Letter from the Chair of the Board

Miami Beach Chairwoman Robin Jacobs
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The amazing team at the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce have been keeping our business community informed and connected throughout the pandemic and recovery with over 300 webinars over this past year.

 Our weekly chats with Mayor Gelber have been a great success. We have garnered thousands of impressions through Facebook live and have had extraordinary guests.  Recently, we welcomed Mayor Daniella Levine Cava who spoke about the  Covid-19 vaccine rollout and the triumphs from her first 100 days of office. Past guests of the show, which I  co-host with Chamber President & CEO Jerry Libbin, include Police Chief Clements, City Manager Jimmy Morales , Interim City Manager Raul Aguila, Rickelle Williams, Heather Shaw, Eric Carpenter and,of course, Mayor Dan Gelber who discussed items coming before commission such as Lincoln Road and the City’s budget.

Last week Chamber chat was co hosted with President and CEO Jerry Libbin , Vice Chairs, Madeleine Romanello- Compass Realty, Richard Segal – founding shareholder, Segal Zuckerman and Dean John Stuart Associate Dean for Cultural and Community Engagement and Executive Director at the Miami Beach Urban Studios in the College of Communication, Architecture + the Arts (CARTA) and our guest was Alexis L. Moseley, who represents the office of Commissioner Sally A. Heyman, regarding their annual Mom and Pop Small Business Grant Program. Small businesses may be eligible to receive up to $5,000, depending on the number of applicants. Applications will be accepted February 1 through February 19, 2021 and to view the application, click here. Please make sure to verify that your business is in her district and that you meet the criteria before you submit your application.

Recently, we partnered with Mayor Daniella Levine Cava for her “We Can, We Will” campaign, which is a collaborative effort by Miami-Dade County, City Mayors, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, businesses and business groups, health leaders, community leaders, and more to share positive messaging about key behaviors to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and celebrate residents and businesses working to keep others safe. The Chamber has participated in the program by installing a camera recognition machine at the entrance of the building that scans guests for their temperature and we’ve installed plexiglass around our reception desk for added safety precautions. We are also encouraging members to send us short videos explaining precautions they are taking so we can share with the Mayor’s office and we can post on our social media. 

Regarding our “Chefs Care Cookbook,” we are getting ready to send it to print, which is exciting and it should be available by early Spring. We have over 40 fabulous from restaurants like Nobu, Azabu, Naked Taco and Juvia, to name a few. The idea behind the book is simple – we reached out to top Chefs  to send in their favorite recipes, which we are compiling into a fabulous book. Anyone who makes a $50 donation or more to the Chamber’s Education Foundation will receive a copy of the book. To make things more exciting, the Miami Beach Chamber Foundation will donate $10,000 to Project Upstart in the name of the Chef that generates the highest number of unique donations and $5,000 in the name of the Chef that generates the second most. The Education Foundation, Co-Chaired by Alfredo Gonzalez and Bruce Gould, will be donating 100% of the net proceeds from both the Chamber’s golf tournament as well as the Chef Cares Cook book to the Miami-Dade County School Board for the purchase of gift cards at Publix to be distributed to the families who have agreed to house formerly homeless Miami Beach Public school students.

We will be promoting the book through a series of unique opportunities and events. For example, we will be partnering with the incredible mentalist Alan Chamo to create a magical virtual program that will be family friendly. With over 30 years of experience, Alan has entertained a diverse and unique audience from all over the world. Using a mix of comedy and magic, he has been able to motivate and inspire people from all over the world in English and Spanish and continues to do so even during the ongoing pandemic.

 As we embark our next 100 year chapter, I’m excited to announce that we’ve stepped up our technological game and will be using BoardEffect. The portal provides the right tools, analytics and insights to drive more efficient and effective governance. Thus enabling a modern approach to governance and their solutions help power effective decision-making for mission-focused organizations like ours. In addition, the chambers meetings and historical documents will now be digitized. I am proud to say we are officially paperless!

   The Miami Beach Chamber will continue to update all our members to make sure that you have the most current information with respect to grants and or loans that may be available to you for your business and your employees, and on behalf of all of us at the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, I want to thank you for your continued support as we all work together!

Stay Safe,

Robin Jacobs


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