The Florida Foundation

The Journal: "Florida Foundation begins work in Santa Cruz

(Infocom) — The Florida Foundation, created by the board of directors of Costa Rican beer, soft drink and food manufacturer Florida Ice & Farm Co., will begin implementing social development projects in the canton of Santa Cruz — as part of a portfolio of initiatives scheduled over the next two years and which are supported by a global budget of over $1 million.

“The board of directors of Florida has decided to create this foundation as a tool to allow us to carry out the company’s social outreach work in a more orderly and systematic, with the same strategic vision through which we carry out all of our business activities,” said Rodolfo Jimenez Borbon, president of the board directors of the holding company. “Through this foundation, we seek to promote, among other things, the education of youths and the formation of new business people, so that every day more and more Costa Ricans can participate, actively and productively, in the development of their own lives and their families.”

Jimenez Borbon added that Santa Cruz was chosen for the foundation’s initial efforts because it’s a canton with intermediate development, “so that we do there can be reproduced in many other cantons.”

The areas that will be focused during this initial stage of the foundation’s work are empowerment of education, support for small businesses (including technology and marketing), and promotion of sport activities.

Florida Ice & Farm, along with other 80 companies, is part of the Business Association for Development (AED), an entity that promotes the implementation of social responsibility and outreach programs in various communities. To develop Florida’s initiative in Santa Cruz, the company will work hand in hand with the National University (UNA), the Costa Rican-North American Cultural Center, the Youth Action Foundation, and the Omar Dengo Foundation.

The Florida Foundation will be led by former Florida Ice & Farm corporate relations director, Carlos Francisco Echeverria, whose goal is to generate and support projects with high strategic value for the social and environmental development of Costa Rica and the Central American region (the company operates well beyond Costa Rica’s borders) through the transfer of economic resources, skills and knowledge.

In the first stage of this project, the foundation will work on preventing school desertion, providing equipment and educational materials to schools, and improving the quality of teachers.

In the area of sports, the Florida Foundation will focus on high-performance youth soccer. And in terms of economic development, work will be done on fomenting a business mentality and strengthening small and medium companies — particularly in the tourism sector.

In the natural resources arena, the foundation seeks to help protect water sources and aid in environmental cleanup and recycling.

Florida Ice & Farm was established in 1908 in La Florida de Siquirres, in the Caribbean region, as an agricultural enterprise and supplier of ice to the banana ships that operated in the port of Limon during the hay days of the banana trade and the United Fruit Company.