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Palm Beach County courts global investment through strategic trade

 

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — Florida’s on the world stage this week, with Governor Ron DeSantis leading a major trade mission overseas. He’s attending the international Paris Air Show, one of the world’s largest events for aviation, aerospace, and tech. Traveling with him is a delegation from Palm Beach County’s Business Development Board, aiming to bring global investment back to our region. This is a chance to sell the county as a prime location for international companies looking to land in Florida.
“The business development board is taking its development team that focuses on recruiting companies to Palm Beach County,” President and CEO of Palm Beach County’s Business Development Board, Kelly Smallridge, said.
With 1,500 aviation, aerospace, and engineering companies already there, the county isn’t starting from scratch. This mission is about building on what’s already growing. “Palm Beach County has a very robust aviation, aerospace, and engineering cluster with 1,500 companies and about 20,000 jobs. So the first part of our trip is going to focus on developing interest among international aviation companies,” Smallridge said.
After the Paris Air Show, the team is set to head to Berlin to connect with life science companies, and then London to talk business expansion with a delegation coming to Florida. “To discuss a delegation coming from London to Palm Beach County, a group of business leaders out of London that may have an interest in doing business here in Florida,” Smallridge said.

While no names were shared, Smallridge confirmed they’re in talks with confidential companies considering a move to Palm Beach County. “So this provides a very rare opportunity for us to travel alongside the governor as he opens up doors specifically for aviation aerospace,” Smallridge said.

Three team members, all with over a decade of experience in recruitment, joined the mission. And with West Palm Beach’s reputation as “Wall Street South”, they’re hoping to bring even more corporate interest home.

“We have seen well over 250 Wall Street South companies make their way to Palm Beach County, so we would love to continue to promote this area as a great place for corporate headquarters and aviation aerospace or a tech company specifically,” Smallridge said.

The team’s expected to return this week, and Smallridge said she’ll be sitting down with us again to share what came out of the mission.

SOURCE: https://cbs12.com/news/local/palm-beach-county-courts-global-investment-through-strategic-trade-june-19-2025

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