Global Miami May 2023

eMerge President Melissa Medina and CEO Felice Gorordo at eMerge 2023

Exquisite Bayfront Views

Situated along the beautiful coastline of South Brickell, with exquisite bayfront views, an on-property private marina, and an exclusive fine-dining restaurant by Michelin-starred chef Fabio Trabocchi, The St. Regis Residences, Miami offer a lifetime of legendary moments — a place where the history and heritage of a timeless brand enables a signature way of life, propelled by impeccable service, world-class design and unparalleled connoisseurship.

Thank You Miami

The World Baseball Classic was a Grand Slam Start to an Exciting Season of Baseball in Miami

BY CAROLINE O’CONNOR President of Business Operations @ The Miami Marlins

As the World Baseball Classic 2023 came to end, I looked back on a monumental tournament that put an international spotlight on Miami. I marveled over the on-field excitement, from Japan’s Shohei Ohtani and USA’s Mike Trout facing off for the first time to the life-changing inning for Nicaragua’s Duque Hebbert that landed him a deal with a Major League Baseball team.

Throughout the entire WBC, fans filled the ballpark with unmeasurable energy and passion for each of the respective countries competing. The World Baseball Classic scored record-breaking attendance in Miami, with more than 475,000 fans checking out the action in Miami alone, setting records overall and round-by-round in the United States. Game after game was sold out from start to finish - culminating with our largest crowd of the tournament for the finale.

The World Baseball Classic was a success for Miami. The numbers confirm this. All eyes were on Miami and this year’s WBC shattered tournament viewership, attendance, and merchandise records. More than 150,000 hotdogs were consumed at loanDepot park and championship gear sold out in an hour after the final game ended. We also saw the rising popularity of the Brightline Home Runner with nearly 5,000 riders taking advantage of the free shuttle from MiamiCentral to loanDepot park. The demand was so great we added shuttles for fans Opening Day to accommodate the West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, and Ft. Lauderdale riders. Those who couldn’t make the game were incredibly active on social media and watching on TV. And there was baseball-fever not just in Miami but throughout all participating 20 nations, with nearly 30% of fans attending coming from outside South Florida.

The stars also came out to show support for their home teams. WBC ambassador and international music icon Daddy Yankee was spotted around loanDepot park from the first pitch to the last out. Everyone wanted to check out the action - from Marc Anthony and Luis Fonsi cheering on Puerto Rico, along with South Florida pro athlete stars from the Miami Heat, Miami Marlins, Miami Dolphins, Inter Miami CF and more. It was amazing to see Marlins legends like Edgar Renteria, Livan Hernandez, Ivan Rodriguez with Miami legends like Dwyane Wade. Miami

I was fortunate to be inside loanDepot park for all 15 WBC games and experienced firsthand how impactful this tournament was for our city of Miami. Even if you only made it to one game, worked at the stadium, were a vendor who brought an aspect of the game to life, or a hotel or business that served thousands of visitors from outside South Florida, you know what I’m talking about. The WBC has set the tone for the beginning of baseball season and for years to come. A sixth WBC will come around again in 2026, and I think this year Miami more than put its best foot forward to again be a host city.

With the Miami Marlins season now in full gear, let’s keep the party going at loanDepot park. Whether it’s a family outing, a team building event for work or just a good old fashioned day out at the ballpark, we’re excited to see the South Florida community cheering on their very own Miami Marlins as we celebrate the team’s 30th anniversary. www.mlb.com/marlins/tickets

From Left to Right: Marlins President Caroline O’Connor, Commissioner Eileen Higgins, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Marlins owner Bruce Sherman

born and raised stars like Flo-Rida also filled the seats.

The World Baseball Classic scored record-breaking attendance in Miami, with more than 475,000 fans checking out the action in Miami alone, setting records overall and round-by-round in the United States.

ISSUE 2-03 FEATURES

48

THE MISSION OF eMERGE

Some call Miami’s annual high-tech event the “connective tissue” of the city's tech ecosystem.

54

PLANTING SEEDS IN THE U.S. MARKET

Mana Tech’s immersive approach to bringing Latin American startups to the U.S. market.

58

THE CANADA CONNECTION

South Florida has fast become a major business platform for Canadian companies.

A $30 BILLION BUSINESS AND GROWING

Broward County’s Port Everglades is showing impressive growth post-COVID

70

IMPETUS FOR GLOBAL LATIN FASHION

South and Central American designers on show at the Latin American Fashion Summit.

64 77

SPECIAL REPORT: PEREIRA RISING

Hospitality, an upgraded airport, and a World Trade Center help boost this Colombian city.

THE MOST TRUSTED LOGISTICS PAYMENT PLATFORM

With the largest multi-modal logistics network in the industry, PayCargo allows for faster release of cargo and improved daily cash flow for all types of freight payments and invoices.

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor…

Growing up in New York City back in the day afforded me the opportunity to fully understand the concept of what America was all about. The American Dream. The Melting Pot. Those concepts were discussed starting in first grade right through high school…. but it was done in “real-time” as we matured and acculturated.

How could you miss it? The Statue of Liberty. The United Nations. Chinatown. Little Italy. Annual parades for the Irish on St. Patrick’s Day and the Italians on Columbus Day. The food. The languages. Every street told a story.

