Institutes, Centers, & Initiatives

Issue Brief: Housing Cost Burden for Florida Renters

April 28, 2023 / RERI Research Team / Tags: Issue Brief, Regional Economic Indicators, Reports

Rising rental costs have been an ongoing concern for many families across the nation. Population growth has fueled this surge in Florida, with the population in the Sunshine State growing by 1.9 percent between 2021 and 2022. The increased demand for housing has placed upward pressure on rental prices in the state, and has increased the share of total income that households have had to dedicate towards housing costs. This burden comes with significant consequences for renters, including (but not limited to) reduced disposable incomes, higher levels of debt, and greater economic inequality.

Supply Chain Forum of SWFL - Spring 2023

April 19, 2023 / Lutgert News / Tags: 2023, Center for Supply Chain Excellence, Information Systems & Operations Management, Supply Chain Management

The Supply Chain Forum of SWFL was hosted by Center for Supply Chain Excellence and co-sponsored by Project 44 and Scotlynn. The forum was well attended by over 60 SWFL industry executives, professors and students. We had two guest speakers who spoke on “Innovations in Supply Chains and Integrating Sustainability”. The forum also welcomed a panel discussion where they answered various questions on how they handled “Supply Chains – Post Pandemic”. We look forward to our next Supply Chain Forum of SWFL which will be held in Fall, 2023!

Supply Chain Organization Structures & Eponymous Roles – A Four Decade Retrospective

April 12, 2023 / Wednesday Webinar / Tag: Center for Supply Chain Excellence

Pete Russano is an Operations and Supply Chain Leader. His career spans three decades across medical, industrial and consumer product industries. He has held positions in manufacturing, sourcing, procurement, materials, logistics, 3PLs, transportation and supply chain management with organizations ranging from start-ups to multi-nationals. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the New York State University at Albany and an MBA in Operations and Strategy from the Carlson School of Management, the University of Minnesota. He is Six-Sigma Green-Belt trained and earned a CPIM-certification from ASCM (formerly APICS), the association for supply chain for supply chain management. Pete is a co-founder of the Supply Chain Forum of SWFL and serves on their Leadership Council. Pete currently serves as the Site Sourcing & Procurement Leader for Everaxis-USA in Naples, Florida.

Issue Brief: Hurricane Ian Impact on Taxable Sales

January 31, 2023 / RERI Research Team / Tags: Issue Brief, Reports

The January 2023 edition of Regional Economic Indicators reported that seasonally-adjusted taxable sales for the Southwest Florida workforce region (comprising Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry and Lee counties) increased 16 percent in October 2022 compared to October 2021. October 2022 information was of interest because it represents the first full month of data after Hurricane Ian made landfall in late September 2022. Because of the increase, a natural question arises – which types of businesses saw increased economic activity after Hurricane Ian and which saw sharp declines? In this issue brief, we take a deeper dive into how Hurricane Ian impacted taxable sales and which types of businesses contributed to this increase. The taxable sales data used in this issue brief is provided by the Florida Department of Revenue and offers a breakdown of taxable sales by the type of business (labeled as “kind codes”). For this study, two adjustments were made to the taxable sales data:

Regional Economic Indicators: January 2023 Report

January 03, 2023 / RERI Research Team / Tags: Regional Economic Indicators, Reports

The RERI has published Regional Economic Indicators for January 2023. The monthly publication represents a collection and analysis of economic indicators including airport passenger activity, taxable sales, tourist tax revenues, labor force, employment, real estate, and consumer sentiment for the Southwest Florida workforce region.

Supply Chain Law: Designing Responsible Supply Chains

December 14, 2022 / Wednesday Webinar / Tag: Center for Supply Chain Excellence

Sarah Rathke is a trial lawyer specializing in manufacturing litigation, particularly complex supply chain disputes. She has argued and tried cases on behalf of manufacturers in forums throughout the US.  Her clients include foreign, domestic, and multinational manufacturing entities. Her skills include a deep understanding of the process of bringing highly engineered products to market and conveying that understanding to judges and juries. Sarah has litigated supply chain disputes involving automotive, aerospace, food, medical, construction, and office products. She has also litigated trade secret disputes involving manufactured products and cases involving the purchase and sale of manufacturing entities.