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We can officially say that business in Miami Beach is booming with the recent addition of signature businesses such as Homeoffs, and new local hot spots like Alton Food Hall and Playa, to name a few. Moreover, Miami Beach hosted a very successful bitcoin conference that bodes well for expanding our region’s role in this dynamic market segment. All things to celebrate at our upcoming Dinner Gala set for June 4that the Miami Beach Convention Center.
At the same time, Miami Beach needs to address the stresses currently being put on its housing stock as we look to near term grow and impediments to grow.
I’d like to recognize our Pillar Board Chair John Stuart and Vice Chair Richard Pototsky for their leadership and for organizing an insightful meeting with Richard Florida, a preeminent American urban studies theorist, and Miami Beach resident, who spoke about the future of Miami Beach. Richard’s predictions were bullish and thoughtful- stating that the city has “scaled up”. He mentioned that CEOs of major corporations are moving to Miami Beach for the lifestyle and the potential of finding an “urban suburb” in the city. The Real Estate market and pricing reflect some of this.
Richard also addressed the most pernicious challenges, which is the unaffordability of housing and spoke about how other cities are addressing these issues by creating incentives for affordable housing. He discussed how developers could be incentivized to create parks or other social infrastructures to create more of a community. Basically, Miami Beach should set an example to be a growth model of new housing, luxury and affordable, and consider the idea of the 15 minute neighborhood, in which all necessary public amenities are within a 15-minute walk/bike ride.
Ultimately, our Pillar Board, is looking for strategies and plans to convey the message of a better community. The board followed up on four talking points from the Goals Conference, which was held in 2019 under the leadership of the Immediate Past Chair, Seth Feuer and Vice Chair, Leila Chang. These were:
Grow local startups
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- Attract and grow talent base by telling their stories
- Leverage Miami Beach’s global position by telling the stories of our global citizens
- Promote quality of place beyond just fun (environment, culinary scene, arts, education)
The mission of the Pillar Board is to seek to energize economic growth in Miami Beach, provide leadership for effective community involvement, aid in the advancement of education, support progressive government and initiate projects and ideas that benefit both businesses and residents.
Looking forward, the Chamber plans to return to the Convention Center for our annual Gala, June 4th. Presented by City National Bank, the event will celebrate the Chamber’s anti-prohibition stance in the 1920’s and will be a “Roaring” good time. As the largest networking event on Miami Beach, the night will benefit the Miami Beach Education Foundation, a 501 C3 non-profit, which continues to raise funds to hire a Mental Health Counselor for Miami Beach Senior High School, provides teacher grants, supply nurses in local schools, and helps fund IB Programs in Miami Beach Senior High School. I want to thank our extraordinary Gala Chairs Alfredo Gonzalez, Seth Feuer and Richard Segal for their help in organizing this event and promoting it to the community. We have an amazing Board of Governors and group of Council Chairs that also help in putting together this fabulous night. It takes a village! The award recipients this year are:
- Michael Capponi (Global Empowerment Mission) for the Citizen of the Year Award
- DJ IRIE (Irie Foundation) for the Jan Pfeiffer Distinguished Service Award
- Wayne M. Pathman, Esq. (Pathman Lewis, LLP) for the City National Bank Beach High Outstanding Achievement Award
- Peggy Benua (The Dream South Beach) for the Excellence in Tourism Award
- Barton S. Goldberg for the Leonard A. “Doc” Baker Lifetime Achievement Award
We are also currently looking for donations of Gala auction items that are valued at $100 or more for our silent auction. As I previously mentioned, the funds that we raise this year will help support our Education Foundation, and we need your help to make this Gala a “Roaring” success! If you are interested in learning more about the Pillar Board, the Gala or donating an item, email danny@miamibeachchamber.com
Best,
Aaron Tandy
