French-American Chamber of Commerce, Florida Miami
The Central Florida belt
Building here, without doing it alone
Between Tampa, Orlando and the Space Coast, founders connected to the French-speaking world, by language, by family or by business, introduce each other rather than search a directory. A network, a free and claimable directory, and practical guides.
Start with setting up Explore the region
- 13
- Cities covered
- 6
- Sectors identified
- 18
- Practical guides
Where are you?
The corridor in figures
After Quebec, Florida is home to North America’s second largest French-speaking community. The Tampa–Orlando–Space Coast corridor holds a share of it that nobody records.
- 103K
- Floridians speak French at home
- 13
- Cities on the corridor
- 6
- Sectors covered
- 18
- Practical guides
SelectFlorida, 2026
Economic development
What Central Florida offers, and what it demands
Six million people coast to coast, simulation, space, aviation and health. Four entries, each sourced or saying what it still lacks.
Membership
Founder to founder
When I landed in Orlando after sixteen years in Montreal, I had fifteen years of entrepreneurship behind me, and not a single useful number in my phone.
Everything had to be rebuilt, in order: the legal entity, the tax structure, the banking, the insurance, the first clients. But what I missed most wasn’t on any form. It was people. Executives who had already been through those steps, who could tell you what works, what it really costs, and what you should never have to learn twice.
That is the ambition behind the French Executive Network: to bring together French-speaking executives across Central Florida, not as a directory, but as peers. And to speak plainly about what actually concerns us: raising capital, SOC 2 certification, cybersecurity, U.S. tax structuring, artificial intelligence, and the rarely linear path from an idea to a company.
What I wish I had found when I arrived, we are building together.
The network’s sectors
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Tech & artificial intelligence
Software, data, applied AI, simulation. The most accessible sector for an arriving founder, little capital, few licenses, and the one where local competition is fiercest.
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Cybersecurity & defense
Systems security, defense subcontracting, military simulation. Orlando concentrates a significant share of the simulation industry; market access requires clearances that take a long time to prepare.
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Biotech, pharma & health
Clinical research, medical devices, life sciences. A long-cycle, heavily regulated sector where market entry is prepared years ahead and university partnerships matter as much as capital.
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Aerospace & aviation
From the Space Coast to Sanford: launch, subcontracting, maintenance, training. The region’s most international ecosystem, and the one where several French groups already operate.
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Engineering & industry
Design offices, manufacturing, automation, industrial logistics. The I-4 corridor is its backbone, and demand for qualified engineers outstrips local supply.
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Finance, tax & business services
Consulting, accounting, legal, insurance, recruitment. The sector that serves all the others, and the first a French-speaking entrepreneur needs on arrival, in their own language.
Our region
Orlando at the center, Tampa and the Space Coast at either end: a coast-to-coast belt shaped by the I-4 highway corridor. French Executive Network covers this perimeter and not the whole state, South Florida is already served by established organizations.
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Orlando
Heart of the network. Software, artificial intelligence, simulation and defense, life sciences, business services.
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Tampa
Western anchor of the I-4 corridor and the belt’s largest metropolitan area. Port, finance, business services, cybersecurity and healthcare.
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Melbourne
South Space Coast. Defense, embedded electronics, research and development.
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Lakeland
Heart of the I-4 corridor. Distribution, light industry, business aviation and maintenance.
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Sanford
International airport. Aviation, aircraft maintenance, training and logistics.
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Cocoa · Space Coast
Atlantic coast. Aerospace, launch subcontracting, engineering and industrial cybersecurity.
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Kissimmee
South of Orlando. Business services, logistics and corridor subcontracting.
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Winter Park
North-east of Orlando. Consulting, finance, legal services and software startups.
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Sarasota
Gulf coast. Life sciences, consulting and financial services; a growing medical research cluster.
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Bradenton
Neighboring Sarasota. Manufacturing, port logistics and industrial subcontracting.
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Naples
Gulf coast, Collier County. Health, real estate, hospitality and personal services.
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Jacksonville
Northeast of the state, on the St. Johns River. Port and logistics, financial services, health.
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Daytona Beach
Atlantic coast, north of the Space Coast. Aviation and training, motorsport, tourism.
Our programs
01
Les Premiers Pas
Thirty days of mentoring on arrival, by a member already settled here. Free, with nothing expected in return and no billed service: this is mutual aid, not consulting.
02
Le Groupe des dirigeants
Quarterly gatherings for business owners and freelancers, by invitation. A closed format with no outside speaker, so that the hard subjects can actually be raised.
03
Les Jeudis du réseau
One Thursday a month, one hour, one practical subject covered by someone who has lived it. Open to every French speaker in the region, member or not.
French speakers in Florida
After Quebec, Florida is home to North America’s second largest French-speaking community. Canada is the state’s second largest foreign investor, ahead of France.
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300+
Canadian-owned companies in Florida
across more than 500 branch locations.
-
54,000
jobs supported by Canadian-owned affiliates
more than 15% of all foreign-investment employment in the state.
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$11.1bn
in Florida–Canada merchandise trade (2022)
$5.3bn of exports, Florida’s 2nd market, and $5.8bn of imports.
-
2nd
largest foreign direct investor in Florida (2020)
$14.5bn in gross property, plant and equipment.
Source: SelectFlorida, Canada
These figures cover the whole of Florida and, unless stated otherwise, foreign-owned companies. They measure neither French Executive Network’s audience nor the number of French-speaking businesses in Central Florida.
The French-speaking ecosystem
Florida’s French-speaking economy does not fit inside one organization. An accredited chamber of commerce, a labeled French Tech community, a network of skilled trades, schools, alliances: each has its own trade and its own ground. French Executive Network names them, says what they do in their own words, and sends you to them, because an association that claims to cover everything covers nothing.
- French-American Chamber of Commerce, Florida Miami
-
CCI France International Paris -
La French Tech Miami Miami -
FAACT Florida North Miami Beach -
FRAMCO Tampa -
FABCO Orlando -
Consulat général de France à Miami Miami -
Alliance Française de Sarasota Sarasota -
Alliance Française d’Orlando Orlando -
Les Samedis Français Orlando, Melbourne -
Gustave Eiffel Academy St. Petersburg -
French American School of Tampa Bay St. Petersburg
Frequently asked
I am in France. Where do I start?
By settling your status before your company. That is the order founders most often invert, and catching up always costs more than anticipating.
Do you have to be French to join?
No. Membership is open to every French speaker, Belgian, Swiss, Canadian, Québécois, Luxembourgish, Moroccan, French-speaking African, and francophiles.
Does French Executive Network recommend firms?
Yes, it is the core of membership: we introduce you by name to the French-speaking accountants, lawyers and tax advisers of the network. Nobody is recommended because they pay.
Why Central Florida and not Miami?
Because Miami has been served since 1983, and the Tampa–Orlando–Space Coast corridor is served by nobody.
Newsletter
Hear about gatherings before they fill up
Dates along the corridor, new practical guides, and what the network learns along the way. A letter when there is something to say, never to fill space.
No reselling, no tracking. One word is enough to stop receiving it. How your data is handled.
Membership
Open to every French speaker in Central Florida
Membership opens the network, the events and the content. It promises no commercial outcome, and it gates nothing: listing a business in the directory is free, and will stay free.
See what it brings