Miami 2016 · MasTec 82 Interview: Vincent Signorello, President & CEO, Florida East Coast Industries 85 Transportation: 86 Better connectivity: Investments in public transit and

Miami 2016An in-depth review of the key issues facing Miami-Dade’s economy featuring the exclusive insights of prominent industry leaders

7 www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com |

Contents:

13 Economy:

14 Miami-Dade in numbers

17 Map of Miami-Dade County

19 Interview: Rick Scott, Governor, State of Florida

21 Interview: Carlos A. Gimenez, Mayor, Miami-Dade County

22 High profile: All eyes are on Miami-Dade

23 Viewpoint: Larry K. Williams, President & CEO, The Beacon Council

31 Ready, set, grow: Miami-Dade is finding a place in the international art market

34 Active citizenry: Greater civic engagement is a mark of Miami-Dade’s growing sophistication

38 Roundtable: Marcelo Giusto, Consul-General of Argentina, Louise Leger, Consul-General of Canada and Ozgur Altan, Consul-General of Turkey

41 Real Estate:

42 Strong fundamentals: Rising domestic demand, steady international interest and a stable economy support Miami-Dade’s diversifying real estate market

47 Interview: Carlos Rosso, President of Condominium Development, The Related Group

49 Interview: Edgardo Defortuna, President & CEO, Fortune International Group

50 Interview: David Martin, President, Terra

51 Vibrant neighborhoods: Greater density is building in Miami-Dade’s infill areas, which are seeing big investments and dramatic revitalization

53 Viewpoint: José Luis F. Melo, Carlos F. Melo and Martin F. Melo, Directors, Melo Group

55 Affordable options: While the influx of capital into Miami-Dade’s luxury real estate segments continues, the need for affordable options is pressing

56 Viewpoint: Michael Wohl, Partner, Pinnacle Housing Group

58 Miami’s top producers

59 Construction:

60 Peak performance: Despite a strong dollar and a saturating condominium market, the industry saw high spending and much foreign investment

61 Viewpoint: Jeffrey Gouveia, President & General Manager, Southeast Region, Suffolk Construction

63 Viewpoint: Brad Meltzer, Southeast President, Plaza Construction

65 Interview: Stephen Owens, President, Swire Properties

67 Community building: Commercial structures in Miami-Dade are being designed to reflect a more collaborative work culture

71 Heading north: Developers and buyers seek opportunities in neighboring Broward County

72 Viewpoint: Joseph Kavana, CEO, K Group Holdings

| Invest: Miami 2016 | CONTENTS10

CONTENTS

75 Environment & Infrastructure:

76 Climate agenda: Miami-Dade is creating strategies to face environmental issues and ensure its infrastructure can sustain growth

81 Interview: Jose R. Mas, CEO, MasTec

82 Interview: Vincent Signorello, President & CEO, Florida East Coast Industries

85 Transportation:

86 Better connectivity: Investments in public transit and sustained growth in passenger air traffic bolster connectivity in Miami-Dade

87 Viewpoint: Michael Reininger, President, Brightline

89 Viewpoint: Marilyn DeVoe, Vice President, American Airlines

90 Viewpoint: Gary J. Spulak, President, Embraer Aircraft Holding, Inc.

91 Interview: Alice N. Bravo, Director, Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation & Public Works

93 Innovating transit: Miami-Dade turns to technology to address its traffic woes

Contents:

94 Viewpoint: Kasra Moshkani, South Florida General Manager, Uber

95 Green solutions: Conscious of environmental sustainability, county stakeholders are seeking new transit solutions

97 Trade & Logistics:

98 More volume: Expanded infrastructural capacity, strong trade promotion and cutting-edge innovations are boosting Miami-Dade’s trade and logistics sectors

104 Smart trade: In the era of third-party logistics, Miami-Dade is a leading market for the development of trade-related innovations

106 Pharma hub: MIA’s designation as a pharma hub will boost air freight

107 Interview: Emilio T. González, Director, Miami-Dade Aviation Department

109 Banking:

110 Growing strong: Commercial lending remains a key driver for Miami-Dade’s banking sector, while consolidation trends continue to shape the landscape

111 Viewpoint: Jorge Salas, President & CEO, Banesco USA

112 Viewpoint: Israel Velasco, Florida Region Executive, Popular Community Bank

117 Interview: Antonio Cassio Segura, President & CEO, Banco do Brasil Americas

118 Interview: Margaret Callihan, President & CEO, SunTrust Bank South Florida

119 More consolidation: M&A trends will shape Miami-Dade’s competitive banking landscape in years to come


CONTENTS

121 Interview: Ernie Diaz, Florida Regional President, TD Bank

122 Interview: Jorge Gonzalez, President & CEO, City National Bank

123 Under management: As more wealth enters South Florida, new opportunities arise in the market’s thriving wealth management industry

124 Interview: Joe Atkinson, South Florida Region President, Wells Fargo

125 Technology & Innovation:

126 Maturing ecosystem: High-profile events and increased venture capital are among the makers of growth in Miami-Dade’s tech hub

127 Viewpoint: Xavier Gonzalez, CEO, eMerge Americas

129 Viewpoint: Nabyl Charania, Co-Founder & CEO, Rokk3r Labs

133 Health:

134 Care for the future: Miami-Dade’s health sector continues on a growth trajectory even as it grapples with changing regulations

135 Viewpoint: Jeffrey Freimark, President & CEO, Miami Jewish Health Systems

136 Viewpoint: Steven Sonenreich, President & CEO, Mount Sinai Medical Center Miami Beach

137 Viewpoint: Richard Ballard, CEO, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center

139 Interview: George Foyo, Executive Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer, Baptist Health South Florida

140 Mobile medicine: While local stakeholders explore telemedicine, state legislators weigh its potential benefits

142 Interview: Steven Altschuler, CEO, UHealth

143 Education:

144 Exceeding standards: Miami is preparing students for the global workplace

145 Viewpoint: Alberto Carvalho, Superintendent, Miami-Dade County Public Schools

147 Viewpoint: Juha & Johanna Mikkola, Co-Founders, Wyncode Academy

148 Interview: Dr. Mark Rosenberg, President, Florida International University

149 Gaining momentum: Miami-Dade’s cultural diversity continues to shape K-12 schools and higher education alike

150 Roundtable: Eugene W. Anderson, Dean, University of Miami School of Business Administration, Jose M. Aldrich, Dean, Florida International University College of Business and Dr. Tomislav Mandakovic, Dean, Barry University Andreas School of Business

