By Ashley Portero – Senior Reporter, South Florida Business Journal

Mar 6, 2025

HIGHLIGHTS

• South Florida's manufacturing sector employs 100,000 people in 6,000 businesses.
• The industry has contributed $9.4 billion to South Florida's GDP since 2014.
• High-tech manufacturing jobs often offer average salaries of $70,000.

One of South Florida’s best-kept secrets may be its manufacturing sector.

With over 6,000 manufacturing businesses employing 100,000 people, the industry is proving to be a major economic driver in the tri-county area.

The companies – which produce everything from airplane parts to medical devices to food and beverage products – have contributed about $9.4 billion to South Florida's gross domestic product since 2014.

Aviation, aerospace and pharmaceutical manufacturers especially have relocated to the region in recent years, drawn to its business-friendly policies and labor pool. Jobs in high-tech manufacturing often come with an average salary of $70,000, a big attraction for economic development leaders who want to bring higher-paying careers to the region.

Statewide, the fast-growing sector has the potential to have a greater economic impact than even the tourism, agriculture or transportation industries, according to Florida Commerce.

“This isn’t some wannabe initiative; it’s already happening. Manufacturing is on the rise here,” said Kevin Carr, CEO of Florida Makes, a statewide organization that advocates for the industry. “Now we have to believe we can be a manufacturing state and rebrand so the world knows it."

Why manufacture in Florida?

Manufacturing isn’t a new industry to Florida.

Aerospace and electronics businesses began opening facilities in locations including the Space Coast and South Florida in the 1950s and 1960s, a time when the state began to encourage more industrial growth.

Those efforts were renewed over the last decade. Organizations such as Florida Makes and the South Florida Manufacturers Association have doubled down on initiatives to support small and medium companies, and recruit advanced manufacturers that incorporate the use of robotics, biotechnology and other technologies.

There’s been some payoff. Florida’s manufacturing output has increased from $43.5 billion in 2014 to $73 billion in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available. That’s a 68% growth rate over nine years. More than 424,000 Florida residents now work in the sector, putting the state among the top 10 in the U.S. for manufacturing employment.

And the businesses keep coming.

Texas-based ATI recently opened a new 132,000-square-foot additive manufacturing hub in Margate to make engine parts and other components for aerospace and aviation enterprises. South Florida’s proximity to the Space Coast, where major companies such as Lockheed Martin and Blue Origin have a presence, were all attractions for the publicly traded firm.

The region’s existing aerospace and aviation maintenance sector – and its talent pool – was also a draw, said Joe Thompson, general manager for additive parts at ATI.

“There is a lot of talent in South Florida who have experience working on highly engineered products,” he said.

Others, such as prescription medicine maker SKNV, are relocating to the tri-county area for its business-friendly environment. In November, it opened a 37,500-square-foot facility and headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, where it will hire 100 people.

SKNV previously had operations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, CEO Spencer Malkin said. After he moved to South Florida in 2011, he began to think about bringing the business with him.

“When I came here, so many people – even local politicians – were welcoming and helped us navigate everything from building permits to introductions,” Malkin said. “In the Northeast, none of the leaders seemed to care that I was trying to build a business and hire people.”

Obstacles for small businesses

Despite its growth and diversity, the manufacturing sector isn’t without challenges.

Smaller businesses are grappling with rising expenses tied to property taxes, rent and cost of living that make it difficult to operate here. That’s a concern for industry advocates, since about three-quarters of South Florida manufacturers are local ventures with fewer than 25 employees.

“The economic environment is challenging from a multitude of standpoints,” South Florida Manufacturers Association President Matthew Rocco said.

Soaring real estate prices, in particular, are problematic for companies that want to expand into larger locations. Insurance is also a huge cost.

Transportation infrastructure is another problem for local food and beverage production, one of the region’s largest manufacturing verticals. Most of those items must be transported by truck or rail, and the routes aren’t always convenient.

“Shipping is expensive because we’re so far down south, and we don’t fall on major freight lines going east to west or north to south,” said Susan Cartiglia, owner of Miami-based Radiate Kombucha. “It takes eight to 10 hours just to get out of Florida.”

The company makes and cans its organic, locally sourced fermented tea at its Allapattah production facility, where it has 10 employees.

Cartiglia said she expects Radiate Kombucha will eventually have to relocate or open another facility outside of Florida to cut down on shipping expenses.

Access to new technology, especially expensive digital and automation tools, is also a barrier for small and medium businesses, according to a Florida Commerce report. But the businesses will need those tools to stay competitive in a 21st century market.

“The path forward calls for strategic collaboration among the state’s manufacturing stakeholders,” the report said.

And then there are tariffs.

While the Trump administration’s tariffs on imported raw materials and other goods that manufacturers need is a cause for concern, many businesses are unsure of what the evolving policies could mean for their operations.

“We just don’t know where it’s going to land yet,” Rocco said. “It’s a topic to monitor, but it’s not a three-alarm fire.”

Rebranding South Florida's manufacturing sector

Yet, despite the abundance of manufacturing businesses in South Florida, many people aren't aware of the sector's growth.

It's why economic development leaders are eager to rebrand the Miami metropolitan area as a manufacturing hub, so companies recognize South Florida as a legitimate place to make their products. They also want locals – especially young people – to know they can pursue careers in the field, and that those careers probably don’t look like anything they may have imagined.

“I think there’s a perception that manufacturing is like a dirty, greasy, on-the-line, old-man job – but it’s far from that,” Rocco said. 

High-tech skills are in demand from businesses making items such as aerospace parts, medical devices and pharmaceuticals.

In addition to machine operators, SKNV is hiring chemists, pharmacists and microbiologists to help produce its custom prescription skin care medications, which it supplies directly to dermatologists. ATI uses 3D printers to make everything from rocket nozzles to parts for hypersonic missiles from metal powders. It even has a two-story-tall 3D printer on-site capable of printing metal parts up to 5 feet tall.

It currently has 20 employees, with plans to double that number by 2030.

Advocacy groups are focused on raising awareness so students understand that manufacturing is a viable career path – and one that can be lucrative. Many of those jobs also pay above-average wages without the need for traditional four-year college degrees.

Groups such as the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance work with local high schools and colleges to create training programs and bring students directly to manufacturing businesses to observe their operations.

The Alliance, Broward County’s economic development partner, said growing the manufacturing sector is essential to attract and retain more high-wage jobs. But to do that, leaders need to prove that they will have the workforce businesses need to be successful.

“Companies don’t follow aspiration. You have to prove that there is a talent pipeline they can rely on,” Alliance President and CEO Bob Swindell said. “If you can check those boxes, you can be successful.”

 

 

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