What we learned then was that we were a nation of immigrants bringing different cultures, languages, hopes, and dreams. We were a nation of people “escaping from” to a nation of acceptance and safety. We had to memorize Emma Lazarus’ poem, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

It was our mantra growing up. You learned at an early age that those words, as magnetic as they were – and still are today – clearly defined what we’re all about. Our mission. What God intended us to be.

Flash forward. Today’s Miami has grown into the role of the old gateway of The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and has become the New World gateway to freedom. We saw it with wave after wave of refugees fleeing for their lives from the construct of communism and autocratic regimes south of our border. No different than the late 19th and early 20th centuries of years past. But we saw the human toll. The risks taken. The “rafts of freedom” upon which whole families placed their lives to

travel to our shores for a better life. For me, it was a second education of what America is all about. It was hopeful. It was scary. It was sad. We cheered those who made it to dry land and cried for those lost at sea. It was real. It pulled at your hearts. It was bittersweet. It was magnificent.

The cover story of eMerge and the deliverance of the Medina family is significant for its journey (Manny being born in Cuba), coming here with nothing but his family’s hopes for a better future, eventually giving rise to a familial empire of real estate, technology, invention, and global trade alliances with a governmental, city-state impact. eMerge is not just an annual event, which is spectacular and incredibly successful (would you expect anything less from this family?), but a physical manifestation of why we’re all here.

There’s a great line from the film, "Tucker: A Man and His Dream" that clearly defines this perspective: “When I was a boy, I used to read all about Edison and the Wright brothers... Mr. Ford, they were my heroes.... ‘Rags to riches’ – that’s not just the name of a book; that’s what this country was all about!... We invented the free enterprise system, where anybody, no matter who he was, where he came from, what class he belonged to... if he came up with a better idea, about ANYTHING, there’s no limit to how far he could go….” Dream on.

PUBLISHER

Richard Roffman

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

J.P. Faber

SENIOR VP INTERNATIONAL

Manny Mencia

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Monica Del Carpio-Raucci

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Gail Feldman

DIRECTOR, SALES AND PARTNERSHIPS

Sherry Adams

Amy Donner

Gail Scott

MANAGING EDITOR

Kylie Wang

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Yousra Benkirane

WRITERS

Doreen Hemlock

Joe Mann

Katelin Stecz

Harriet Mays Powell

Natalia Clement

Amy Poliakoff

ART DIRECTOR

Jon Braeley

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Rodolfo Benitez

Tiege Dolly

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR

Toni Kirkland

CIRCULATION & DISTRIBUTION

CircIntel

BOARD OF ADVISORS

Ivan Barrios, World Trade Center Miami

Ralph Cutié, Miami International Airport

Gary Goldfarb, Interport

Bill Johnson, Strategic Economic Forum

David Schwartz, FIBA

Bill Talbot, Beacon Council

EDITORIAL BOARD

Alice Ancona, World Trade Center Miami

Greg Chin, Miami International Airport

Paul Griebel, World Strategic Forum

Jerry Haar, Florida International University

James Kohnstamm, Beacon Council

John Price, Americas Market Intelligence

TJ Villamil, Enterprise Florida

RICHARD ROFFMAN PUBLISHER GLOBAL MIAMI MAGAZINE

Global Miami Magazine is published monthly by Global Cities Media, LLC. 1200 Anastasia Ave., Suite 217, Coral Gables, FL 33134. Telephone: (305) 452-0501. Copyright 2023 by Global Cities Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part of any text, photograph, or illustration without o\prior written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited. Send address changes to subscriptions@ globalmiamimagazine.com. General mailbox email and letters to editor@globalmiamimagazine.com

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Miami’s Window

Forty-five years in the international economic development arena has given me a unique perspective on the evolution of Greater Miami, from an economic backwater dependent on tourism and retirement to an emerging economic powerhouse, the undisputed business capital of LATAM, and an emerging world class city.

BY MANNY MENCIA

During these decades, Miami – a city of dreamers and immigrants – overcame a long list of external and domestic challenges to emerge as what’s considered our nation’s best location for multinational business and its fastest growing technology and financial center.

I entered the economic development arena at a time when Miami, a mid-sized city with limited economic alternatives, was experiencing massive waves of immigrants fleeing Cuba and later Haiti, Nicaragua, and other Hemispheric nations. It was a time when visionary Miami Mayor Maurice Ferré began promoting Miami as “El Puente de las Americas,” the Americas Bridge, seeking to capitalize on Miami’s geographic position and growing cultural diversity to create a burgeoning cluster of importers and exporters.

Then disaster struck in the form of the Latin American Debt Crisis of the 1980s. Almost overnight, Miami’s international economy collapsed, and thousands of small businesses were forced to cease international operations. In less than two years, the Miami Yellow Pages went from over 90 pages of companies advertising as exporters to less than 20 pages. Miami’s economy was further stressed by the Mariel boat lift,  immigrants fleeing guerrilla wars in Central America, and racial disharmony that culminated in nationally televised violent protests in 1980 and '89.

Even as Miami’s economy recovered in the ’90s, the region was faced with a growing public safety crisis largely fueled by drug smuggling. Time's now famous “Paradise Lost” headline made it almost impossible to attract new businesses. Then, in August 1992, Hurricane Andrew

devastated much of south Miami-Dade County; thousands of Miamians fled.

