On Tuesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) announced that he was working to solve President Biden’s supply chain crisis by creating incentive packages to push companies to abandon overwhelmed ports in Democrat states and use Florida’s ports instead.
DeSantis made the announcement during a press conference at the Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT).
“At the event, JAXPORT announced that they will be offering incentives to any company that chooses to bring its business to the port, freeing up backlogs at other ports while ensuring Americans are able to receive the goods they order faster,” the governor’s office said in a press release. “Governor DeSantis was able to make the announcement that Florida Seaports are able to meet demand because Florida has continuously invested in its seaports.”
“Year after year we continue to invest in our seaports, in infrastructure and in workforce education to make sure our supply chain is resilient,” DeSantis said at the event. “I’m especially proud of Florida’s seaports. They are crown jewels in our state. While other U.S. ports are just now announcing around-the-clock operations, in Florida many of our ports are used to serving Florida farmers, families and businesses with 24 hour operations. As the rest of the nation faces rampant inflation and businesses stare down unprecedented supply chain problems, our message is this: Florida is here, we have capacity, we have incentive packages to help businesses who want to move here and we are going to make sure Americans get their Christmas Gifts this season.”
According to the press release, Florida has invested almost $1 billion into its ports since 2019 “to ensure there is capacity to serve as much cargo as possible.” The Florida Department of Transportation is set to invest an additional $200 million into infrastructure improvements over the coming years to “ensure there are no significant logjams or freight movement delays.”
“The Governor has displayed tremendous leadership in continuing to recognize the value our seaports provide in meeting the mission of safely moving goods throughout the region,” said Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Kevin J. Thibault, P.E. “The partnership we have with our deepwater seaports uniquely positions Florida to be that much needed destination to get goods to market and overcome the delays seen at other locations.”