153 Retail:

154 Shopping haven: More investors eye retail opportunities in Miami-Dade as the county continues to develop a more complete “live, work, play” experience

155 Viewpoint: Carol Brooks, President & Co-Founder, CREC

Contents:

| Invest: Miami 2016 | CONTENTS12

ISBN 978-0-692-64476-8

Executive Director:

Abby Melone

Chief Financial Officer:

Albert E. Lindenberg

Creative Director:

Nuno Caldeira

Senior Writers:

Eric Franqui

Sarah Watson

Writers:

Christianna Bonin

Carmella Guiol

Irina Gusin

Ali Jessani

Cynthia Oka

Kavita Ramakrishnan

Pablo Ruiz

Editorial Assistant and Senior Copy Editor:

Keren Moros

Project Coordinators:

Nisha G. Cunningham

Stephen Kane

Steven Liu

Photographer:

Luis Arturo Mora / LAMphotos

Invest: Miami is published once a year by Capital

Analytics Associates, LLC.

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To order a copy of Invest: Miami 2016, please e-mail:

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Miami 2016

157 Viewpoint: Oscar Feldenkreis, CEO, Perry International

158 Viewpoint: Beverly Raphael, President & Co-Founder, RCC Associates

159 Tourism:

160 Open for visitors: Miami combines the traditional and innovative, the local and global, to open new frontiers

164 Viewpoint: Robert Hill, General Manager, InterContinental Miami

165 Interview: Arnold Donald, President & CEO, Carnival Corporation

166 Beyond beaches: An increasing variety of attractions are diversifying Miami-Dade’s tourism industry as well as its contributing to its cultural offerings

168 Viewpoint: William D. Talbert III, President & CEO, Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau

169 Sports: 170 Scoring goals: Successful major

league teams and outdoor sports continue to impact the local economy

171 Viewpoint: Eric Woolworth, President of Business Operations, The HEAT Group

173 Viewpoint: David P. Samson, President, Miami Marlins

175 Viewpoint: Adam Barrett, Director & IMG Executive Vice President, Miami Open

177 Interview: Chris Bosh, Player, The HEAT Group

178 Moving to Miami: Beckham’s journey to bring MLS to South Florida

180 Interview: Tom Garfinkel, President & CEO, Miami Dolphins

181 Legal: 182 Connecting markets: Miami-

Dade’s steady economic growth and international appeal have resulted in more diverse opportunities for its legal industry

190 Interview: Cesar Alvarez, Senior Chairman, Greenberg Traurig, LLP

191 Directory: 192 Hotels

193 Consulates

194 Photo credits

Thank you, Miami

Economy:Featuring insights from Rick Scott, Governor, State of Florida, Carlos A. Gimenez, Mayor, Miami-Dade County, Larry Williams, President & CEO, The Beacon Council, Bill Johnson, Secretary of Commerce, State of Florida and President & CEO, Enterprise Florida, Marcelo Giusto, Consul-General of Argentina, Louise Leger, Consul-General of Canada and Ozgur Altan, Consul-General of Turkey, shared exclusively with Invest: Miami


| Invest: Miami 2016 | ECONOMY14

Miami-Dade in numbers:

Miami-Dade International Trade Through Q2 2015 (Millions of $ U.S.)

Source: U.S. Cencus Bureau, USATrade Online, Dept. of Research & Economic Analysis

2015 YTD Total trade

Imports Exports 2015 YTD 2014 YTD

World Total 17,692.3 22,241.2 39,933.5 42,894.2

South America 4,959.4 11,984.9 16,944.3 19,162.1

Central America and Caribbean 3,988.8 5,297.7 9,264.6 9,963.1

Europe 3,318.8 2,828.0 6,146.8 5,252.3

Asia - Other 4,468.4 758.6 5,254.0 6,389.6

Asia Near East 47.9 676.7 724.7 716.0

North America 558.2 440.7 998.9 914.6

Asia - South 190.4 87.2 277.6 234.4

Africa 76.4 102.3 178.8 151.4

Australia and Oceania 105.9 37.9 143.8 110.5

Foreign-Born Residents (2014):

MIAMI-DADE

Total Non-Agricultural Employment (2015):

FLORIDA

U.S.A.

Unemployment Rate (2015):

51.5%

19.6%

13.1%Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Source: U.S. Census BureauSource: Florida Department of Economic Opportunity

6%

5%

4%

3%

2%

1%

0%

Miami-Dade Florida United States

5.9

0%

5.0

0%

5.0

0%

3.3% Manufacturing

6.7% Wholesale Trade

13.4% Retail Trade

6.2% Transportation, Ware housing & Utilities

1.7% Information

7.0% Financial Activities

6.6% Professional & Technical Services

0.9% Management of Companies & Enterprises

6.5% Administrative & Waste Service

15.3% Education &

Health Services

12.4% Leisure

& Hospitality

4.6% Other Services

12.1% Total

Government

3.4% Construction

SERVICE PROVIDING

GOODS PRODUCING

TOTAL1,135,900


Miami-Dade County:

MIAMI-DADE’S 34 MUNICIPALITIES

N

ECONOMY INTERVIEW


In your State of the State address, you announced an additional $250 million of incentives through the Florida Enterprise Fund. How is this initiative creating jobs in Florida and impacting Miami-Dade?The purpose of the Florida Enterprise Fund is to recruit companies to move to or expand in Florida. So far, we’ve been able to add 1.25 million jobs in the first five years of the initiative, including 18,000 new jobs in Miami-Dade from November 2014 to November 2015, bringing the county unemployment rate to 5.8 percent. We are ahead of economically significant states in job growth and have become the third-fastest growing job market in the country.

My administration’s job-growth goals include diversifying our economy by attracting more manufacturing and high-tech jobs through reducing taxes and making it easier to do business. For example, there is no sales tax for a three-year period when a manufacturer buys equipment, and we are working to make this permanent. In addition, we are working on removing the sales tax on commercial leases and the income tax for manufacturers and retailers.

We are also focusing on funding higher education to ensure that it caters to the jobs of the future. Florida International University and Miami Dade College are currently doing a great job teaching technology and innovation, and even Miami-Dade’s public school system is educating for the future by creating specialized business and technology programs.

What changes are being made to attract foreigners to Florida?Florida is the most important state in the country because of its unique melting pot, which includes one of the world’s most vibrant and international cities, Miami. To continue attracting international residents, we need to make them feel welcome. This is why I’ve focused on keeping our crime rate low by implementing standards

to hire the best sheriffs and police chiefs. We are also making communication as smooth as possible so law enforcement is more coordinated and implemented more effectively. We’ve reached a 44-year low in the state’s crime rate, which dropped 4.9 percent between 2013 and 2014.

