Trade between Florida and Italy rose by 5.4% in 2019, bolstered by a rise in technological, mechanical and culinary industries doing business in the Sunshine State. Within those sectors and others is an opportunity to broaden environmental protection efforts, Italian diplomats say.

Last year, exchanges of goods and services between Italy and the US exceeded $10 billion, according to Italy’s Ambassador to the US Armando Varricchio. In support of that boom, he said in an interview here, is a surge in Italian-owned businesses located stateside that support a workforce of more than 80,000 American jobs.