Economic Development
Darlene Swaffar Congressional Candidate (R) District 22 in South FL
A forgotten focus for Broward and Palm Beach County, Florida
By Darlene Swaffar, GOP Candidate for Congress FL District 22
About 3 years ago, I left my Insurance Agent position at Humana to start my own company, Sunshine Insurance Associates. I applied for and became a Certified Woman and Hispanic owned business. The next focus was to find a retail property and the first place I contacted was the City of Deerfield Beach. There were no programs for start-ups or certified own companies. Zero help and Zero focus on helping companies start a business here. The same is true with a lack of focus of attracting companies to do business in Broward and Palm Beach Counties.
We have a cyclical economy. When snowbirds go up North, it slows down significantly between May through September. This hurts local businesses such as nail and hair salons, restaurants, movie theaters hotels, and local attractions. Many start ups cannot survive through these months especially in their initial 1-3 years of business. The critical time whether a business can make it or not is in their first 3 years. I see it happen all the time. A great restaurant opens, a year later they are closed.
I see Commercial Retail Space throughout my community that has been empty for a year or two. This would not happen if we did a better job of stabilizing our economy. We have all the assets that can create an amazing proposal. We offer:
- Beautiful year-round weather
- No State Taxes
- Ample Commercial space available for Lease or Purchase
- A highly qualified, educated, diversified workforce that is also multilingual
- An Airport in each County
- Cruise ports
- Performing Arts Theaters
- Amazing Restaurants and local businesses
- All major sports
My questions is: Why haven’t our elected officials done their part to attract companies to do business here? Instead we have elected officials like AOC, with no business background, turning companies away from doing business in their state. That is no different than doing absolutely nothing to attract companies. I put it up there in the same category.
We need to build a Consortium which includes the Economic Development Council, all Mayors, Universities, Staffing Firms, Commercial Realtors, and Tourism Boards to come up with a plan. We need higher paying jobs that will bring year-round residents.
Over 20 years ago, when I served as the Executive Director of the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce, I sat in many planning sessions in Miami. You see, Miami has their act together. They have a strong year-round economy. We need to replicate that here in Broward and Palm Beach and I am ready to make that happen.
My name is Darlene Swaffar and I am running for Congress for FL District 22. As a successful businesswoman with a Medicare Insurance Brokerage Company, my expertise is in Health Insurance, Economic Development and Accounting and Finance. These are critical issues facing our Country and South Florida.
Donor Page: https://secure.winred.com/darleneswaffar/donate
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.swaffarforcongress.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/swaffarcongress
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/swaffar4congress
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swaffar4congress
The New Movement: www.thenewmovement.org/florida.html
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