The Economic Development Council’s “South Dade: More to Explore” working group met on Friday, Mar. 16, at the South Dade Regional Library in Cutler Bay. About 35 people attended, including many area business owners.
Topics discussed were a recap of the South Dade Solutions Summit Meeting, a review of an economic development grant application and the next steps for economic development in South Dade. Center State Bank sponsored a light lunch.
“The meeting went very well,” said Diana Gonzalez of the EDC. “We had attendance by Greg Vaday who is with the Economic Development Administration in Atlanta who is providing us with some guidance on how to move forward with an application for funding to stand up an economic development program for South Dade.
“We were very fortunate to have our partners present, including Miami-Dade County and the South Florida Regional Planning Council. As long as we can continue to muster the support of the business community as well as the local governments of South Dade, I think we can be successful in reaching the goal of having an economic development program that targets the assets that are located in South Dade,” Gonzalez added.
Gonzalez said that includes targeted industries as well as other area assets that are affordably priced commercial land, affordably priced housing and the natural assets that make South Dade a very special community.
“Also at the meeting we had a representative from the SBDC, the Small Business Development Center at FIU,” Gonzalez said. “They have a new program to help agribusinesses’ export programs so she could work with the agribusinesses to help them put together an export program for their products.
“We also had the local rep for the South Florida Manufacturers Association who is very interested in working with the manufacturing companies in South Dade, to pull them together and make them aware of the resources she has to offer. All in all it was a good meeting.
We had a lot of good energy in the room and a lot of interest in working together to make it happen.”
Future meetings likely will be every other month, but Gonzalez said that if important issues or information becomes available they may have meetings sooner.
Miami-Dade County District 8 Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava and District 9 Commissioner Dennis Moss attended the meeting and have been part of the South Dade: More to Explore planning since the beginning.
Commissioner Levine Cava said on Monday following the meeting that she is enthusiastic about the program and is determined to assist.
“We are working every possible angle to attract businesses, grow our economy and market South Dade in ways that will also assure we protect and enhance our quality of life,” Levine Cava said.