It is this background that makes Miami’s comeback in the 21st century a truly remarkable story, for which Miami’s leadership, both public and private, deserves recognition.

The new Miami has leveraged the talents of its amazingly diverse communities, as well as its privileged geographic location, dramatically expanding its seaport and airport infrastructure. Companies from the Hemisphere now come, not only to buy and sell products, but also to access new technologies, healthcare, specialized training, and new ideas. Global investors have helped transform the Miami skyline and brought in massive amounts of investment capital. And these investors come not only from the Americas, but also from Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, attracted by pro-business policies and moderate taxes. The icing on the cake was the pandemic, bringing dozens of major firms from New York, Chicago, and California to make Miami one of the fastest growing technology and financial hubs in the world.

So, do we now live happily ever after? Unfortunately, not yet. My experience is that, in economic development, there is no such thing as a permanent win. Communities need ever-improving services and investments to maintain a high quality of life. This means spending not only for our ports and airports, but for access roads and highways and inland distribution centers, so that goods can flow efficiently from our ports.

Training young Miamians for technology related jobs will be critical to maintaining this momentum. Vocational education can’t be ignored either, for the thousands of trade and logistics jobs available. We must continue to support a technology ecosystem that supports young tech companies. Our local and state leadership most also promote Miami to the world through trade missions, cultural exchanges, and strategic alliances. Finally, we need to maintain the highest quality of life (including affordable housing!) and the most harmonious relations possible among our various ethnic groups, ensuring equal opportunity for all. l

Manny Mencia is the chairman of the World Trade Center Miami. Previously he was senior vice president of international trade and development for Enterprise Florida, the state’s public/private department of commerce.

THE OPPORTUNITY FOR MIAMI IS HERE AND NOW – IF MOMENTUM IS MAINTAINED.

BRINGING YOU CLOSER TO YOUR CUSTOMERS FOR 40 YEARS

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Recent Miami Transactions Affecting Global Trade and Investment

new cruise terminal, cargo terminal and berth improvement projects, shore power, improvements for new cargo gantry cranes, and the expansion of cargo facilities handling Florida East Coast Railway trains.

GLOBALX ADDS NEW FREIGHTER, WEEKLY MIAMI-CUBA FLIGHTS

Miami-based Global Crossings Airline Group received approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to lease another A321 “passenger to freighter” aircraft, bringing their fleet to six A321Fs this year. Delivery to Miami International Airport is expected in December. The airline also recently entered a long-term contract for nine weekly passenger flights to Havana and Santa Clara using their Airbus A320s and A321s with tour operator Cubamax Travel.

LONDON INFRASTRUCTURE PROVIDER EXPANDS INTO MIAMI

Thought Machine, a cloud-based infrastructure provider based in London, plans to open new offices in Miami to reach Latin American markets. The company intends to hire 125 new employees over the next year to work at the offices. Last year, Thought Machine completed a Series D funding round, valuing the company at $2.7B.

ACI WORLDWIDE BRINGS SERVICES TO HONDURAS

Miami-based software company ACI Worldwide has partnered with Honduras’ main infrastructure provider, RedAbierta, to introduce real-time payments in Honduras. ACI Worldwide is a global software company that provides electronic payment systems and services to 80 countries across multiple continents.

BRIGHTLINE EXPANDS SHUTTLE SERVICE IN MIAMI

Brightline will now provide additional shuttle services with pick-up spots at three locations: Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, and Miami International Airport. Brightline is a high-speed rail system connecting Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach, with plans to extend service to Orlando. Brightline was created by Wall Street investor Wes Edens, and until their deal ended in 2020, was to be branded Virgin Trains USA by British entrepreneur Richard Branson.

PORTMIAMI’S $1.2 BILLION IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

PortMiami has approximately $1.2 billion in ongoing construction projects and expansions coming within five years, officials announced. These projects include a three-berth mega-cruise terminal, a separate

PORTMIAMI REFUELS LNG CARGO VESSEL FOR FIRST TIME

For the first time ever, PortMiami refueled a liquified natural gas (LNG) cargo vessel. The vessel, Seaboard Marine’s "Seaboard Blue," was the world’s first cargo ship converted from conventional diesel to LNG. Seaboard Blue will be added to Seaboard Marine’s North Central America service and make PortMiami its home port.

SUPPLYCADDY SECURES SEED FUNDING

Global packaging manufacturer and supplier SupplyCaddy raised $3.2 million in seed funding led by Delray Beach-based CEAS Investments. In three years, the Miami-based company has produced over 200 million products made in the U.S., Mexico, and Turkey for clients around the world. The new funding will help the firm to expand resources and deliver new products.

CITADEL NAMES NEW SENIOR HIRES

The most successful hedge fund in the world in 2022, Miami-based Citadel began 2023 by expanding its foreign equities team in London and Hong Kong with five senior appointments. Julian Ulmer joined Citadel’s Hong Kong office in March as the head of Asia Equities Business Development alongside Keith Donan as a senior trader. The three new hires in London are Shang Liew and Cyrill Sourski as equity analysts and Josh Nathan as director of operations.