Miami-Dade has seen an increase in foreign investment. How is Miami-Dade making itself more attractive for foreign direct investment?Completing the PortMiami Deep Dredge project in 2015 and the Port Tunnel in 2014 were significant shows of support to invite global trade and business. Miami is the first port on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard prepared for the Panama Canal expansion. Accommodating more ships means more investment in PortMiami, opening more routes and increasing commerce and the transfer of goods.

Rick ScottGovernor – State of Florida

How state initiatives are bringing new jobs and diverse investments to Miami-Dade

State support

ECONOMY INTERVIEW


What have been the most significant highlights in Miami-Dade County’s development from 2015? Every day, we continue to invest in making Miami-Dade County a world-class community for our residents to live, work and play. For the first time, Miami-Dade has a balanced five-year forecast. We continue to lead the state in private-sector job creation. We have made significant investments in our infrastructure, which have yielded improved mobility and sustainability. We have invested in equipping our police department with body cams and hiring more officers to create a safer community. We have also invested in our parks system and cultural offerings.

As Miami-Dade continues to grow, how have the strategies for urban planning evolved? The unique challenge to Miami-Dade County when it comes to planning is how to retrofit a relatively low-density sprawled environment to one that provides for urban and cultural centers and to reduce the reliance on the automobile. The county is tackling this challenge in various ways, primarily by shifting land-use policies to encourage intensification around existing public transportation corridors. We are increasing residential densities in these areas, in conjunction with mixing of commercial uses and relief of old and outdated zoning controls. This promotes the development of medium- to higher-density communities, which not only provide for urban living opportunities, but also for cultural and inclusive communities that promote economic opportunities, a mixture of housing and a sense of place, all while utilizing existing infrastructure.

Workforce development is continually cited as a number-one problem for this county. How does the reality differ from the misperception?Miami-Dade County has a multi-dimensional work-

force, supported by one of the best public school systems and some of the most esteemed educational institutions in the country. Our workforce is uniquely multilingual and multicultural and represents numerous nationalities. Miami-Dade’s recognition as the Gateway to the Americas has further enhanced our position as a global marketplace where professional local talent is readily available to compete and expand businesses worldwide, especially with Latin America and the Caribbean. Under our “One Community One Goal” economic strategy, developed by The Beacon Council, businesses, governments and educational partners have united and conceptualized an approach for developing and retaining talent while building economic opportunities to ensure our current and future growth in industries across a broad spectrum.

Carlos A. GimenezMayor – Miami-Dade County

How the public sector is strategizing to make Miami a competitive global metropolis

World-class city


High profile: With the recent U.S. rapprochement with Cuba, a presidential election featuring multiple frontrunners with ties to the county, and robust FDI inflows, all eyes are on Miami-Dade

Overall, Miami-Dade’s economy saw positive growth trends in 2015. Global factors like the strong U.S. dollar and the economic slowdowns in Europe and Latin Amer-ica have had mixed short-term effects on Miami-Dade’s trade and tourism sectors. Economic performance also reflects mixed outcomes, especially in the bellwether construction sector, where growth has started to wane. Employment mirrored this positive trajectory in eco-nomic performance, with most sectors seeing employ-ment growth. Miami-Dade’s profile in U.S. politics was elevated as two homegrown politicians went through the presidential nomination process, while rapprochement with Cuba and the expansion of Chinese investment caused political and economic ripples. Finally, the state and county governments inaugurated or expanded ini-tiatives that foster economic growth, while Miami-Dade continued its evolution from a mainly suburban to a mainly urban county.

Global factorsNumerous national and global events affected Mi-ami-Dade’s economy. The more noteworthy ones include the anticipated rise in overall interest rates, the strong U.S. dollar, the economic slowdowns in Europe and Bra-

zil and Miami-Dade’s continuing favorable tax regime. These major macroeconomic factors impacted local eco-nomic development in the trade and tourism sectors.

The Federal Reserve raised short-term interest rates in December 2015, making dollar-denominated assets more attractive to global investors and strengthening the U.S. dollar. The last time the Fed raised interest rates was 2008, ushering almost 10 years of historical-ly low rates that made credit exceptionally cheap. As the U.S. economy continued improving from the 2008 crisis, market players predicted a rise in interest rates. The Fed announced the hike would be between 0.25 percent and 0.5 percent, with a rise of approximately 1 percent per year for three years if the economy con-tinues to expand.

Other factors also helped a stronger dollar in 2015. Major European and Asian economies have either not grown or slowed in 2015, lessening demand for the euro and major Asian currencies and creating greater demand for dollars due to the relative strength of the American economy. The stronger dollar, in turn, has had repercussions on trade and tourism in Miami-Dade.

The stronger dollar had mixed effects on international


ECONOMY OVERVIEW

trade in Miami-Dade. According to a report by the Washington Economics Group, international trade in the county has had sluggish growth since 2013 due to a weak global economy. However, in 2015 there was a marked increase in total trade due to two factors: a lower total trade base calculated for 2014 and continuing dollar strength, which increased merchandise imports. Export growth, however, remained muted due to the deep recession in Brazil, South Florida’s largest trading partner. A stronger dollar is also responsible for this tempered export growth because it makes Miami-Dade exports more expensive to importers in Latin America and farther.

The stronger dollar also had mixed effects on tourism. According to the Miami Herald, tourism promoters in Florida feared that a strong dollar would discourage European and other tourists from visiting the state. Considering that 3.8 million Europeans pumped nearly $3 billion into the state economy in 2013, changes in international tourist flows could have adversely affected Miami-Dade. However, mitigating circumstances likely countervailed such changes. Rolando Aedo, chief marketing officer for the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, told the Miami Herald that, even if European economies did not grow and the dollar remained strong, the improving U.S. economy would bring more domestic tourists.

Miami-Dade tax rates remained favorable in 2015. For high-net-worth individuals, especially from New York City, Miami-Dade has a compelling allure—resi-dents pay no estate, personal income or capital gains taxes to the state. Florida Governor Rick Scott, once a venture capitalist himself, strenuously resists tax-ing incomes derived from private equity, venture and hedge funds. Such tax advantages are attractive to wealthy New York City residents, where a new mayoral administration is seeking to increase tax burdens on the well-off.

