Back to business: If there is an upside to the unprecedented economic challenges caused by Sept. 11, it's that Miami-Dade's government and private sector have never worked so closely together - The 2002 Mid-Year Beacon Forecast: Conclusion

South Florida CEO, June, 2002 by Rochelle Broder-Singer

HAS MIAMI-DADE'S ECONOMY recovered from the recession that followed Sept. 11? And when will the economy return to its normal state, if there is such a thing? The answers are as mixed as the industries they come from. One solid sign of the times is that the Economic Recovery Task Force, set in motion by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce in the wake of the terrorist attacks, officially hung up its spurs at a final meeting April 30.

"I think the private sector has [already] hit bottom," says Jack Lowell, vice president of the Codina real estate group, who co-chaired the task force with Miami-Dade County manager Steve Shiver. "Coming into the fall, I think we're going to see steadily improving figures in terms of people adding jobs."

Indeed, by March of this year, according to the Beacon Council's Spring 2002 Economic Report, the number of jobs in Miami-Dade was just shy of the August 2001 level -- 1,012,297 compared to 1,016,032. Industry sectors reporting job growth included government, education, health services, business services and retail trade.

In business services, Miami-based information technology consulting company Neoris has seen demand pick up enough for CEO Martin Hecker to predict a steep rebound. "In many companies in the consulting business, the projects already agreed upon got postponed ... People just wanted to be sure how their business was doing," says Hecker, who maintained his 60-person staff throughout the past year. "Since February, it's starting to get better. Companies can only hold off for so much time before they need to invest in technology."

Although passenger and cargo flights through Miami International Airport are still down from 2001, the decline is approaching the single-digit realm, and aviation services are returning to normal as well. Airplane maintenance provider Avborne Inc., for example, has a full hangar this month. "We have a goal of 600 hours [of work] for this year, and this month alone, we have 100 hours worth of billable work in-house," says spokesperson Carolina Jones. The company, which laid off about 10 percent of its workforce in December, is within 5 percent of its Pre-Sept. 11 size

Healthcare companies have continued to staff up. Baptist Health South Florida has reduced its vacancy rate to 8 percent from about 10 percent, but still needs nurses, imaging specialists, pharmacists and other skilled medical professionals. "The tragedy of this is immense, but in our particular case, it's probably had a relatively minor impact," says executive vice president and chief operating officer Fred Messing. "The question longer-term is going to be in terms of people's ability to pay" -- and in the government's ability to reimburse Medicare and Medicaid, with the war on terrorism diverting dollars and tax revenues from an already shrunken economic base.

While the impact of a large employer such as Avborne or Baptist is easy to measure, County Mayor Alex Penelas says, "Small companies are still the foundation of the county." Lowell credits those small companies with keeping the economy afloat. "A small business owner looks into the mirror and makes decisions," he says. "This marketplace can turn around very quickly."

Maybe so, but Miami-Dade was hit harder than most other places -- as would be expected, since its economy is bound to international trade and travel, which Sept. 11 savaged. For it to emerge from its economic malaise has required cooperation between the public and private sectors.

"The Sept. 11 attacks on America dealt a devastating blow to the entire airline industry, including United," says Stephen Beatus, United Airlines vice president for Latin America, Miami and the Caribbean. "We joined forces with the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau for an expanded advertising program in Latin America, to encourage customers to travel again."

Nor was the cooperation limited to the travel industry. The county government expanded the hours of its building and zoning offices, including weekend inspections. Cities and the county released huge capital improvement budgets, and in the case of Miami and Miami Beach, expedited referendums for new capital improvement projects. An effort to increase local tourism was accelerated by "2 for 1" passes which the GMCC sent to all its members (the county school system will follow suit). The GMCC has also lobbied the Federal Reserve to ease foreign banking requirements.

"I think we have a good, cohesive relationship with the chamber and the convention bureau, which includes a monthly meeting with [both]," says Thomas Cornish, SunTrust senior vice president and this year's chairman of the Beacon Council. "I think our efforts have blended well."

Cornish says that while there was a definite lull following Sept. 11, the Beacon's efforts to recruit new companies to Miami-Dade, and help expand existing firms, have come back in force -- with a strong focus on European clients. "Today we are working on about 80 projects, both new to market and expansion," he says. "It's one of the biggest backlogs of projects we've had in years. The opportunities to expand, and the attractiveness of Miami, have not been lost by 9/11." Cornish says the Beacon is on track to meet its annual goal of creating more than 3,000 new and expansion jobs.