Beyond the war: strengths and weaknesses - Q&A with Frank Nero

South Florida CEO, May, 2003 by Rochelle Broder-Singer

The Beacon Council has turned its focus from bringing in new companies from outside Miami-Dade to helping existing companies survive and thrive. We asked Frank Nero, president/CEO of the public-private economic development organization, to look back -- and ahead.

SouthFloridaCEO: In a nutshell, how is Miami-Dade's economy doing?

FRANK NERO: So far, Miami-Dade has been holding its own. We've recovered fairly well from 9/11.

SFCEO: What about unemployment?

NERO: Miami-Dade County, over the last year, has either led the state, or been one of the leaders, in job growth and investment. And the state has led the nation. ... It's not where we've been in the past or where we'd like to be, but we're in the positive job growth area.

SFCEO: Is The Beacon Council able to meet its job-creation goals?

NERO: We're just about at the halfway point of our year, and we have 1,500 new jobs that have been created. Our goal for this year is 3,000. Among our successes have been keeping our two big Fortune 500 companies in Miami-Dade County: Carnival and Ryder System. Also, the William Morris Agency opened an office here, [as did] Shell Oil Products LAN, which serves Latin America. A major success on the horizon is Sapphire Air, which is going to develop a prototype for a private jet aircraft at Opa-Locka Airport, and if it is successful, manufacture it. That has the potential of adding 1,000 manufacturing jobs in Opa-Locka.

SFCEO: With regard to war in Iraq, and the general political and economic situation, where has the county felt the impact most?

NERO: Two of our key industries are down: tourism and aviation. There is no question that our tourism industry has been adversely affected. The loss [is from] 10 to 15 percent, sometimes even higher. Our aviation industry has been impacted. We've seen layoffs and retractions. ... We are concerned, because the entire aviation industry is hurting.

SFCEO: What accounts for Miami-Dade's relative strength in this economy?

NERO: The efforts that were engaged 10 years ago to begin to diversify Miami-Dade's economy are starting to bear fruit, although we still have a ways to go. Also important is our ability to marshal both public and private resources to increase our marketing outreach. I think the reason why we have been able to stay in the marketplace -- why we've been able to sustain our numbers in a down economy -- is that we've been in the marketplace touting the advantages of Miami-Dade County.

SFCEO: What have been some of the diversification successes?

NERO: For example, 10 years ago Miami would have never been considered one of the five most wired telecom hubs in the world, and yet we are considered that today. You wouldn't have thought of Miami as a center for the biomedical industry. ... And, we have 1,000 multinational corporations that are currently doing business here, many of them coming from Europe, many of them with a reach throughout the world.

SFCEO: Are companies still showing interest in expanding into the area?

NERO: We're going to continue to recruit companies from throughout the world. I must say that is still very active, even in many cases surprisingly so, given what's happening out there -- particularly our interest from companies in Europe. ... Our No. 1 [target] market is Spain, followed closely by the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and now, a growing market in Europe is Italy. ... [In the US], while the Northeast continues to be the No. 1 area, we're getting a lot of active interest from places like California, Atlanta and Chicago.

SFCEO: How will Miami-Dade best survive current economic conditions?

NERO: Our strategy is to help our companies survive, to see what impediments they have to growth, to see what issues they may be dealing with. That's why we've instituted the Local Business Local Jobs program. We've got 47 active projects from existing businesses.

SFCEO: What are some of your biggest challenges?

NERO: Our infrastructure, with traffic and congestion, still remains an issue. I think the half-cent tax to improve our transportation has gone a long way to at least allay some of those fears that we were doing nothing about it. ... Most importantly, the sustainability of growth of our airport and seaport are issues. .... But I think at the end of the day, our key challenges continue to be education and workforce.

SFCEO: What new issues are looming on the horizon?

NERO: The cost of housing. As our housing prices go up, we have to make sure that we have housing affordability so that entry-level workers and middle management can not only work here, but live here as well.