Economic performanceMiami-Dade’s real estate and construction sectors grew throughout 2015 as residential and commercial real estate steadily expanded and residential construc-tion growth spiked. The residential and commercial real estate sectors grew in 2015 though not as robustly as in previous years. According to a county econom-ic report, in the first quarter of 2015, the sales volume performance and rapid price appreciation that defined Miami-Dade’s residential housing market began to moderate, as the rate of single-family home sales grew 10.2 percent year-over-year. This was a marked de-crease of the annual 26-percent average prevalent from

The economy in Miami-Dade is deeper and broad-er than people know. It includes a rich history in industries such as aviation, banking and trade and logistics. Today, we continue to see growth in these traditional sectors, but other knowledge-based ar-eas, such as technology, life sciences and health care are also growing rapidly.

Miami is a natural for growing an innovation ecosystem. Many people may not realize this, but Miami is a “college town,” with over 250,000 stu-dents and two research universities. With leading organizations like eMerge Americas, Endeavor and the Knight Foundation investing in entrepreneur-ship activity, there’s a growing movement and an energy that is exciting and inspiring.

We also see great potential with the designation of Miami International Airport (MIA) as one of only two approved pharmaceutical hubs in the world. To ensure talent development in these critical in-dustries, we have the Academic Leaders Council, an unprecedented collaboration between the pres-idents of major higher education institutions and the superintendent of schools. They are working directly with business leaders to ensure academ-ic curriculum meets the needs of our businesses. One result of this is the Talent Development Net-work, a platform to connect employers with stu-dents looking for internships.

Global changes impact Miami’s economy as much or more than any other U.S. community. Mi-ami-Dade continues to be a gateway for investment to the U.S. and the region. Our world-class infra-structure is getting even better, with MIA break-ing records in passenger and cargo transported, and PortMiami ready to welcome mega-size car-go ships from the expanded Panama Canal. Over 50 percent of all companies coming to Miami are international. For these reasons, marketing Mi-ami-Dade as a world-class business destination is The Beacon Council’s top priority. We continue to focus on countries in Europe and in Latin America, but we are also gaining much more interest from countries in the Middle East and Asia.

Larry K. WilliamsPresident & CEO, The Beacon Council


ECONOMY OVERVIEW

Bill JohnsonSecretary of Commerce – State of Florida President & CEO – Enterprise Florida

Today, Florida leads the nation in job creation. Our state

has created more than 1 million new private sector jobs since

2010. Importantly, Florida is making great strides in diversifying its

economy. In addition to the state’s traditional industries—tourism,

agriculture, real estate—we continue to attract new 21st century

jobs in industries such as aviation/aerospace, life sciences, finan-

cial services, information technology and trade and logistics. The

future is bright in the Sunshine State.

2009 to 2013. However, average residential prices con-tinued to increase, with the median price of single-fam-ily homes 8 percent higher compared to the first quarter of 2014, reaching $247,500 in the first quarter of 2015. The median single-family sales price has increased by 63 percent since a low point in the first quarter of 2011.

The same report also showed improvements for the commercial real estate sector. Office vacancy rates throughout the market demonstrated reliable gains, at 11.6 percent in the first quarter of 2015. This compared favorably to the 15 percent vacancy rates of 2010 to 2011. Despite this, the rates seen in early 2015 were still almost twice the rates that prevailed pre-crisis, at just over 6 percent in 2006. In the industrial market, ware-house/manufacturing/flex space continued its robust growth over the four quarters before the first quarter of 2015, with vacancy rates falling to 5.3 percent, equal to the lowest rate seen in the third quarter of 2007.

Construction grew robustly; the same report states that vigorous demand for multi-family rental buildings and condos is causing strong expansion in residential construction. After seasonal adjustment, residential construction permits have been steadily increasing since the first quarter of 2009, with a surge of nearly 4,100 units permitted in the first quarter of 2015. This is well beyond recent growth trends, matching the best quarterly performance since 2006. Multi-family units dominate this spike in construction growth, with most of it concentrated along the coast.

Increased employment Employment trends in 2015 were positive, as most sec-tors saw employment growth with continued expan-sion outpacing average national trends in recent years. However, the local workforce did face challenges con-cerning the high cost of living for the average worker.

According to the 2014 American Community Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau, from 2011 to 2014, employment growth rates have exceeded national growth rates, with the most recent 2013 to 2014 rate of 4.2 percent much higher than the national 2 percent. The Miami-Dade labor force has also experienced relatively more expansion, at 2.1 percent versus the national 0.7-percent growth rate between 2013 and 2014.

Except for the government, all major job sectors saw employment growth in 2015. According to a county labor report released in the second quarter of 2015, the information and financial services sectors had the most robust payroll employment increases, at 6 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively, between the second quarter of 2014 and second quarter of 2015. During this same period, other important sectors saw steady growth, with professional and business services at 2.4 percent, leisure and hospitality at 3.5 percent, construction at 2.1 percent and wholesale trade at 2.9 percent. Government was the only sector that had shrinking payroll employment, at -3.3 percent during the same period.

A challenge to workforce development was a high cost of living. A 2012 study from the Center for Housing Policy found Miami-Dade to be the most unaffordable large metropolitan area for the average worker, ranking at the bottom for both housing and transportation costs combined; moderate-income homeowners spent 75 percent of their income on these costs. Such a high cost of living presents a problem for the long-term economic health of the local workforce.

National spotlightWith 2016 being a presidential election year, and with two major contenders for the Republican Party nomi-nation having strong local ties to Miami-Dade, the ar-ea’s profile rose more in U.S. national politics in 2015


ECONOMY OVERVIEW

than in past years. The U.S.-Cuba rapprochement has also put Miami-Dade concerns on the national spot-light.

At the time of printing, U.S. Senator for Florida Mar-co Rubio is among those contending for the 2016 Re-publican Party presidential nomination, while former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, whose primary residence is in Coral Gables, ran until late February 2016. Rubio, whose primary residence is in West Miami, placed third among all Republican primary nominees, ac-cording to polls in early February 2016. Both candi-dates announced their presidency bids at Miami Dade College (MDC) campuses. At the top of the same polls is New Hampshire primary winner Donald Trump, who has a connection to South Florida through his invest-ments in golf resorts and hotels in Palm Beach and Mi-ami-Dade counties, among other real estate holdings.

During the presidential primary season, eyes are on the county, as MDC is slated to host a Democratic can-didate debate in March 2016, while the University of Miami is scheduled to host the Republican candidate debate the same month.

