Did You Know?

DID YOU KNOW?

According to the Hass Center for Business and Economic Development, defense spending in Florida comprises an estimated 7.5 percent of the state’s gross product. Northwest Florida is most heavily reliant on defense-related dollars, which represent nearly 35 percent of its economic product.

BY THE NUMBERS

30%: Northwest Florida’s share of state jobs directly or indirectly attributable to defense spending.

QUOTABLE

"There were quarantines, restrictions on moving bees, the price of honey declined drastically because of honey imports from China and Argentina … the honey market in general was very depressed. A lot of beekeepers just went out of business. Because it wasn’t economically feasible to stay in it." —Longtime beekeeper Laurence Cutts, 74, past president of the Florida State Beekeepers Association and a former apiary inspector.