ACI CHIEF ADMIN OFICER JOHAN ROETS

GLOBAL LISTINGS ACQUIRES THE WORLD PROPERTY JOURNAL

Miami-based real estate portal Global Listings has acquired international publication The World Property Journal to create the world’s top source for global property news. The World Property Journal will offer real estate news and market data on Miami properties in the Global Listings platform.

more than 30 financial advisors. Oppenheimer & Co. offers a variety of investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management services. The bank has continuously expanded its South Florida footprint since its first office opened in Miami more than 30 years ago.

MIA TO OPEN NEW VIP TERMINAL

The Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners has approved Private Suite MIA’s plan to develop a VIP terminal lounge for commercial airline passengers. The VIP luxury suite will be located at the old Pan American Regional Headquarters at MIA and target wealthy passengers looking to avoid the crowds at MIA’s main terminals. The county will receive a minimum of $16 million for the 20-year term of the deal.

VOLARIS EL SALVADOR LAUNCHES NEW ROUTE TO MIAMI

Volaris El Salvador will begin operating a new route with three weekly round-trip flights from El Salvador (SAL) to Miami (MIA), utilizing Airbus A320 aircraft that seat 174 passengers. Volaris El Salvador is a subsidiary of Mexico-based low-cost carrier Volaris.

SOCIAL MOBILE RAISES $35M CREDIT FACILITY

South Florida-based tech company Social Mobile has raised a $35M credit facility from Citi to expand its operations locally and internationally. The company is headquartered in Hollywood in Broward County, where it is expanding into a new 20,000-squarefoot design and engineering office. Social Mobile is also opening a new office in Hyderabad, India, adding to their main facilities in Miami and Shenzhen, China. Social Mobile designs turn-key software systems for clients to bring services and products to market.

MIAMI’S GLOBAL MEDICAL REACH

The Miami Cancer Institute, part of Baptist Health South Florida, recently held its 4th Annual Global Summit on Hematologic Malignancies at the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove. Led by Dr. Guenther Koehne, the Institute’s Deputy Director and Chief of Blood and Marrow Transplant and Hematologic Oncology, the two-day symposium attracted 30 of the world’s leading cancer experts, who shared updates on evolving immunologic and molecular-based therapies and the most recent advances in the treatment of blood cancers and stem-cell transplants.

SEATRADE CRUISE GLOBAL TO BE HELD IN MIAMI

Held last year in Fort Lauderdale, the world’s largest cruise trade show and conference, Seatrade Cruise Global, will return to the Miami Beach Convention Center on April 8-11, 2024. The event had previously been hosted in Miami for 32 years before moving to Broward County due to the convention center’s renovations.

OPPENHEIMER & CO. EXPANDS INTO MIAMI

Wealth management and investment bank Oppenheimer & Co. recently opened an office in Miami’s Coral Gables suburb, employing

HOME OF THE MIAMI HEAT NOW THE KASEYA CENTER

The Miami Heat basketball team announced that Kaseya, a global provider of IT and security management, will now have naming rights for the Downtown Miami arena where they play. The 17-year, $117 million deal with Miami-Dade County replaces FTX’s naming rights after the cryptocurrency bank’s collapse. Kaseya employs over 4,500 people, including more than 900 at its headquarters in Miami, which is spread across four buildings in the Brickell and downtown areas. The company is expected to make significant additional investments in Miami (see story pg. 26). l

DR. KOEHNE

All That Glitters…

A LOOK AT MIAMI’S TRADE IN THAT MOST PRECIOUS COMMODITY, GOLD

BY YOUSRA BENKIRANE

The Miami Customs District has a long history of being a key hub for the import and export of gold. The city’s strategic location on the southeastern coast of the U.S. makes it an ideal gateway to both Latin America and Europe, two regions that have historically been major players in the global gold market.

In the past, Miami was primarily an exporter of gold, as it played a role in shipping the precious metal abroad during the booming gold rush of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. South Florida was also a popular destination for gold prospectors who wanted to trade their finds for cash or other goods, and the go-to place for traders who wanted to avoid stricter regulations in other parts of the country (Key West was practically a pirate’s port of call at the time).

In more recent years, as the global economy grew and international trade became more complex, Miami began importing gold from other parts of the world to satisfy the growing demand for the precious metal. Today, Miami is a key player in the global gold market, importing nearly two-thirds of all the gold which enters the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2022 the Miami Customs District imported gold valued at $2.95B, some 57 percent of all such imports in the U.S. The top five import origins were Colombia ($1.24B), Nicaragua ($729M), Argentina ($349M), Ecuador ($254M), and Switzerland ($105M).

Miami International Airport (MIA) handles most of the gold shipments in the district, since shipping the precious metal via air is much less risky than doing so through seaports. In total, MIA imported over $2.95B worth of gold in 2022 while the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), the only other port in the district to handle the importation of gold, imported just $1.5M worth.

Miami is also a major player in the export of gold. In 2022, gold exports were valued at $614M, an increase of 57.7 percent compared to the previous year, a sign of global mistrust in national currencies. The Miami customs district exports gold to countries all over the world; its top export destinations in 2022 included Italy ($212M), the United Arab Emirates ($184M), Switzerland ($104M), the Cayman Islands ($49.8M), and India ($37.4M). According to experts, much of the gold exported from Miami is in the form of refined gold bars and coins, which are highly sought after by investors around the globe; alternately, much of the gold imported arrives in the form of gold ore, especially from mines in Latin America.

