The Marine Industries Association of South Florida received the 2017 Economic Development Partner of the Year award from the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance at its mid-year luncheon on Monday.
The MIASF is the largest marine trade organization in the Southeast and is dedicated to promoting, protecting and growing 110,000 jobs in Broward County and 136,000 jobs regionally in marine businesses.
Since 1961, the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show has evolved under the MIASF’s ownership into an event that hosts more than 100,000 visitors from more than 52 countries.
The MIASF also collaborates with the alliance, hosting the annual International Marine Hub Luncheon during FLIBS, and it has partnered with the alliance to establish South Florida as a global marine research hub.
The luncheon hosted nearly 600 members and guests at the Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six in Fort Lauderdale. Alliance president Bob Swindell and chairman Bill White, co-founder and principal of Compass Office Solutions, said Alliance-assisted companies invested nearly $207 million in the first two quarters of the Alliance’s fiscal year in Broward County. A total of 1,075 jobs were created and 1,688 positions were retained.
The keynote speaker was Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Adam Putnam, who declared his candidacy for governor this week.
