Why We Do Business in Greater Fort Lauderdale

Learn from a pair of local business leaders about why this South Florida region is a great place to succeed.

By Amy Antonation on October 10, 2023

Anthony J. Rayburn

With its location in the heart of South Florida, Greater Fort Lauderdale is as appealing to entrepreneurs searching for the right location for their businesses as it is to individuals looking for an excellent quality of life.

Basil Bernard, president (or, as he prefers, “ChairMan”) of Apricot Office Interiors, opened his business in the Fort Lauderdale area (it now has offices in Miami Gardens and a showroom in Plantation) in 1986.

Rory Cooksey, director of growth at WheelHouse IT, says the tech firm has called Fort Lauderdale home under the name 4 Corner IT since 2000; in 2015, it merged with a New York-based company under the WheelHouse umbrella, but it remains headquartered in Fort Lauderdale.

Livability chatted with Bernard and Cooksey about what it’s like to do business in Greater Fort Lauderdale.

Why did you choose to run your business in Broward County?
Bernard: Plantation is a good, strong town. There’s a good police force, and crime is quite low. There’s sustainability because there’s a decent balance of retail, warehouses and hospitality jobs.

Cooksey: It’s a lot cheaper to run the business here than it was in New York. Taxes play a role, and so does the cost of living.

What’s it like doing business in Broward County from a governmental standpoint?
Bernard: The ilk of people who would be mayor and county commissioners live and govern here, so their thought process is, “If we invest in quality housing, property values go up,” and it became the way it is, in that everything is well-built and follows the rules … It’s not the kind of town fly-by-nighters want to do business in, so you get a better building and commercial (environment) down here.

Cooksey: WheelHouse doesn’t pull a lot of permits, so we don’t find ourselves needing to work with the government much, but I know from conversations with other people that Broward County is generally very supportive of small businesses … There are tax abatements, expedited permitting, infrastructure improvements.

Has your business grown since its inception?
Bernard: By 1989, we became the No. 1 minority-owned supply distributor in the U.S. … Right before COVID, it was going pretty well for us, (and now,) we’re a little bit better than we were pre-COVID. 

Cooksey: Oh, wholeheartedly. We’ve more than doubled in size.

Why would you recommend the Fort Lauderdale area to other entrepreneurs looking to open a business?
Cooksey: It’s a strategic location in the heart of South Florida that’s also beneficial if you’re doing business in the Caribbean. And there’s a large, diverse, skilled workforce: health care, tourism, tech —  the spectrum is so broad it’s incredible. It has a pro-business attitude. I feel the quality of life helps us recruit and retain talent. We’ve had people in our New York office ask to move down here. Just come and visit — who doesn’t want to run a business a mile from the beach? It’s summer year-round!