In 2022, Miami’s airport handled the bulk of the district’s gold exports with

just under $614M worth. On the seaport side, both PortMiami and Port Everglades did handle some gold exports, but in tiny amounts, with PortMiami exporting $4,519 worth and Port Everglades exporting $15,495 worth in 2022. Virtually no imports were recorded.

There are several major gold dealers and refineries located in Miami, such as the Elemetal Refining Facility and Asahi, which further reinforce the city and the district’s position as a key hub in the industry. With its strategic location and well-established infrastructure, Miami is likely to remain a player in the global gold market for years to come. l

Sources: The Observatory of Economic Complexity, United States Census Bureau USA Trade® Online, PortMiami, Miami International Airport, Port Everglades.

TOP FIVE 2022 GOLD EXPORT DESTINATIONS

TOP FIVE 2022 GOLD IMPORT ORIGINS

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Kimpton Angler’s Hotel, Miami Beach

The Growing Connection with Mexico

Over the last decade, trade and commerce has steadily increased between Miami and Mexico, as Mexican businesses and investors grow their presence in the Southeast U.S. Likewise, Miami-based companies have increased their operations in Mexico due to lower production costs. A career diplomat working for the Mexican Foreign Ministry for almost 25 years, Consul

How does Miami compare to the previous cities that you’ve been posted in?

It’s very different. In Washington, D.C…. I gained a better understanding of the relevance of Congress in the political arena and the U.S. decision-making process for international affairs. Any topic related to foreign affairs must go through Congress, like immigration or security. Working on that was very important since we have such a strong relationship with the U.S. And now being in Miami, [our] main priorities [are supporting the] Mexican community and expanding our relationships in this region.

How does the consulate support Mexican businesses and entrepreneurs in Miami?

One of our main objectives has been maritime routes and pushing to understand the relevance of the Florida ports. In June last year, we took a small delegation on a trade mission with World Trade Center [Miami]. The whole idea was to figure out how we could open markets for both sides. As for the community itself, many of [the Mexicans in Miami] are farm workers who are entrepreneurs too, and we give them the tools to better their businesses. We have programs through different universities and the Mexican Foreign Ministry to support these small businesses. We also have a strong relationship with the different Chambers, the Beacon Council, and World Trade Center Miami, [so] we connect people with them.

What are your priorites on the state of trade between Mexico and Miami?

First, we think that maritime routes are going to be very important. We have such a long border with the U.S. that sometimes we forget

General of Mexico in Miami, Jonathan Chait Auerbach, was appointed to his current role in 2019. Prior to that, he was posted at the Embassy of Mexico in Washington, D.C. as its liaison with Congress. He also spent time serving in San Francisco, Dallas, and El Paso. We sat down with the consul general to discuss his priorities and the relationship between Miami and Mexico.

that we also have a border with Florida, which is the ocean. Second, we’re trying to match up companies between the two regions [so they can] produce together. We have a strong trade exchange, but we’re not producing together. For instance, there are other states that are producing automobiles with Mexican companies to build or assemble in Mexico. This is the type of connection that we need as well.

What are some current issues facing Mexicans here and how is the consulate addressing them?

As with any consulate, you must be working with the community on different topics – any needs that the community might have, like health, education, legal assistance, or their rights. One of our main objectives is to make the Mexican community more visible in the region. Also, social media has become an important tool for us. We want to break some stereotypes of what a diplomat is [so we] can be more approachable to the people. It’s important for them to know us better.

Do you work with other Mexican consulates and embassies around the world?

We have the largest consular network in the world with 52 consulates throughout the U.S. We have about 10 in California and Texas [alone]. That makes sense, considering the Mexican communities there. Even though we work independently in our communities, we also work together in areas we have to promote, like trade. l

Originally located in the Brickell financial district, the General Consulate of Mexico in Miami will be relocating to Coral Gables this month.

PHOTOS BY TIEGE DOLLY

When Stars Align, Mexico

and Florida nearshore partners

The US-China tensions, the COVID-19 pandemic, and, most recently, the Ukraine-Russia conflict disrupted the global supply chains. It revealed the importance of having reliable supply chains in nearshore or friendly countries. Many companies started relocation plans, and the new nearshoring trend emerged as a solution to manufacturing and distribution to get goods to markets and end consumers on time. Given this scenario, some countries and cities have benefited, such is the case for Mexico and Florida.

According to the IDB, Mexico is the most competitive country in the region to capture nearshoring opportunities due to its unique geographic advantages, such as access to two oceans, important ports on each side, abundant natural resources, also because of its trade openness with 40 treaties across the world that allow Mexico to reach more than 50 countries, particularly the USMCA. Mexico also has an important industrial sector, manufacturing, and logistics hubs in the world, with production plants and distribution centers from different industrial sectors offering high-quality standards, a highly skilled workforce, and a young population. Another benefit is lower transportation costs, faster delivery times, and the same time zones as the United States.

Miami is intertwined with Latin America and its prime nearshore location and offers more benefits than any other US city for Latin American companies and entrepreneurs. Through their Latin America branches, it provides access to the buyers and decision-makers of substantial US companies. Most executives and entrepreneurs are migrants or descendent of migrants, so cultural affinity makes it easier to do business.

