08 June 2011
Financial giant Wells Fargo is providing $150,000 to help fund a study on industries Miami-Dade County should target to create the most jobs.
Leaders from business, government, academia and non-profit sectors will take part in planning process and help implement results for the "One Community One Goal" study. A consulting firm is expected to complete the study by mid-2012, according to study organizers at The Beacon Council Foundation, the non-profit arm of Miami-Dade’s economic development group.
Organizers re-launched the One Community One Goal initiative this year to build on a similar strategic plan developed in the late 1990s. That study identified seven key industries for Miami-Dade to target, including biomedical, entertainment, hospitality and international commerce.
But times have changed since then: The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks prompted stricter U.S. rules on international business. The 2009 global financial crunch slowed credit flows. And the world economy has shifted, with China and Brazil rising and Panama becoming more of a regional trade hub.
Miami-Dade urgently needed jobs. Its unemployment rate now tops 13 percent, higher than the U.S. and Florida averages, partly because of the depth of its housing slump and credit crunch.
The new plan aims to:
Diversify Miami-Dade County’s economy by expanding existing industries and targeting new ones with the greatest potential for job growth;
Gain consensus from the public, private and education sectors to prioritize, redirect and increase resources toward the One Goal of job creation;
Implement new marketing plans for targeted industries with short-and long-term goals; and
Develop an action plan to recruit, retain, and help expand key industries in Miami-Dade to boost jobs, the Beacon Council said in a statement.
For more information, visit http://beaconcouncilfoundation.org/