Interview: Michael Stamm, Director

“We have a partnership with Nova Southeastern, FIU and Broward College to integrate the future pipeline of talent into what we do,” said Charinus Johnson-Davis, CEO of the Davie-Cooper City Chamber of Commerce - Broward. “For many people, this can be the time to refocus career priorities or retrain in a different field. Having the universities be so active in our organization gives us the opportunity to help these members with their application processes or writing resumes. Our goal is to ultimately make strategic connections across the business community.”

To ensure its footing, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance helped the county recruit and retain almost 2,000 jobs from some of the nation’s largest companies, which made $353 million in new capital investments in the first nine months of 2020. Spirit Airlines, one of the largest job creators in the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance’s network, will add 225 new jobs, retain 853 existing jobs and make a $250 million capital investment in Dania Beach. Financial services firm Bankers Healthcare Group invested $42 million and Amazon invested $32 million in a new Pompano Beach ( ) Michael Stamm

Director of Planning & Economic Development City of Pembroke Pines

How is the city working to support its small businesses and retailers?

The city of Pembroke Pines has about 9 million square feet of retail and commercial real estate. Some of that retail space has converted into facilities with more medical uses, which do not fit in the traditional retail mold. Access to healthcare is a big component. We are also seeing expansion within the healthcare sector, including the development of a new cancer center at Memorial West Hospital. We are seeing that shift in the retail market. In parallel, we are tearing down some retail, rebuilding it and looking at it in di erent ways. Of the total retail space available, 1 million square feet is the Pembroke Lakes Regional Mall, owned by Brookfield Properties. They are going to have some challenges with big box retailers potentially closing their doors but we are trying to inject flexibility into our code and our code rewrite so we can handle some of these changes as they come in over time. Leasing has been a bit on the slow end due to COVID-19, although we maintain less than 4% vacancy.

What innovations or opportunities have emerged from the pandemic?

The city was not fully ready for a phenomenon of this nature. We are in the process of implementing ERP (enterprise resource planning) software, which, in short, is a brand-new brain for the city and how it operates financially. We are in the first phases of its implementation. Had we done it in 2016, prior to COVID-19, we may have been in a di erent situation regarding the digital space: online payments, added flexibility for our residents and our businesses. That is among our challenges moving forward – getting the ERP implemented – along with the programs that come with it, such as the Digital Plan Submission and Review.

We are also on the last legs of implementing a whole new land development code, which is going to be a huge benefit to not only our business community but also our residents.