Washington – Globally engaged U.S. companies are an engine for growth in Florida, accounting for 49 percent of the state’s private-sector economic output and 45 percent of its private-sector jobs in 2011. Florida’s economy includes 1,029 U.S. companies that operate internationally, competing in global markets on a daily basis for capital and customers. Business Roundtable highlights these and other important facts about the benefits of globally engaged U.S. companies to Florida’s economy in a new state-by-state analysis.

“Globally engaged U.S. companies are a powerful engine for economic growth, supporting jobs and creating economic opportunity all across the United States,” said Business Roundtable President John Engler. “A more competitive U.S. tax system would help maximize the positive economic benefits of these businesses in Florida and all 50 states.”

Drawing from new Business Roundtable research and U.S. government data, the facts and figures highlighted in the Florida state analysis provide in-depth details on the benefits provided by U.S. businesses that operate internationally. In Florida, globally engaged U.S. companies:

• Added $312 billion to Florida’s private-sector economy in 2011;
• Directly or indirectly supported 3.9 million private-sector jobs; and
• Paid an average of $58,339 per job in wages, salaries and benefits.

Globally engaged U.S. companies operate in a highly competitive global marketplace in which differences in national tax systems can be a decisive factor in where companies choose to invest. A more competitive U.S. corporate tax system can help sustain and expand the critical contributions that these companies make to Florida’s state economy, local communities and working families.

Approximately 26 percent of globally engaged U.S. companies are classified by the U.S. government as small businesses. Globally engaged U.S. companies – both large and small – provide significant business to thousands of domestic suppliers, purchasing more than $8 trillion in goods and services each year. They create growth and jobs in small- and medium-sized U.S. companies that are part of their global supply networks. For example, the typical globally engaged U.S. company buys more than $3 billion in goods and services from more than 6,000 American small businesses, which represents over 24 percent of its total input purchases.

To promote comprehensive tax reform, Business Roundtable launched earlier this year The Campaign for Home Court Advantage, a campaign that calls on Congress and the Administration to modernize and simplify the U.S. tax code by adopting a competitive corporate tax rate comparable to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) average and transitioning to a territorial tax system similar to those of other developed countries.

Click here to read the Florida state study.

Click here to view all state studies.

Click here to read the national report, Economic Impacts of Globally Engaged U.S. Companies.

Click here to view Business Roundtable’s tax modernization plan, Comprehensive Tax Reform – The Time Is Now.