Rapprochement with CubaAlmost 60 years after relations between the two nations froze during the Cold War, the U.S.-Cuba rapprochement has deeply affected Miami-Dade. The response of the county’s Cuban-American community to the historic rapprochement has spanned the political spectrum. The immediate response from the Cuban-American community in Miami-Dade was shock after President Barack Obama announced the normalization of diplomatic relations with Cuba in December 2014. Opponents to rapprochement with the island’s Communist regime assailed the change in policy, calling it a betrayal by the president, while supporters of diplomatic normalization felt the Cold War policy of diplomatic isolation that commenced in 1961 had long ceased to be effective. Despite these polarized responses, the community’s overall reaction was tempered, especially compared to the protests that rocked the community during the Elian Gonzalez affair in 2000.

Rapprochement also affected travel; the Miami Herald reported that in mid-December 2015, the U.S. and Cuba agreed to re-establish regularly scheduled commercial flights in 2016. Such re-establishment represents the largest commercial deal struck so far by the two nations after diplomatic normalization. U.S. aviation executives and officials predict that Cuba is likely to admit more than a dozen flights from the U.S. every day. Diplomatic normalization has also affected ferry services, with at

least four companies notified in mid-2015 by U.S. federal authorities that they were approved to extend ferry services from Florida to Cuba. Cruise lines were also onboard with diplomatic normalization, with Carnival Corporation and MSC Cruises announcing plans to sail to the island. Carnival is waiting on Cuban approval to sail the Adonia, a 710-passenger cruise liner from its new fathom brand, from PortMiami to Cuban ports, including Havana, by May 2016. MSC Cruises started offering cruises to Cuba on the MSC Opera in December 2015.

According to the Miami Herald, remittances from the U.S. to Cuba are being used to invest in micro-businesses. Western Union believes this phenomenon makes Cuba unlike other nations receiving remittances. Emilio Morales, president of the Havana Consulting Group, estimates that remittances grew from $3.13 billion in 2014 to $3.99 billion in 2015, with 62 percent of Cuban households receiving U.S. remittances. As part of the rapprochement, Obama increased the amount of non-family remittances from $500 per annual quarter to $2,000 per annual quarter.

Looking eastwardAs the second-largest economy in the world, China is a pivotal market from which foreign direct invest-ment originates. Because of this, Miami-Dade has at-tempted to woo Chinese investors. Key developments and investments in 2015 from Chinese players have spanned the market, from changes in ordinances that

At 4.2 percent, Miami-Dade’s employment growth rate exceeds the 2.0 percent national average.


ECONOMY OVERVIEW

may usher more investment to new market entrants. In October 2015, City of Miami commissioners sup-ported the passage of a new ordinance that permitted Hong Kong-based Swire Properties to build on Brickell Key’s last vacant parcel by changing its land-use status from commercial to residential. A planned 668-unit residential property can now be developed on the par-cel. In addition, in June 2015, Swire announced that potential tenants were in final talks for 90 percent of the retail space at its Brickell City Centre project, a $1.05-billion mixed-use development. At 5.4 million square feet, the development is under construction in Downtown Miami’s Brickell Avenue financial district and will open in fall 2016.

Another major player from China also expanded its presence in Miami-Dade. American Da Tang Realty opened in March 2015 as an outgrowth of American Da Tang Group, a concierge service for high-net-worth Chinese individuals who want to come to the U.S. The new venture will concentrate on raising Miami-Dade’s profile in China and helping Chinese buyers attracted to the county’s clean air, clean water and glamour in-vest in property. In December 2014, an American Da Tang Group affiliate bought a 2.39-acre site at South Miami Avenue in Brickell for $74.8 million. American Da Tang Realty will manage the site’s future contracts.

Miami-Dade is also attracting Chinese investors through trade missions. Though there were no trade missions to China between 2008 and 2015, the coun-ty is sponsoring one in April 2016. The tour will visit

major Chinese cities Shanghai, Hangzhou and Guang-zhou as well as Taiwan. Mission members will experi-ence networking opportunities, one-on-one business matchmaking briefings, presentations and meetings with Chinese businesses.

A crucial tool in Miami-Dade’s efforts to attract Chi-nese investors is the EB-5 visa. The program allows foreigners to qualify for green cards for themselves and their immediate relatives if they invest at least $500,000 in the U.S. and create at least 10 permanent jobs. On December 15, 2015, the U.S. Congress extend-ed the program, with no changes, to September 30, 2016. Possible changes to the EB-5 visa program have therefore been postponed for roughly another year. The scrapped changes include capping visas at 2,000 annually to pro-jects in rural regions and 2,000 in poor urban areas, like-ly leaving areas like Miami-Dade out in the cold. One high-profile Miami-Dade project dependent on the pro-gram is CCCC Miami Towers, the first EB-5 visa project in South Florida to cater to Chinese investors.

Public sector initiatives The state and county governments, along with The Beacon Council, inaugurated new or broadened exist-ing initiatives in 2015 to foster economic development in Miami-Dade. The county also adopted a budget for fiscal year 2015-2016.

The Florida government supports Miami-Dade’s economy by creating more jobs through various en-tities. One of these is the public-private partnership Enterprise Florida, the state’s principal organization charged with helping Florida’s economic development, international trade and statewide business marketing. Its economic development process utilizes financial and other incentives to attract potential employers to operate in various Florida regions and create jobs.

For fiscal year 2014-2015, Enterprise Florida helped establish numerous competitive projects, many of them undertaken with partners in South Florida. Within Miami-Dade, Enterprise Florida was involved in 29 competitive projects throughout the fiscal year, with 1,927 jobs created and new capital investments totaling $304 million.

The county government also established and ex-panded initiatives in 2014 and 2015 to foster econom-ic development. In conjunction with the Neighbors and Neighbors Association and CareerSource South Florida, the county established Employ Miami-Dade, a program that alleviates unemployment and pover-ty by furnishing employment opportunities and job training in the construction industry to people in areas with high unemployment and crime rates.

New developments and structural changes that reduce traffic are revitalizing Miami’s downtown area.


ECONOMY OVERVIEW

The county also contributed to economic growth by granting certifications and contracts through its Small Business Enterprise program and the Federal Disad-vantaged Business Enterprise Program while encour-aging a more diverse and competitive vendor pool. More than $106 million, about 9 percent, of the coun-ty’s architectural, engineering and goods and servic-es contracts were awarded to these small businesses through the program goals and set-asides.

