Environment

Florida's weather is a main attraction for business, except for one aspect - climate hazards. In 2004, hurricanes destroyed 35,000m² of Piper's premises in Vero Beach. Scarcely had the repairs started when another hurricane hit. Piper had enough warning to fly aircraft out and move uncompleted ones into a concrete bunker (a legacy of its days as a naval air station). Aeronautical university Embry-Riddle was not so lucky in December 2006. Its Daytona Beach flight school was devastated by a tornado which "touched down at the flight line", destroying 40 of its 65-aircraft training fleet. The result is that insuring property against storm damage is a serious cost for Florida businesses - a fact which Piper's suitors in the hurricane-free Midwest and South-West are no doubt keen to remind the company.