I’d invest in rapid transit, whether it’s from Homestead, the FIU area or Miami Beach. Young professionals are not as interested in owning cars and driving, and our current public transportation system, as well as Brightline, can only get you so far. Another area is education, as professionals want to move to where the best schools are. Florida should make stronger investments in these areas given our trillion-dollar state economy.
Tony Argiz, chairman, CEO, Morrison, Brown, Argiz & Farra, LLC (MBAF)
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At Stantec, we do our part to attract and retain talent locally by offering competitive salaries and benefits packages. As the City of Miami continues to grow, so too does the cost of living. Retaining talent means providing a wage that allows people to live and thrive in our vibrant city.
Adriana Jaegerman, senior principal, managing leader, Stantec
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Aggressively recruit technology, high-tech manufacturing, and similar companies to South Florida by “packaging” existing federal, state, and local incentives so that decision-makers can readily ascertain the value of our community. The Beacon Council has been making efforts like this for decades and it works, but further community efforts, such as creating direct lines of communication between these employers and South Florida schools and universities, lets everyone collaborate to realign education in order to produce more industry-ready graduates.
José E. Latour, founding partner, LatourLaw
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Small businesses play a vital role in South Florida’s economy. If major corporations and other large buying institutions do more business with minority and small businesses, more talent will stay and be lured to the region because employers will be able to pay better wages and provide great benefits. Unfortunately, there is still a brain drain, especially of African-American talent. Both the private and public sector should implement more initiatives that keep our best talent in the region.
Beatrice Louissaint, president, CEO, Florida State Minority Supplier Development Council
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A region’s culture and lifestyle are an important aspect of talent recruitment. With Inter Miami CF, South Florida will have a professional team for every major professional sport and we certainly hope that will entice some to live, work and play in our community. Also, the tech office hub component of Miami Freedom Park will further solidify Miami’s role in the all-important tech economy.
Jorge Mas, chairman and co-founder, MasTec
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At eMerge Americas, we are bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, business executives and innovators from all over the world in order to help build and foster a sustainable tech hub in South Florida. We will continue to build on these efforts, which help to create more opportunities for talent, as well as help to attract more talent.
Melissa Medina, president, eMerge
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THE MIAMI HERALD
