July 27, 2026 — Southeast Florida (Gold Coast, Treasure Coast & Keys) new business activity

Southeast Florida recorded 6,132 new businesses in the week of July 6 to 12, about 1% below the same week last year and below its recent weekly average.

Property holding and asset protection companies were the largest single group, with 1,064 new businesses, or 17.4% of the week. Professional services followed with 905, or 14.8%. Personal and other services had 479, or 7.8%. Those three groups are office based and service based rather than one industry running hot, and no single group came close to dominating the week.

Below them sits the block of businesses that buy physical goods and services from their first day. Retail had 399 new businesses. Administrative and support services had 393. Construction and trades had 368, healthcare had 365, transportation and logistics had 313, and hospitality and tourism had 307. These are the openings that need space, fit out, vehicles, equipment and staffing, so they matter most to suppliers.

The activity sits in three counties. Miami-Dade recorded 3,012, Broward recorded 1,594, and Palm Beach recorded 1,186. The other five counties in the region added 340 between them. The city of Miami alone recorded 1,808, well ahead of Boca Raton at 259 and Hialeah at 256.

The jump from the week before is a return to a normal pace and not a surge. Every one of the region's 8 counties rose, and so did every industry group, which is what a short holiday week followed by a full week looks like. The steadier readings point the other way. This week came in 1.0% under the same week last year. It also landed below the 13 week average of 6,576.5. The region's running total over the last 13 weeks is 85,495, against 86,429 in the 13 weeks before that, so the longer trend is easing.

A steady slowdown over the past 13 weeks.

The bold line is the 13-week average. Read it for the longer trend. The thin line is each week's count, which swings week to week.

• 2025-26
• 2024-25
• 2023-24
• 2022-23
• 2021-22

New business formation usually runs highest around Mar and is quietest around Dec, holding near 27,500 a month across the years.

Each line is one year, ending at the current month on the right, so you can read the past year left to right. New Year's Day is left out because the state office is closed, so almost no businesses register that day.

Property Holding and Asset Protection grew the most this week, 404 more (up 61.2%). Several smaller sectors also grew.

Miami-Dade led the region this week with 3,012 new filings. Gains were broad, with 7 other counties also up from the week before.

