topics such as consumer confidence, unemployment rate, new foreclosure activity and Florida's leading, stock and retail index graphs. Updates are made as new statistics become available.