Mexico is one of Florida’s strongest trading partners, with over 13 billion dollars in 2022; Mexico ranks #3 as a destination for Florida-origin exports and #2 as a source of imports. A working group Florida-Mexico organized by the Florida Ports Council and the Coordination of Ports and Merchant Marine in Mexico, are making efforts to promote co-manufacturing and coinvestments between Florida and Mexico to provide supply chain security and resiliency. As well as significant time and cost savings via maritime trade between the countries using Florida’s 15 deep-water seaports and Mexico’s Gulf Coast ports instead of the overcrowded land border crossings.

We are witnessing a historical moment where Miami, Florida, and Mexico are in the best possible position to continue their economic development and growth to have more robust supply chains between Mexico and Florida as companies continue to explore re-shoring and nearshoring options.

The Mexican Ministry of Finance has provided figures showing the impact of nearshoring in the country. During 2022, the demand for industrial space increased by 42% compared to the previous year, and the national vacancy rate of industrial buildings reached its lowest in 10 years, 2.8%. Real estate group CBRE estimates that over 7 million square feet of nearshoring projects have been built in Mexico in 2021.

Mexico is well-placed to take advantage of the opportunities for the rearrangement of global value chains bring. However, due to misaligned government incentives, a lack of investment, and an unsupportive business environment, Mexico could have a huge missed opportunity. The private sectors in both US and Mexico should look for their own opportunities and reach out to many organizations supporting trade between countries, as we do in the United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, Inter-American Chapter based in Miami, we have seen a massive increase in requests to connect businesses, suppliers, and manufacturers of many different industries to opportunities and soft landings in Mexico and or Florida.

Grover Scales Up

A GERMAN COMPANY BRINGS SUSTAINABLE TECH RENTALS TO THE STATES

BY NATALIA CLEMENT

Staying up-to-date with technology requires emptying your wallet after every new launch, whether it be the latest iPhone or 4K television. Grover is trying to change that. The German tech rental company, with its U.S. headquarters in Miami, offers consumers and businesses an opportunity to acquire a wide range of technology for a fraction of the cost through subscription-based rentals. Rather than an indebting “buy now, pay later” approach, consumers decide how long they want to use the product and then return it. Grover refurbishes the device for its next rental.

Sustainability is a key selling point for the company. Depending on the category, Grover rents out products two to six times. The record-holding device, a GoPro, has been used 27 times. Since the company was founded in 2015, it has circulated more than one million devices and refurbished over 300,000 tech products. According to their internal impact model, Grover estimates they have saved the purchase of around 100,000 new devices.

“We’re in the business of allowing customers to reuse devices across multiple life cycles,” Grover’s U.S. General Manager Andrew Draft explains, “as opposed to the linear path of consumption where when you’re done with it, you don’t really know what to do with it.”

In the last 15 months, setting up a U.S. headquarters in Miami has been the main focus for Grover’s scaleup. The company currently serves Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, and America, and its asset portfolio in the States alone is worth over $30 million, according to Draft. With an estimated 250 million digital consumers in the U.S., entering the market here is a lucrative endeavor, albeit slightly different from the company’s approach in Europe since its launch eight years ago.

American consumers behave differently, Draft explains, carrying more credit cards and more debt than their European counterparts. This makes Grover extremely attractive, especially during times of inflation. All areas of the company – from marketing to shipping logistics – have gone through Americanized tweaks. Case in point: pushing “halftime show” promotions for home entertainment products ahead of the Super Bowl and providing faster shipping times to compete with Amazon.

In an effort to deepen customer satisfaction and provide added value, Grover recently piloted an eSIM add-on for smartphones in the U.S. that allows users to activate a flexible cellular plan without having to use a physical SIM card. Customers can be online the moment their smartphone arrives. Draft says one-third of Grover’s volume globally is in the smartphone space.

Its fastest growing global segment is business-to-business rentals, a relatively new offering launched alongside business-to-consumer subscriptions in the U.S. The company focuses on working with small to medium-sized businesses and startups “who are staffing up relatively quickly, may be short on cash, or just want to use their cash wisely,” says Lisa Skowron Mota, the chief revenue B2B

officer in the U.S. Stateside, Grover has made its biggest strides in the tech, consulting, and education sectors.

The global rental company’s estimated annual recurring revenue was over $200 million for 2022, with a total value of $1 billion after receiving $330 million in equity and debt funding last April, followed by an additional €270 million from London-based global investment manager M&G in September.

As to why Grover chose Miami as HQ for its U.S. operations, Draft points towards the relative proximity to Germany as well as the influx of tech talent and capital flooding the city. “Countless businesses have relocated here in the last several years and it was important to be part of the excitement and tech ecosystem that’s been building up in Miami,” he says. l

We’re in the business of allowing customers to reuse devices across multiple life cycles.

ANDREW DRAFT, U.S. GENERAL MANAGER OF GROVER

PHOTO BY TIEGE DOLLY

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Longer Term Flex Living

HOW BLUEGROUND IS TAKING THE IDEA OF TEMPORARY RENTALS TO ITS LOGICAL CONCLUSION

BY AMY POLIAKOFF

In the age of remote working, traveling while working from “home” is the new norm. And where companies like Airbnb have experienced occupancy drop-offs recently due to a surplus of property owners looking to rent out their second homes, new property tech company Blueground is finding a balance. Blueground allows companies and individuals to book apartments anywhere in the world online, like Airbnb, but only for long-term leases over 30 days and with more amenities and support. Guests can book stays in any city, including Miami, and move easily between apartments based on availability.

