Miami-Dade County’s leading economic development wing is riding high.
Established in 1985, the Beacon Council is an official public-private partnership responsible for driving new business investments throughout the county. The organization helps companies relocate to Miami-Dade by assisting in market research, site selection and workforce recruitment, as well as by negotiating new business deals to incentivize community benefits.
Amid a string of recent successes, a historic election to its board of directors and a search for a new CEO underway, the council is embarking on an exciting new trajectory.
A wave of companies has decided to locate or expand their offices in Miami-Dade County over the past year.
Welcoming Growth
Beacon Council staff has a great deal to be proud of. The past couple of years have seen a corporate migration that is unprecedented even by South Florida standards, with leading tech companies continuing to migrate here from bustling metropolises in the Northeast region.
“The story of New Yorkers or folks from Chicago moving to or investing in South Florida is not necessarily a new story,” said James Kohnstamm, the council’s executive vice president for economic development. “But in the last few years that’s just been put in overdrive.”
Citadel, Citadel Securities, Kroger, FundKite, Belong, SH Hotel & Resorts, AerCap and Windstar Cruises are just a few of the firms that have decided to open offices in the county since 2021.
At its 2022 annual meeting Nov. 17, the council additionally celebrated the notable arrivals or expansions of world-leading financial service organizations Millennium Management, Yield Street, Bradesco and Miami-based firm Insigneo; Israeli tech company startups Reeco and Sauce; women- and Black-led businesses Azamara, CourMed and Half Moon Empanadas; and leaders in life sciences and health care, including Avema Pharma Solutions, InnFocus and eMed.
Mayor Daniella Levine Cava at that meeting also loosely floated the announcement of her new economic development plan, "FutureReady," which will focus on advancing workforce talent, supporting small businesses and unleashing innovation.
(Miami Times File Photo)
Michael Finney, Miami-Dade Beacon Council CEO and president, died unexpectedly in April.
In the meantime, Miami-Dade reaps a clear benefit as it becomes a new home to the Formula One series. The international racing league held its championship Grand Prix this May in the city of Miami Gardens – the first piece of a decadelong partnership already proving to spur economic development throughout the county.
“If there is such a thing as a silver lining from a pandemic,” Kohnstamm added, “Miami came out of the deep days of COVID in a very strong, competitive position for business recruitment and expansion.”
The county’s climate-driven appeal might be a factor, but the Beacon Council has largely moved away from a tired – albeit convenient – reliance on Miami’s year-round sunshine and natural coastline to draw business here. The marketing approach is far more dynamic today, Kohnstamm says, pitching the county’s talented workforce, unique infrastructure, open government and cultural gateways to Latin America.
As a result, the council has supported 57 companies over the past year, creating more than 8,000 jobs across a broad range of industry sectors, as well as more than $800 million of annual investment into Miami-Dade. Plus, at an average salary of $97,000, those jobs are expected to generate upwards of $50 million in disposable income.
A Council First
(Miami-Dade Beacon Council)
Yolanda Cash Jackson, the first Black woman chair of the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, says there is an urgent need to increase the county’s affordable housing stock and improve public transit.
Yolanda Cash Jackson is living proof that Black women continue to make inroads and history even today – a fact that, to her, is as disappointing as it is crucial. The 64-year-old attorney became the Beacon Council’s first Black female chair when the organization announced its 2022-2023 board of directors in October.
“I’m more importantly concerned about making sure that it’s not the last time we have a woman of color to serve (as chair),” Jackson said.
But her perspective extends far beyond race and gender. Born to a long line of Miami natives, Jackson’s roots date back to the 1900s, when her great-grandparents first moved to the city. The Bahamian settlers helped build the locale that today booms with vigor and vitality, and so began Jackson’s story.
Fast-forward three generations to when she was born in Jackson Memorial Hospital, later attending Charles R. Drew K-8 Center in Liberty City and eventually graduating from Miami Edison Sr. High School in Little Haiti.