As the county’s official economic development part-nership, The Beacon Council continued to help the economy. Its accomplishments in fiscal year 2014-2015 include bringing $412 million in new capital invest-ment to the county, as well as creating 1,936 jobs and helping 44 companies with retention, relocation or expansion. The sector that benefitted most from the Council’s help was the tech-nology industry, accounting for around 20 percent of companies that were assisted with reloca-tion. Half the companies the Council helped relocate in the past year were based in Western Europe and Latin America.

The county budget for fiscal year 2015-2016 was adopted in December 2015. Mayor Carlos Gimenez highlighted how the economy was robust enough in 2015 to restore services that had been cut in leaner years. The 2015-2016 budget will fund the hiring of more police officers and will enhance capital invest-ments in parks. In addition, over $2 billion will fund future transit corridor development over the next 30 years. Finally, more than $500 million in capital and operating expenditures will help prepare for climate change and extreme weather, strengthen the econo-my, expand renewables and energy efficiency and re-

new and strengthen infrastructure. Despite this fund-ing, the county tax rate remained flat in 2015.

Urban developmentMiami-Dade has grown tremendously in population and density, fueling its transformation from a suburban to an urban county, while continuing to be as diverse as ever. However, growing pains, especially with transportation infrastructure and congestion, have become more evident, and the county created a new department to address these ongoing issues.

Robust population growth is the common denominator of the issues defining Miami-Dade’s urban development.

According to census figures, the population increased 16.3 percent from 1990 to 2000 and an additional 10.8 percent from 2000 to 2010. Sluggish economic growth contributed to a smaller increase of 6.3 percent from 2010 to 2015. High population density, a sign of intensifying urban development, has also become greater, with persons per square mile in the county increasing from 1,316 in 2010 to 1,399 in 2015.

As the economy grows, population expansion is expected to increase between 2015 and 2020.

Population diversity has also increased. According to the 2014 American Community Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau, Hispanics grew from 62.5 percent of the population in 1999 to 66.2 percent in 2014, making the Hispanic population 1.76 million in 2014. During the same period, the foreign-born population also grew by 11 percent from a base of about 1.2 million in 2009.

This fast rate of population growth and density has predictably strained the local transportation infrastructure though Miami-Dade made progress in

High population density, a sign of

intensifying urban development,

has also become greater.


ECONOMY OVERVIEW

large projects to alleviate congestion. For example, the toll-free PortMiami Tunnel opened in mid-2014 and links PortMiami with Interstates 395 and 95 and the MacArthur Causeway, improving access to and from PortMiami for more than 14,000 vehicles daily. This relieves congested streets in Downtown Miami. In another effort to decrease congestion in local streets, the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX) introduced the MDX Multi-Axle Frequency Discount in December 2014. The policy incentivizes truckers who frequently travel to and from the port to use expressways instead of local streets.

To better and more efficiently address transportation infrastructure issues, Miami-Dade created the Depart-ment of Transportation and Public Works in mid-2015, and Alice N. Bravo was appointed its director. The depart-ment unites the functions of county highway planning, construction, maintenance, traffic operations and others.

Looking aheadPositive growth trends defined Miami-Dade’s economy in 2015. Barring a large exogenous shock from a global financial crisis, the medium-term outlook for the coun-ty’s economy remains optimistic. Global factors like the strong dollar and the economic slowdowns in Europe and

Latin America caused mixed short-term effects on Mi-ami-Dade’s trade and tourism sectors but U.S. economic expansion picked up the slack. Economic performance is likely to remain robust (especially in the bellwether real estate and construction sectors), as Miami-Dade becomes a safe haven for greater amounts of capital leaving instability in other parts of the world. Employ-ment is likely to mirror this positive trajectory in eco-nomic performance, like in 2015.

Miami-Dade’s profile in U.S. politics will continue to be high due to its large Hispanic population and its important role in Florida’s swing-state status in the Electoral College, while rapprochement with Cuba and the expansion of Chinese investment will become more influential to Miami-Dade’s economic develop-ment. Florida will continue to foster competitive pro-jects under Enterprise Florida while Miami-Dade will introduce or expand initiatives that fight entrenched poverty and unemployment and provide small-to-me-dium enterprises with more opportunities. Finally, Mi-ami-Dade County will progress in its evolution from a mainly suburban to a mainly urban county as its pop-ulation and density increases, addressing this expan-sion with enhanced transportation infrastructure.


ECONOMY ANALYSIS

The global art and antiques market is valued at 51 billion euros, according to The European Fine Art Foundation’s Art Market Report 2015, and though Miami is ninth among American cities in terms of fine art turnover, the tempo is picking up in the Magic City, and Miami-Dade County’s cultural capital is on the rise.

Since the opening of Art Basel Miami Beach in 2002, international art dealers and collectors make a pilgrimage each December to one of the most celebrated events on the art circuit. The arrival of Art Basel Miami Beach, which greeted 77,000 visitors in 2015, officially welcomed contemporary art collectors while underscoring Miami as a cosmopolitan city capable of drawing global interest. Since then, a crop of younger fairs have entered the fold. As of 2015, over 20 other fairs, such as Art Miami, Pulse Miami Beach, NADA Art Fair Miami Beach and Untitled Art Fair were operating in the area. These new players, along with Art Basel Miami Beach, are collectively called Miami Art Week.

By no means is this proliferation of art fairs a coincidence. Miami is home to at least three of the world’s top art collectors: Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz, who have contributed to the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami (MOCA), opened the 30,000-square-foot Cruz Contemporary Art Space in 2009; Martin Z. Margulies, whose 4,000-piece collection has been displayed in the massive retro-fitted Warehouse since 1999 in the Wynwood Art District; and Mera and Donald Rubell, whose museum in Wynwood, open since 1993, boasts 28 galleries, a sculpture garden and a research library. These families have been amassing their contemporary art collections since the 1960s and 1970s, and their collections were already an asset to Miami when Art Basel considered expanding into the Americas. These prolific collectors and a number of others have garnered increased attention for Miami by creating their own privately funded (and nonprofit tax-exempt) institutions rather than leaving an endowment to an existing museum, a move known as the “Miami Model.”

One compelling example of Miami’s nascent philanthropic bend is Jorge M. Perez’s $40-million contribution to the former Miami Art Museum, now known as the Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM). Since

opening, the museum has seen ambitious projects, like an impressive retrospective of Brazilian artist Beatriz Milhazes in September 2014, and the hiring of Franklin Sirman in October 2015, formerly the department head and curator of contemporary art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Sirman has conveyed his focus on embracing the community’s heritage by featuring artists from the Caribbean, South America and Latin America rather than compete with institutions that might have a more exhaustive modern or contemporary collection.