“Our mission is to reinvent the way people live, with apartments available where they want, when they want, and on the terms they want,” says CEO and co-founder Alex Chatzieleftheriou. “While our minimum stay is 30 days, Blueground guests stay with us for months, and even years – 45 percent of guests extend their stay [and] 20 percent have stayed in multiple apartments.”

Founded in 2013, the company now has properties in over 30 cities across 16 countries, mostly in North American and Europe, with 1,200 team members worldwide. In the U.S., Blueground’s Miami office, located in the artsy Wynwood area, is one of its most important. “In Miami, we have [apartments in] neighborhoods from Coral Gables to Brickell, Wynwood, and Doral. We even have homes in Fort Lauderdale,” says Agnes Pierre-Louis, general manager of Miami Blueground. “Each neighborhood suits different needs for different types of tenants. Brickell is great for our corporate customers and Wynwood for our younger audience.”

Blueground caters to a wide range of long-term travelers, from those moving for work to individuals looking for a lifestyle change, by offering flexible, fully furnished, turnkey homes for rent. Apartments are available for sharing if renters want a shared space in exchange for a lower price, and guests can manage their stays from start to finish with the Blueground app, where they can make payments, request a home cleaning, and more.

“The app provides knowledge of the apartment, location, access, and support for any requests,” says Pierre-Louis. “Blueground has local teams on the ground to help solve any maintenance issue, which streamlines the typical landlord communication model.”

A separate division within the company, Blueground for Business, works with HR and travel managers to settle new employees into new locations. The division makes up 35 percent of the company’s business and has over 4,400 clients globally, with plans to double this year. Clients range from startups to Fortune 500 companies.

New York-based Blueground’s competitive advantage is that it offers apartments move-in ready, with upscale furniture and supplies already stocked. Welcome kits including snacks, towels, and trash bags, and discounted access to lifestyle partners like Hello Fresh, which supplies meal kits, and Equinox, a high-end gym with locations worldwide. Other lifestyle partners include Naked Wines, Laundry Heap, Hertz, and Anytime Mailbox.

Design is another tenet of Blueground’s philosophy. It recently launched Blueground Bespoke, which incorporates elevated design

to push the boundary of typical apartments' appearances. The first Bespoke apartment was launched in New York City, a five-bedroom penthouse on Billionaires Row in Midtown with patterned wallpapers and designer furniture.

In 2022, Blueground’s revenue reached $300 million and is expected to double this year, partly helped by its acquisition of Tabas, a Brazilian proptech startup that will help Blueground expand in Latin America. Later this year, it will launch a new service allowing guests to book 12-month leases, with the option to change apartments every 30 days. Chatzieleftheriou is hoping to expand to 50 new cities worldwide by 2025, especially in Latin America. l

Our mission is to reinvent the way people live, with apartments available where they want, when they want, and on the terms they want.

ALEX CHATZIELEFTHERIOU, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER OF BLUEGROUND

FLORIDA ROOTS. GLOBAL REACH.

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Expansion Minded

MIAMI-BASED IT SOFTWARE PROVIDER KASEYA IS ON A GLOBAL ROLL

BY DOREEN HEMLOCK

Software company Kaseya made headlines in February with a commitment to add 3,400 jobs in Miami over the next three years in the largest expansion project ever backed by Miami-Dade County’s economic development group, the Beacon Council.

But that’s just part of the growth plans for the Miami-based venture that also has offices in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, plus back-office operations in India.

Worldwide, Kaseya now employs nearly 5,000 people, including more than 1,500 outside the United States. As it roughly doubles U.S. jobs, it also aims to double staff in the markets where it already sells its software. Plans call for adding 1,000 jobs over the next two years at Kaseya’s technical center of excellence in Dundalk, Ireland, for example, and another 150 more in Sydney, Australia to tap fast rising demand for its software there.

“Kaseya has so much more to do in our existing footprint. We’re just scratching the surface,” says Chief Operating Officer Joe Smolarski, noting that the company has no plans yet for offices in Latin America, Asia, or other world regions. Key to Kaseya’s decisions on where to expand: places that are business-friendly, have universities to help train future staff, and have people who “align with Kaseya values,” as expressed in the company tagline: “Entitled to Nothing. Opportunity for Everything.” “We want individuals who want to work, to be accountable and to achieve,” says the long-

We want individuals who want to work, to be accountable and to achieve...

JOE SMOLARSKI , KASEYA CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, ECHOING THE COMPANY MOTTO, “ENTITLED TO NOTHING. OPPORTUNITY FOR EVERYTHING.”

TOP: THE

MIAMI OFFICE WHICH OPENED IN 2015 IS NOW THE GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS

Partners

Cruise Capital of the World Global Gateway of the Americas

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time IT executive, adding that in places like Silicon Valley, many employees nowadays feel entitled and even expect masseuses on the job.

Kaseya opted to double down on South Florida because “you have a lot of first and second-generation Americans and individuals looking for a better path forward for themselves and their families… And we have a big belief in ‘Grow Your Own,’ which means we hire individuals early in their career and allow them to develop,” says Smolarski. In Miami, hundreds of employees who started at entry-level have risen to senior management, buying homes and accumulating wealth at a young age because “they’re willing to work for it and be adaptable,” he says.