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(Miami-Dade Beacon Council)
Yolanda Cash Jackson (center), seen here at a Beacon Council board meeting, will play a pivotal role in choosing the organization’s next CEO.
ackson’s upbringing in the community has been followed by a career as a commercial litigator before a turn to government relations with her current firm, Becker & Poliakoff. It was through that relationship that another soon emerged.
The late Alan Becker, founder of the law firm and a former chair of the Beacon Council, encouraged Jackson to attend the organization’s meetings. But it wasn’t until Michael Finney became CEO and president in 2017 that her involvement really began to ramp up.
Jackson became chair of the newly formed Urban Initiative Task Force, formed to foster greater participation in Miami-Dade’s economic prosperity with a focus on the Black community, before later joining the council’s board of directors.
Searching for a CEO
Jackson’s new role comes at a pivotal time in the organization’s recent history. Her first order of business will be to spearhead the search for a new president and CEO, after Finney’s unexpected death left a gap in the council’s leadership eight months ago.
(Miami-Dade Beacon Council)
William Talbert III (L) and Michael Finney in 2019.
The position is currently held by Interim President and CEO William Talbert III, who also served for many years as CEO of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau (GMVCB) until last year.
Whoever succeeds him, Talbert says, will have to display a range of knowledge in leadership, communication, politics, sales and technology.
“The President and CEO of the Miami-Dade Beacon Council is the trusted voice and champion for the business and economic development and provides visionary and inspirational leadership to the council and the community,” reads the website’s job description.
Whomever takes on the position will further be responsible for overseeing an approximately $5 million budget, and engage communities within and outside county lines.
Most importantly, they’ll have to manage a close working relationship with Jackson, Talbert says.
“Every chair has a vision,” he said. “Every chair has their style. The CEO needs to have the ability to work with each chair and their vision and how they operate.”
Jackson says the council is additionally looking for someone who can represent the diversity that she’s witnessed her whole life in the place where she grew up.
“Miami-Dade County isn’t cookie cutter,” she notes, and neither is the criteria by which she’ll make her selection.
The council has hired global consulting firm Korn Ferry to find a new CEO by next month. They helped recruit Finney five years ago.
Looking Forward
(Miami-Dade Beacon Council)
James Kohnstamm, Beacon Council’s executive vice president of economic development, says promoting Miami is all about pitching the county’s talented workforce, unique infrastructure, open government and cultural gateways to Latin America.
In addition to its recent growth in the business sector, Kohnstamm says the county has an active pipeline of roughly 150 new projects – the highest in the council’s history.
An active project is defined as a company that has submitted plans for potential job creation, capital investment, wages, needed square footage and more for at least a two-year time frame. As such, the true number of businesses prospectively moving to the county could very well exceed that amount.
But expansion is only sustainable for so long. With the influx of new businesses and a larger workforce comes an increased demand for the very services that existing residents are already struggling to secure.
Jackson notes an urgent need to increase Miami-Dade’s affordable housing stock and improve public transit if it’s going to properly accommodate a rising population. Otherwise, the county faces a difficult future.
“What are those kinds of things that we need to do to make people want to come here, and to retain those companies that decide that they want to do business here? Just like they left New York, they can leave Florida,” she said.
Kohnstamm also warns against the long-term threats of sea-level rise and hurricanes.
“We want to make sure that we’re continuing to build a resilient county and plan for impacts to make ourselves as sustainable as possible,” he said.
On that end, Kohnstamm hinted at ongoing discussions with leading companies in the field of climate technology.
Plus – obstacles and ailments aside – high hopes among the Beacon Council’s key members is a common denominator.
“I’m really excited about our leadership and our chair and the direction that she’s heading for the organization. I think we’re really well positioned with Yolanda as chair as we kind of face these opportunities going forward,” said Kohnstamm.
“I think the community and the Miami-Dade Beacon Council are poised for the future,” added Talbert. “The entire world loves Miami, so I don’t really see an end to what’s going on here.”