Dear Members,
I am thrilled to welcome you all back to in-person programming! We are finally able to come together for informative discussions with our esteemed community leaders and experts.
This past month, we successfully returned to in-person events and received a great turnout for the Resilient H2O & Infrastructure event, featuring Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, Alejandra Y. Castillo, as well as for our Chamber Connections at Ch’in Brickell. We also had our “Hail & Farewell" Military Affairs Dinner at the Coral Reef Yacht Club, where we bid farewell to Adm. Craig S. Faller and welcomed Gen. Laura Richardson, the new Combatant Commander at South Command the first woman to assume that command.
November’s featured programming will include Women Leaders in Financial Services, where we will be joined by a panel of leading women financial professionals at the Coral Gables Museum. The event will be moderated by CNBC Money Court’s Katie S. Pang, and we’ll hear Opening Remarks from Laura Kaplan, Market President of BNY Mellon & Commonwealth Institute Executive Committee. Miami, The Resilient City will feature a conversation on sustainable real estate and affordable housing at 545 Wyn. We are also hosting another exclusive Trustee Soirée reception for our trustee level and above members. RSVP must be made in advance by contacting Nelly Hocke at nhocke@miamichamber.com. Please note all registrations must be made in advance and guests must adhere to COVID guidelines.
A year ago, we presented our objective for the Greater Health Trust in partnership with AvMed to bring affordable healthcare for small businesses. We are proud to now offer this program to our membership, providing them with health savings, benefits, and quality service. Those interested can get started online today by clicking here.
On a different note, I hope you all exercised your right to vote in the November 2ndmunicipal elections and made sure your voice was heard in selecting our governmental leaders as we are fortunate to influence our community’s future. No matter the outcome, we look forward to continuously working with our local government to benefit and protect the Greater Miami area.
And just a friendly reminder folks to turn your clocks back an hour on Sunday, November 7th. Enjoy the extra hour of sleep! I look forward to seeing everyone at our upcoming events.
Sincerely,
Alfred Sanchez
President and CEO, Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce
Virtual Mini Summit: Regional Transit & Workforce Housing
In partnership with the South Florida Business Council, we streamed a jam-packed online program featuring three panel discussions on the region's transit, workforce housing, and accessibility to funding. We had the pleasure to once again work with WLRN's Tom Hudson serving as moderator for the program, and he kicked off the panel by expressing that "these appropriate combination of topics, transit, and housing both have changed considerably because of this pandemic...your commute may have moved from 30 minutes to three minutes,...these topics also reflect a return to concerns of transit and housing affordability with new attention because of the pandemic."
The mini-summit began with panelists discussing transit issues in South Florida– commuting, traffic, and public transportation. Key points of conversation included:
- How are we working regionally on transit and transportation?
- What is the outlook of "premium transit" in District 6 and other local regions?
The program continued with a focus on the issue of housing in the region as it continues to get more expensive to have a home. Rent is up 27% year over year regionally and the average price for single-family homes is at or almost at $500M. Panelists touched on the following topics:
- What is the cost burden of housing in the region?
- How does the region work together to encourage more supply of the housing stock?
The summit followed with a panel on working regionally to access funding featuring local Congress women from Districts 21 and 23. Key highlights of the discussion featured:
- What is different in terms of the region working together in securing federal funds?
- Grants Available and Deadlines
Resilient H20 & Infrastructure
We hosted our first in-person program of the year featuring an esteemed panel of local experts as they discussed what to expect from the infrastructure bill and its relation to our region's hydro-environment. The program presented remarks from Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, "this package will offer Miami-Dade and other municipalities around the country the ability to upgrade roads and infrastructure but also prepare Miami-Dade for a more resilient future to come." We also heard from Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, Alejandra Y. Castillo, speak on the importance of the bipartisan Federal Infrastructure Bill. The program panelists discussed a variety of topics to address the resiliency issue, including finding ways to leverage public and private arrangements to expedite restoration in our local environment, prioritize the bill funds for water and sewer management, protecting the Biscayne aquifer, and much more.
Navigating Covid-19 Part 3: The Aging Population
Part three concentrated on COVID-19's impact on the aging population. The panel featured presentations from medical experts, Dr. Shaun Corbett, Chief Medical Officer at Miami Jewish Health, and Dr. Haleem Mohammed, Regional Medical Director with Leon Medical Centers. The webinar is a continuation of how everyone can continue to navigate the pandemic. Interesting program themes discussed:
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Overview of COVID cases
- Managing the Impact of COVID Concerns in the Elderly
- COVID & Age/Disease Factors for those over 60
- Help fight COVID-19: Take the We Did It campaign pledge!
Recently, our Chamber joined with Miami-Dade County and Health Foundation of South Florida to launch the We Did It! campaign, a new pledge program that calls on small businesses to encourage vaccines at work as a way to keep workers and customers safe and reignite the local economy. Will you join us? All you have to do is go to WeDidItSFL.com and take the pledge by downloading posters, stickers and social media fliers to communicate your commitment. You’ll also find information on how to encourage vaccines and talk to your team about them.
Microsoft Launches Accelerate Miami-Dade
The Greater Miami Chamber is proud to partner with Accelerate Miami-Dade, an initiative of Microsoft. Along with other local partners, we are joining forces to help our labor force acquires the new digital skills in high demand and ensure we bridge the digital divide.
Military Affairs Council Dinner
We bid farewell to Admiral Craig S. Faller and welcomed General Laura J. Richardson, the new Combatant Commander at U.S. Southern Command. General Richardson is the first woman to assume that command. Thank you to the GMCC's Military Affairs Committee for organizing this program.
