1. FLORIDA: THE
GATEWAY TO
LATIN
AMERICA
Mary Risner
UF Center for Latin American
Studies
UF Center for International
Business Education and Research
(CIBER)
2011 SBEA/FTBEA
Orlando, FL

2. Objectives/Overview
 Highlight importance of international trade in
Florida, specifically with Latin America.
 Suggest ways to connect Florida international
business to the classroom.

3. Is Having a Global Mindset as Important as
Technical Skills in Today’s Economy?
 Jeff Joerres, chairman, CEO, and president of
Manpower Inc., another panelist at the summit, said
that companies, “are all stewards of global capital,”
and that this lack of globally-minded employees is a
social-skill issue that needs to be addressed.
 Earlier this month, another executive from Manpower
Inc. was quoted in a New York Times article as saying
that although their clients can find workers with
technical skills, those candidates “don’t have a global
mindset or can’t work with people in different
cultures.”
http://blog.nafsa.org/2011/07/28/is-having-a-global/

4. At the Center of 21st Century Skills
Interdisciplinary Empathy
Connections
Digital Competence
Technical/Subject
Area Expertise
Foreign Languages

5. Florida & Trade
Extensive multi-modal transportation systems:
 International airports
 Deep-water shipping ports
 Extensive highway and rail network
 Two of only eight commercially licensed
spaceports in the U.S.

6. Florida & International Business
 300 regional and hemispheric headquarters of
companies from all over the world
 Diplomatic hub with a Consular Corps
representing some 80 nations.
 Florida is 8th among all U.S. states in foreign
direct investment,
 6th in employment by them
 1,500 foreign-affiliated companies operate in
Florida from about 2,400 individual locations
around the state.
*Source Enterprise Florida

7. Florida’s Top Trade Partners

8. Proximity to Latin America

9. Brazil = Florida’s #1 Trading
Partner

10. Brazil in Florida
Brazilians spending big money,
time in Florida
http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/morning_call/
2011/07/brazilians-spend-big-money-time-
in.html?ana=twt
Embraer in Melbourne
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20111002/BUS
INESS/310020004/The-Embraer-
Effect?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Business
Florida Keeps Close Eye on
Booming Brazil
http://www.florida.statenews.net/story.php?rid
=42504004

11. Top 15 U.S. Trading Partners in 2010
(In Billions of US Dollars)
Percent of
Rank Country Exports Imports Total Trade
Total Trade
1 Canada 248.8 276.5 525.3 16.5
2 China 91.9 364.9 456.8 14.3
3 Mexico 163.3 229.7 393.0 12.3
4 Japan 60.5 120.3 180.9 5.7
5 Germany 48.2 82.7 130.9 4.1
6 United Kingdom 48.5 49.8 98.3 3.1
7 Korea, South 38.8 48.9 87.7 2.7
8 France 27.0 38.6 65.6 2.1
9 Taiwan 26.0 35.9 61.9 1.9
10 Brazil 35.4 23.9 59.3 1.9
11 Netherlands 35.0 19.0 54.0 1.7
12 India 19.2 29.5 48.8 1.5
13 Singapore 29.1 17.5 46.6 1.5
14 Venezuela 10.7 32.8 43.4 1.4
15 Saudi Arabia 11.6 31.4 43.0 1.3
Source: U.S. Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/highlights/top/top1012yr.html)

12. The Languages of Business

13. Class Activities
Guest speakers from:
 Bi-national chambers
 Ports (Jax, Tampa, Miami, Canaveral)
 Enterprise Florida
 Business faculty- FIU/UF CIBERs, other
nearby colleges or universities
Read and Discuss Brazil Case Studies, China
Case Studies

14. Student Activities
 Present country profiles
 Market a US product to selected country
 Research international firms in Florida
 Create class wikis to present projects by
teams
 Have students interview business person they
know, follow business person on Twitter or on
a blog

15. Resources
 www.eflorida.com
Florida trade statistics, Country profiles,
Import/export products
 http://noble.org/resources/
IB Lesson plans, useful links
 www.latam.ufl.edu/outreach
Traveling suitcases/DVDs
 www.floridabrazilbusiness.wikispaces.com
 www.retailinginbrazil.wikispaces.com
Brazil Business Wiki Series

17. Contact
Mary Risner
mrisner@latam.ufl.edu
Twitter
@langforcareers