This attitude embraces the unique fact that Miami is home to a huge Latin American art community. Miami’s proximity and ties to these countries is rife with opportunity. The Nader Latin American Art Museum will open in Downtown Miami in 2018, exhibiting the collection of Miami-based dealer Gary Nader. Additionally, with the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba, Miami’s geographical and cultural connection will likely prove pivotal in the education and taste creating of new art collectors.

Miami’s burgeoning neighborhoods are sure to feel this enthusiasm. The formerly industrial Wynwood neighborhood is home to Wynwood Walls, a street art exhibit of regularly changing murals, which are the focus of a district recently hailed as a fashionable foothold for artists and galleries. Due to an inevitable increase in rent prices—an average of $60 per square foot as of 2015, triple that of 2011 prices according to the New York Times—gallerists have started looking elsewhere. Little Haiti,

Ready, set, grow: Miami-Dade is finding a place in the international art market

Formerly industrial Wynwood has gained international attention for its popular galleries and colorful street art.


ECONOMY ANALYSIS

marked as the next “it” neighborhood, was originally a farming community and is now predominantly populated by Haitian families. As restaurants, vegan cafes and vinyl shops pop up on its colorful streets, both established and trendy galleries, like Emerson Dorsch, Yeelen Gallery and Gallery Diet, have moved to the neighborhood and are buying spaces to avoid rent hikes, portending what is to come. It is no surprise that home values have increased by almost 25 percent in Little Haiti in 2015.

Outside the visual arts, the city is vibrating with activity. The well-attended Miami Book Fair International, featuring eight days of literary discussions, panels and other events, just celebrated its 32nd year in November 2015. The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, named after the business leader and philanthropist who donated $30 million for its development, opened in 2006 and features a black-box theater, public art and a concert hall. O, Miami is a Knight Foundation-funded organization whose largest event, occurring annually since 2011, is a month-long poetry festival with the goal of engaging Miami citizens through poetry readings and lectures. In the next few years, Miami will continue to experience cultural growth with the April 2016 opening of the Faena Forum, a

massive 50,000-square-foot exhibit space, the fall 2016 reopening of the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach after renovations and the opening of the Institute of Contemporary Art’s new building in December 2016, which will coincide with Miami Art Week.

Despite developments over the last decade, Miami has much room for growth in civic support and cultural expansion as philanthropic activity is not as high as in other major cities. Outside of relying on long-standing trustees of the city’s institutions, it is imperative for Miami to entice a younger generation to get involved outside of the glitz and glamour of the December fairs. Though private museums dedicated to influential contemporary collections create an alluring draw and ease the burden of public funding, an investment into the existing city and county museums is necessary to maintain Miami’s relevance as a cultural capital. With such well-rounded attention on contemporary and Latin American art, the city has an opportunity to expand visual arts programs focused on other areas of art (and the market). Across its evolving reach into cultural programming, Miami is an enviable environment of innovation, showing its mettle as an international city of prospering creativity.


Civic engagement transforms communities through participation in social change and economic opportunity, involving a roster of citizens, foundations, businesses and nonprofits. The most prominent civic engagement foundation in Miami-Dade County is the Knight Foundation, which supports transformational ideas by promoting quality journalism, advancing media innovation, engaging communities and fostering the arts. The foundation works in 26 U.S. communities; Miami is one of eight with a resident program director and also is the site of its headquarters. An example of its support of Miami is its Knight Cities Challenge, held for the second time in 2015; last year’s winner, floating laboratory Miami Science Barge, was granted $300,000.

The Miami Foundation is also a major player, connecting civic leadership for community change. Its fundraising event Give Miami Day 2015, which raised $7.1 million for more than 600 local nonprofits, has increased in fundraising feats by over a million dollars each year since its start in 2012. President and CEO Javier Soto tells Invest: Miami, “Miami is at an inflection point with regard to connection and attachment. Miami used to be a place where people came with the expectation that eventually they were going someplace else—either because this was a transient stop or because they were waiting for a change in government in their home country—or be buried somewhere else. That is changing today. There is a growing attachment to this community by people who were either born here or who have come here from outside, but who have no intention of leaving. That kind of attachment leads to greater civic engagement.”

From this civic engagement in Miami-Dade was born social entrepreneurship, the use of business principles to achieve social change. Approaches to social entrepreneurship vary widely as 60 percent of all social enterprises are less than eight years old, according to

Harvard Business Review. The tech sector, for example, has benefited business and community engagement. Programs like Girls Who Code, sponsored by the Knight Foundation for $500,000 through 2018, engage the community (in this case, advancing girls in a female-deficient field), provide long-term benefits to people and the economy by creating a stronger and more equitable workforce.

In addition, several private and public social enterprise initiatives have taken hold in Miami-Dade, empowering people and organizations to give back to the community. A county grant of $450,000 funded EcoTech Visions in 2015, an incubator for 20 green businesses helping early-stage companies obtain capital and manage manufacturing. EcoTech offers co-working space, workshops and mentoring to companies like sustainable cutlery maker Earthware, natural sunburn soother and mosquito repellent producer Culito de Rana and electric motorcycle company Aeolus. Other social companies include Urban.Us, which invests in startups that improve city life, focusing on issues like water and energy efficiency and economic development, and HandUp, a website that connects donors to partner organizations to help the homeless. Meanwhile, the newly formed Community Justice Project is a Miami-based group of lawyers supporting racial and economic justice.

As the field continues to evolve, civic engagement and

Active citizenry: Greater civic engagement is a mark of Miami-Dade’s growing sophistication

Social organizations like Camillus House provide services and job opportunities for struggling populations.

ECONOMY ANALYSIS


social entrepreneurship in Miami-Dade County will continue to be positively influenced by millennials, who show interest in their communities by volunteering and participating in nonprofit young professional groups and leadership development.

Another organization serving the less fortunate is Camillus House, which offers numerous programs and housing for those struggling with addictions, PTSD, homelessness, mental illnesses and more. At its 48-bed Beckham Hall facility, homeless people receive vocational and life skills education, and its Project Phoenix facility, which opened in January 2016, houses female victims of human trafficking. Camillus also partners with local organizations and the government. Camillus and the Downtown Development Authority jointly operate the DWNTWN Enhancement Team, offering maintenance and landscape jobs to the economically disadvantaged. Camillus started as a Cuban refugee shelter in the 1960s and its commitment to helping vulnerable populations continues in its expansion of its 14 county locations, says CEO Shed Boren. “Though Miami emphasizes its luxury offerings, we must recognize the need to improve the community by helping the less fortunate,” he says.