• Construction is moving ahead on the Grand Hyatt Miami Beach, a $600 million, 17 story hotel with 800 rooms beside the Miami Beach Convention Center, due to open in late 2027. A hotel this size hires interior finish trades, commercial kitchen and laundry equipment dealers, furniture and linen suppliers, and staffing firms, and it sends steady traffic to nearby restaurants and tour operators. Miami Beach Convention Center, 2026-06-15
• Broward Health began concrete work on an eight story, 188,000 square foot medical office building with 129 exam rooms plus a 300,000 square foot garage holding close to 700 cars in Fort Lauderdale, due to finish in 2027. Work of this kind hires concrete and structural crews, elevator and HVAC installers, drywall, painting and flooring subcontractors, medical equipment dealers, and parking and janitorial vendors once it opens. Broward Health, 2026-06-24
• Fort Lauderdale approved issuing up to $333 million in bonds for its Fortify Lauderdale stormwater program, with about $330 million paying to build the first round of projects and design the next round in 12 neighborhoods. Drainage work at this scale hires underground utility contractors, pipe and pump suppliers, surveyors and engineers, traffic control crews, and paving and sod restoration companies. City of Fort Lauderdale, 2026-07-02
• Palm Beach County approved a $26,988,888 contract with Ranger Construction Industries to rebuild Runway 10L-28R at Palm Beach International Airport over 459 days. Rebuilding a runway buys asphalt and concrete, earthmoving and grading, airfield lighting and electrical work, hauling, and materials testing. Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners, 2026-07-13
• West Palm Beach approved a site plan for The Kolter Group to build 318 apartments at 5710 North Haverhill Road, with 44 of the units set aside as affordable. A project this size hires site work and framing crews, roofers, plumbers, electricians, painters and flooring installers, then landscaping, appliance suppliers and property managers. City of West Palm Beach, 2026-07-21
• Martin County's Local Planning Agency took up a revised master and final site plan for the Paradise Lake PUD, an 11 lot project on about 72 acres of undeveloped land south of SE 138th Street. Turning raw acreage into buildable lots brings work for surveyors, land clearing and grading crews, well and septic or utility installers, road builders and home builders. Martin County Local Planning Agency, 2026-07-16
• Port St. Lucie set a public hearing for July 27, 2026 on rezoning about 33.23 acres inside the Riverland community, the last undeveloped tract there, for a sports and recreation master planned development. Sports and recreation grounds need site clearing and grading, field and court builders, lighting and irrigation contractors, fencing and paving crews, and later maintenance and concession vendors. City of Port St. Lucie, 2026-07-27
• Piper Aircraft plans a two story service center at its Vero Beach campus with more than 33,000 square feet indoors, 11,000 square feet outdoors and 11 aircraft bays, breaking ground later in 2026, opening in late 2027 and adding at least 20 jobs. A hangar and service building of this kind buys steel building erection, concrete aprons, electrical and compressed air systems, tooling and parts supply, and hiring of aircraft technicians. Piper Aircraft, 2026-07-20
• The Key Largo Wastewater Treatment District is designing a $13,480,320 project for two 500,000 gallon equalization tanks and a new headworks screening system, with $6,547,280 in state money already lined up and construction planned from January 2027 to January 2029. Plant work like this buys heavy civil and concrete tank construction, process piping and pumps, electrical and controls work, odor control equipment, and geotechnical and inspection services. Key Largo Wastewater Treatment District, 2026-07-21
• A local bill signed on June 10, 2026 and effective July 1 conveys state land in Okeechobee County to the Okeechobee Utility Authority. Land moving into a utility's hands is the first step toward water and sewer construction, which buys surveying, engineering, earthwork, pipe and pump supply and site contracting. The Florida Senate, 2026-06-10

Formation is steady rather than climbing, so the opportunity this period is in the work already funded and approved rather than in a rising tide of new companies. The region added 368 construction and trades businesses and 313 in transportation and logistics, and the projects on the record give those firms somewhere to aim. A runway rebuild in Palm Beach County, a stormwater bond program across 12 Fort Lauderdale neighborhoods and a wastewater plant expansion in the Keys all need subcontractors, equipment and hauling over the next two years. The 1,064 property holding and asset protection companies formed this week are the other side of that, since land and buildings changing hands is what precedes most of this work. Suppliers, trade contractors, insurers and business services firms who reach these owners early, while the projects are still being staffed and specified, are the ones best placed here.

We count new business filings recorded with the state of Florida for the eight counties in this region, grouped by the week the filing was recorded. We wait about two weeks after a week ends for the state to finish recording all of its filings, so these counts are complete. Industry groups come from the business activity each filer reports. The developments listed here come from government records and from the announcements of the organizations involved, and each one links to the page it came from.

Frequently asked questions

Why did new business filings jump 56.4% from the week before?

The week before was the week of July 4, so it was a short working week and the count was low at 3,920. This week returned to a normal pace at 6,132. Comparing the two weeks overstates the change. The better comparisons are the same week last year, which was 6,197, and the 13 week average of 6,576.5, and both of those put this week slightly below normal.

Why is so much of the region's activity in three counties?

Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach hold most of the region's population and most of its business address space. This week they recorded 3,012, 1,594 and 1,186 new businesses. The other five counties in the region added 340 between them.

What does property holding and asset protection mean here?

It covers companies set up mainly to hold property or other assets rather than to trade day to day, which is common for real estate. There were 1,064 of them this week, 17.4% of the total. They are worth watching because a new holding company often comes before building work, a sale or a lease.