OEV
Newsletter 

December 20, 2024

Reflecting on a Successful 2024 and Looking Ahead to 2025

As 2024 comes to a close, the Office of Economic Vitality (OEV) is grateful for another incredible year of achievements fueled by collaboration and community support. Together, we celebrated several milestones:

During 2024, we witnessed another successful execution of the Leon Works Expo and North Florida Worlds of Work, designed to educate students across the region on our community's various skilled career options and opportunities.

Looking ahead to 2025, we’re thrilled to bring the Motor, Drive Systems & Magnetics Conference (MDSM) to Tallahassee-Leon County for the first time, welcoming global innovators and industry leaders. 

Additionally, the OEV Team is eager to pursue over a dozen active project leads in 2025 and our Minority, Women, and Small Business Enterprise Division is poised to leverage more than $500 million of capital improvement projects into subcontracting opportunities with our certified firms. 

Thank you for being an essential part of our journey. Your support drives our mission to create opportunities and economic vitality for all. Here’s to building on this momentum and achieving even greater milestones together in 2025!

Warm wishes for a joyful holiday season and a prosperous New Year!

— Office of Economic Vitality Team

Join IGNITE Tallahassee as a Mentor to Shape Our Startup Community

Help guide technology startups on their journey, share your expertise and become part of a vibrant community driving innovation! 🚀

IGNITE Tallahassee is looking for individuals who have the following expertise:

Ready to make a difference? Contact IGNITE Tallahassee today! 

Florida Ranks 4th in 2025 State Tax Competitiveness Index 

The State Tax Competitiveness Index produced by the Tax Foundation compares each state on more than 150 variables in the five major areas of taxation (corporate taxes, individual income taxes, sales and excise taxes, property and wealth taxes, and unemployment insurance taxes) and then adds the results to yield a final, overall ranking. This approach rewards states on particularly strong aspects of their tax systems (or penalizes them on particularly weak aspects), while measuring the general competitiveness of their overall tax systems. The result is a score that can be compared to other states’ scores.

Driving Innovation: FSU and FAMU Reach $480M in R&D Expenditures in 2023

Total R&D expenditures at FSU and FAMU came to nearly $480 million in 2023, according to the National Science Foundation, with FSU accounting for 86% and FAMU 14%.  Federally financed R&D accounted for about 50% of total R&D expenditures at FSU and FAMU. Between 2019 and 2023, federally financed R&D expenditures at FSU and FAMU averaged around $204.5 million per year, with the National Science Foundation accounting for an average of 32% of the total; Health and Human Services, 24%. Total R&D expenditures increased by an average of 7.5% per year during 2019-2023.

Source: National Science Foundation, Higher Education Research and Development Survey (HERD)

Notable News

FSU’s College of Nursing launches nation’s first AI in health care master’s nursing program

Kimi Wilcoxon 
FSU News

Job gains: Tallahassee Metro Area adds 1,000+ jobs from July to September

Kendall Brandt
WTXL

Agriculture Department breaks ground on new $208 million Tallahassee lab, office complex

James Call
Tallahassee Democrat

Upcoming Opportunities
from Our Partners

Motor, Drive Systems & Magnetics Conference (MDSM)

The Motor, Drive Systems & Magnetics Conference (MDSM) will be hosted from February 18–20, 2025, at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center. This prestigious event brings together over 400 industry leaders, innovators, and decision-makers from around the globe to discuss advancements in magnetics, motor design, drive systems, and motion control technologies. With a focus on industries ranging from automotive and renewable energy to healthcare and electronics, MDSM has a proven track record of attracting world-renowned companies such as Apple, Google, Samsung, Toyota, and Amazon.

Read Past Issues of the OEV Newsletter Online!

Delve into past issues of the OEV Newsletter to catch up on updates, insights, economic development initiatives, programs, and opportunities in Tallahassee-Leon County!