ECONOMY ANALYSIS


ECONOMY ROUNDTABLE

Marcelo GiustoConsul-General of Argentina in Miami

Miami has always been in the minds and hearts of

Argentines, as shown by the fact that more than

427,000 Argentines arrived at the Miami International

Airport in 2014. One of the advantages of this

connectivity is it provides opportunities for Argentines

to expand their businesses here. Many Argentine

businesses are installing their regional headquarters in

Miami to attract business from the U.S., the Caribbean

and Latin America. The Argentine entrepreneur spirit

is strongly felt in Miami-Dade County, where, for

instance, there are hundreds of SME’s and startups

driven by our nationals. Miami is a natural launch pad

for Argentine entrepreneurs to take their first step into

the U.S.

The cooperation between authorities in Argentina

and Miami helps to facilitate the arrival of

approximately 70 small Argentine businesses per

year to showcase their products and services across

Miami’s top conventions and participate in B2B

matchmaking events organized by the Consulate of

Argentina. Meanwhile our country continues to seek

to balance our trade deficit, with particular respect

to the Miami Customs District, currently Argentina’s

largest U.S. partner in millions of dollars of total trade. In

addition to the products that have historically enjoyed

great success in Florida such as wines, berries and

leather related products, increasingly more Argentine

companies in the creative and tech-driven industries

are offering their services in Miami. Companies with

expertise in digital marketing, audiovisual, media

creation and software development, among others,

are finding favorable market conditions in Miami.

The fact that Miami has a great number of Argentines

in key leadership positions across multinationals,

academia, the arts and health care among other

sectors has allowed us to create a networking

platform to promote Argentina in the local

community throughout its people as well as provide

Argentine companies opportunities to establish key

relationships in this new market. As Argentina works

toward strengthening its relationship with the U.S., it

will continue to utilize Miami, Buenos Aires’ sister city,

as a hub for its economic and cultural initiatives.

Global hub: Miami-Dade’s international reach grows

Miami-Dade has long been famed as the U.S.’s Gateway to the Americas, and the internation-al community at large has started to take no-tice. From direct flights from Turkey, to Can-ada’s dedicated snowbirds, to Argentina’s vast culinary expertise, Miami continues to attract attention from markets around the globe.


ECONOMY ROUNDTABLE

Louise LegerConsul-General of Canada in Miami

The bilateral economic relationship between Can-

ada and the U.S. is the largest in the world, valued at

$759 billion per year. Florida’s share of that is roughly

$8 billion. When we look at industries like tourism and

real estate, we see that the impact is not insignificant.

Each year, 4 million Canadians visit Florida. Consid-

ering Canada’s population of 35 million, that means

that one in nine Canadians visit Florida annually. These

visitors don’t just come for a long weekend; they stay

for months at a time and spend $4.4 billion annually

in the state. Canadians are also big real estate inves-

tors in Florida. Currently, there are between 500,000 to

600,000 Canadian homeowners in the state, a portfo-

lio that is worth roughly $60 billion.

In addition to the attractive lifestyle that Florida offers

to Canadians, there are growing business opportuni-

ties present in this market. One top-of-mind issue for

South Florida is climate change, and Canada has much

expertise in issues related to the environment and

energy. Around 45 percent of the oil the U.S. imports

comes from Canada, and equally important, Canada

exports a great deal of electricity, much of which is re-

newable, whether it is hydro, wind or solar. Canada is

also advanced in the treatment of water and wastewa-

ter. Moreover, as South Florida looks to build new infra-

structure or replace aging infrastructure, it can benefit

from Canadian expertise in the area of public-private

partnerships (PPP). Not only does Canada have expe-

rience with utilizing PPPs to create roads and bridges,

it also has much knowledge of using them for cultural

infrastructure—schools, libraries, courthouses—which

have different revenue-generation models.

This expertise has attracted the attention of compa-

nies active in Florida. NextEra Energy, the parent com-

pany of Florida Power and Light (FPL), has been mak-

ing serious investments in Canada. In November 2015,

the Everglades Foundation signed a memorandum of

understanding with the Canadian province of Ontario

to launch a multi-year effort to design cost-effective

technology for the removal of excess phosphorus from

freshwater bodies. As Miami continues to develop itself

as a hub for technology and innovation, there will be

even more opportunities for Canadian investments.

The opening of a Turkish consulate in Miami is part

of Turkey’s strategic plan to expand its commercial,

diplomatic and consular presence in the U.S., and

to deepen ties to the Caribbean and South Amer-

ica; the Turkish government recognized that to be

successful in Latin America it must have a presence

in Miami. To fulfill our goals in Miami, we worked

to bring Turkish Airlines back to Miami International

Airport after 14 years. Direct flights to Istanbul com-

menced in late 2015. Our next step is to improve

our commercial ranking in doing business within the

city and the State of Florida. Miami is strong in real

estate, tourism, hospitality, aerospace technology

and medical equipment and has much to offer Tur-

key in those areas in terms of mutual trade.

There is already significant business being done

with Turkey in Florida, especially in construction:

a great deal of stone and marble—key Turkish ex-

ports—are being imported by major Florida cities.

Other significant Turkish entries into the local market

include a multimillion-dollar car modification center

in Miami; Turkish conglomerate Suzer Group’s joint

venture to develop a luxury hotel in Surfside; and the

opening of Okan International University’s campus in

North Miami. Turkey has also worked to established

its local cultural footprint; for the past five years, Mi-

ami has hosted the Turkish Film Festival.

As an international medical tourism and cruise

destination, and the sixth most-visited country in the

world in 2014, Turkey shares many similarities with

Miami, and there are many areas of collaboration

between the two places. For instance, Miami has a

vibrant cruising industry and serves as the headquar-

ters of three of the major global cruise corporations.

Since three out of four tourists traveling to Turkey

are doing so to take a cruise, we see many oppor-

tunities for strategic cooperation. Turkey also has a

thriving jewelry industry; with the continued growth

of luxury shopping destinations, like the Miami De-

sign District, there will be more Turkish participation.

The cultural and commercial affinities between Tur-

key and Florida will only create more opportunities

for growth and increased cooperation.

Ozgur AltanConsul-General of Turkey in Miami

Documents

Miami 2016 · MasTec 82 Interview: Vincent Signorello, President & CEO, Florida East Coast Industries 85 Transportation: 86 Better connectivity: Investments in public transit and