Dan Lindblade, President & CEO, Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce

May 2026 — Invest: spoke with Dan Lindblade, president and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce, about how political shifts, economic uncertainty, and rising costs are reshaping the region’s business climate. “Our philosophy is if we can lift up and support the folks who are having a difficult time, everyone prospers,” said Lindblade.

What key changes over the past year have most impacted the chamber’s work and the Greater Fort Lauderdale business community?

Politics has changed the environment quite a bit. We’ve seen a shift from a posture that was very supportive of small business owners and job creation to one that is not as supportive as we would like, and that has real consequences on the ground. Unemployment in Broward County is around 4.1%, which means roughly 41,000 people are looking for work, and that number is rising.

At the same time, tariffs and other economic headwinds have created a lot of uncertainty. In business, uncertainty is never good; everyone wants to know what the playing field looks like and what the rules of engagement are before making long-term decisions. A recent example was our planned trip to Washington, D.C., which we postponed because a government shutdown and disputes over issues like healthcare subsidies meant many members of Congress simply weren’t in town. The audience we needed to advocate for our members just wasn’t there.

There are also concerns at the state level about proposals to eliminate or reduce certain property taxes and what that could mean for funding core local services like police, fire and other essential functions that rely heavily on ad valorem revenues coupled with rising rents and living costs. Taken together, it all contributes to a foggier “crystal ball” than we would like, and we’re working hard to bring more clarity and stability to the operating environment for our members.

As these shifts shape the chamber’s direction, which recent initiatives or developments have had the strongest effect on visibility and growth?

One of our main areas of focus has been access to capital. For a company to expand and scale, it has to be able to tap the right financial resources, and that’s not easy for everyone. We’re looking at unique ways to provide nontraditional financial services to businesses that may not have perfect credit or a polished business plan but have real potential. Our philosophy is if we can lift up and support the folks who are having a difficult time, everyone prospers. That’s a big part of how we see our role.

We’ve also been deeply involved in the deepening and widening of Port Everglades, a project we’ve been working on for nearly three decades. Once fully underway, it will translate into significant new job creation and expanded trade capacity, which is critical for our long-term competitiveness. We’ve done the research and documentation; now we’re eager to see the actual dredging and construction move forward sooner rather than later.

Another legacy initiative is a $28 billion adaptation and mitigation plan for sea level rise in Broward County. We like to say we are the “Venice of America,” and we want to stay that way — we don’t want to become the “Atlantis of America.” That means figuring out how government and private industry will each pay their fair share and acting now, before heavier rain events, flooding, and saltwater intrusion become even more disruptive. Climate resilience is economic resilience for our region.

Finally, we’re prioritizing affordable workforce housing. We’re working with the county on land use amendments to enable quicker platting and to look at reducing certain impact fees. In business, time is money, and if it takes more than a year to replat a property, projects get delayed or shelved. If we can shorten that timeline and reduce some of the cost barriers, we believe we can significantly increase our workforce housing inventory — potentially doubling or tripling what we’ve been able to deliver in the past.

How is Greater Fort Lauderdale approaching recruitment, retention, and workforce readiness, and how is the chamber helping to drive that effort?

We have a strong partnership with CareerSource Broward, which is our primary employment and workforce agency. Together, we’re leveraging incumbent worker training grants and new employee training programs so companies can reskill and upskill their people. Whether it’s AI or another emerging skill set, state and federal resources are available to help fund that training, particularly in targeted industries that are most critical to our regional economy.

A major concern for us is the gap between wages and the cost of living, especially housing. If you’re a recent college graduate making $80,000 a year with little savings, it’s extremely difficult to buy a home here. Urban-core rents start around $2,200 and go up from there, which puts homeownership out of reach for many young professionals and even mid-career talent.

My biggest fear is a flight of 22- to 33-year-olds to other markets. They get their education here, they get trained here, and then they leave because they can stretch their dollars further elsewhere. Remote work has made that even easier. So we’re working on solutions that address affordability, workforce housing, and career pathways so we can retain that talent and ensure they see a future here in Greater Fort Lauderdale.

Beyond workforce, what broader trends are currently shaping the business environment from your vantage point?

We meet quarterly with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta through our Council of Economic Advisors, and that gives us a clear read on what our businesses are experiencing. Right now, there’s a lot of caution. Companies don’t know what the Fed’s next move will be in terms of rates — whether there’s another adjustment coming and what size it might be. That uncertainty is driving behavior.

Most businesses, large and small, are essentially toeing the line. They’re not making aggressive expansion moves. If they lose an employee, they might replace that position, but they might not. Capital spending decisions are being delayed, and that’s directly tied back to the lack of clarity in the economic environment.

At the same time, those who can are passing higher costs — whether from tariffs, supply chain issues, or inflation — on to the consumer. Consumers are feeling pinched, and when you look at the leading indicators for South Florida, we’re not in a broadly positive environment. Our goal as a chamber is to help move those indicators in the right direction by advocating for policies that maximize clarity, support sustainable growth, and restore confidence among both employers and employees.

How do you collaborate with local partners, including neighborhoods, entrepreneurs, and underserved communities?

We’re very active across the community. One of our key platforms is our Social Impact Council, which brings together our nonprofit organizations. We’re the only chamber in South Florida that has a program like this, and it allows us to align business and nonprofit efforts around shared priorities like education, housing, and quality of life.

We’re also the only chamber that has a Council of Economic Advisors, which I mentioned earlier. In addition, we convene and collaborate with our sister organizations — the Alliance, the Workshop, and the other 15 chambers in Broward County. A good example is our Access to Capital conference, where we partnered with the Broward Black Chamber to survey more than 200 Black-owned businesses and better understand their experiences, both positive and negative, in accessing capital.

Community organizations have seats on many of our councils, and we work very closely with cities across the county — Deerfield Beach, Oakland Park, Wilton Manors, Fort Lauderdale, Weston, Sunrise, and others — on their economic development programming. We also convene at BIG IDEAS a tri-regional mayors conference that brings mayors together to discuss macro issues like housing, transportation, and infrastructure.

At the end of the day, there’s almost no limit to how much convening we can do. Our job is to get everyone on the same page and rowing in the same direction on the issues that matter most to our regional resilience.

Looking ahead two to three years, what are the chamber’s key goals and priorities?

One of our top priorities is increasing housing stock at price points that are truly attainable for our workforce. We can’t sustain our growth story if people who teach in our schools, work in our hospitals, or launch companies here can’t afford to live here.

We’re also entering a new chapter with the opening of the 801-key Convention Center hotel. That will allow us to host more citywide and countywide conventions. We already have a major event coming next spring with roughly 7,000 attendees. From the moment their plane’s wheels touch down to the moment they take off, we want their experience in Greater Fort Lauderdale to be the best they’ve ever had.

That means ensuring our hospitality, marine, life sciences, technology, and other key sectors are all aligned to deliver quality and innovation. We want to scale and support those businesses and their employees so that when people talk about South Florida, they see it as the place to move their business, the place to find top talent, and the place to raise a family. That’s the vision we’re working toward, and the chamber intends to be at the center of making it a reality.