FLORIDA RETAIL FOUNDATION, INC.
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA

In the 1930s, a wave of anti-business legislation swept through Florida, culminating in a 1935 law that created one of the most discriminatory business taxes in the nation. In that year, the Florida Legislature levied an occupational tax on retailers ranging from a $10 license fee plus a half-percent tax on gross receipts for a single store, up to a $400 license fee and 5 percent tax on gross receipts for chain stores. A small group of dedicated businessmen rose to the challenge of fighting this injustice. In 1937 the Florida Chain Store Association, which would eventually become the Florida Retail Federation, was born. In the decades since then, the Florida Retail Federation has grown into a statewide organization universally recognized as The Voice of Florida Retailing. We can help. OrdinanceWatch is formed. This unique web-based service detects, tracks and reports on proposed local government ordinances in all of Florida’s 67 counties and its 105 largest municipalities. OrdinanceWatch is a Florida Retail Federation member service. www.ordinancewatch.com Florida Bankcard Solutions is added to FRF’s portfolio of services. This service helps retailers throughout the state to save money on processing credit card transactions and maximizing their savings and profit potential. Florida Bankcard Solutions is a service of Florida Retail Federation Services, Inc. One of FRF’s newest members is the Islamorada Beer Company (IBC), headquartered in the Florida Keys and cofounded by Jose Herrera and Tyrone Bradley. The mission of Islamorada Beer Company is to expand the craft beer fan base through their island lifestyle branding and marketing, while maintaining the quality and attention to detail in their products that has been the back bone of the craft beer revolution. After conceiving of the idea for IBC while on a fishing trip to Bimini, Jose and Tyrone decided to follow their dreams and opened the original store in Islamorada in October 2014. Ever since, it’s been a must-see destination for everyone visiting the Keys. It is locally owned & operated and the owners are proud to be the first to kick off the local craft beer market in the Florida Keys. In fact, they are the number one top selling craft beer throughout the islands. IBC recently announced they expanded their operations into a new facility located in Fort Pierce. This new location will increase production by 75,000 barrels per year and includes canning and bottling lines, which makes IBC one of the few breweries in the state to do both. The new facility will also have a taproom for customers to enjoy. For more information on Islamorada Beer Company, please visit Florida Business Community Celebrates Victory in Minimum Wage Lawsuit Appeal The 3rd District Court of Appeals ruled today in favor of three of Florida’s major business associations – Florida Retail Federation, Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association and the Florida Chamber of Commerce – who filed a lawsuit challenging a minimum wage ordinance passed by City of Miami Beach This diverse and comprehensive agenda - which was created based solely on feedback from our members and voted on at our Fall Retail Summit - highlights the issues that our influential Governmental Affairs Team will be focusing on this upcoming session in supporting the needs of retail businesses in Florida and ensuring they remain successful. A new survey conducted for NRF shows small retailers have nearly caught up with large merchants in making the switch to chip-and-signature credit cards — even though virtually half say the cards would be more secure if easy-to-forge signatures were replaced with a secret personal identification number. A new study (PDF) from Texas-based digital savings company RetailMeNot, Inc., finds almost half (47 percent) of small business retailers struggle to keep up with the latest trends in mobile marketing.