HELPING SMALL AND MID-SIZED BUSINESSES MANAGE IT REMOTELY

Kaseya launched in Silicon Valley in the early 2000s, moved a bit, opened in Miami in 2015, and made the city its global headquarters in 2018. The venture began by making software for information technology (IT) professionals to manage operations remotely. Back then, most IT pros worked in-house for big corporations, so the idea of remote IT management, says Smolarski, “was way, way ahead of its time.”

Today, Kaseya serves more than 48,000 customers worldwide, taking in more than $1 billion in annual recurring revenue. About 60 percent of its customers are small, independent IT management businesses – often a few colleagues who used to work in-house for a big corporation, started their own firm, and now provide services to doctors' offices, law firms, or other small businesses that have no in-house IT departments. The remaining 40 percent of customers are the in-house IT professionals of mid-sized organizations who lack the full suite of software that Kaseya now offers: data back-up, cybersecurity, compliance, process automation, and more.

The company offers its more than 40 types of software integrated into one end-to-end platform, allowing customers to work with a single vendor instead of lots of separate vendors for each software service, and usually saving cash in the process. Operations are highly profitable, offering plenty of income to fund growth worldwide, says Smolarski. Kaseya estimates its profit margin at 30 percent-plus. And that hefty cash flow comes on top of strong financial backing from two heavyweight tech investors, Insight Partners of New York and TPG of Texas.

Last year, those two funders led a consortium to help Kaseya acquire Connecticut-based software maker Datto in an all-cash transaction for $6.2 billion. Insight Partners’ Michael Triplett called Kaseya “an industry-defining IT and security-infrastructure management company.” Also helping funding that deal: Temasek of Singapore and Sixth Street of San Francisco.

MIAMI EXPANSION AIDED BY COUNTY, STATE INCENTIVES

In Miami, Kaseya is expanding with help from government incentives. Miami-Dade is offering a subsidy of $4.56 million, to be paid after Kaseya increases local staff to more than 4,000 in three years. Its 3,400 new jobs are slated to pay annual salaries averaging $107,000. Kaseya has also committed $16 million for office improvements and capital projects, creating more than 1,500 indirect jobs, says the proposal supported by the Beacon Council, the county’s public-private development group. The Council has been helping Kaseya since it set down roots in Miami.

“With tech layoffs recently impacting thousands of people and their organizations across the U.S., our longstanding partnership

with Kaseya to bolster job creation has never been more important,” said Beacon Council CEO Rodrick T. Miller in a statement.

The state is also offering up to $6.8 million to help train Kaseya’s new hires in Miami. “Florida’s Quick Response Training grant program, administered by CareerSource Florida, increases the competitiveness of Florida businesses in the global economy,” says CareerSource Florida CEO Adrienne Johnston.

Kaseya’s growth should boost Miami area schools as well. The company has teamed up with Florida International University, Miami-Dade College, and other local universities and technical schools to develop IT talent. Kaseya CEO Fred Voccola has specifically praised FIU for listening to the needs of companies and accepting their input, saying, “FIU looks at the real world.”

To achieve similar growth abroad, Smolarski says Kaseya has learned some lessons the hard way. It now strives to establish Kaseya culture “from the first second,” often sending in veteran company leaders to build a new market. “It’s too big of a gamble” with completely new leaders, he says.

Kaseya – whose name in the Sioux language means “to serve and to protect” – also researches new locations deeply. It relies not only on written reports but sends executives to visit and talk with people there about business conditions and practices. Smolarski's advice for others looking to go global: “Truly vet what you are walking into.” That’s Kaseya’s plan now, as it expands abroad in cities as diverse as Dublin, Copenhagen, London, Amsterdam, and Auckland. l

KASEYA IS EXPANDING IN MIAMI THROUGH A SUBSIDY PROVIDED BY MIAMI-DADE COUNTY TO INCREASE ITS LOCAL STAFF

Making Shade Around the World

HOW TUUCI REINVENTED THE GLOBAL MARKET FOR OUTDOOR UMBRELLAS, FROM MIAMI

BY YOUSRA BENKIRANE

Afew miles from Miami International Airport lies a massive 250,000-square-foot facility, the home of Tuuci’s global headquarters. Here, nearly 500 workers busy themselves assembling some of the toughest patio umbrellas in the world, using marine-grade materials and weather-resistant fabrics to produce high-quality, commercial-grade products.

The factory is a far cry, however, from the humble beginnings of the outdoor shade company. Tuuci’s CEO, Dougan Clarke, began by working part-time at a small boat shop in Miami when he was a teenager, making and rigging custom parts for boats. After dropping out of college, he came back years later with a multi-million dollar idea: to use the same techniques for umbrellas.

Before returning to Small Craft, Inc., Clarke worked at an outdoor patio retailer in Miami and then, in 1997, founded his first company, Casual Furnishings International, which provided patio furniture to clients mostly in South Florida. At one point, he received an order for several hundred umbrellas to be used at a hotel in Jamaica. But Clarke had reservations. “I just knew that the umbrellas would come back damaged,” he says. “I really didn’t have a vendor that could make something super durable or serviceable…. Put an umbrella in an environment that was windy [and] they would just fall apart.” So, he went back to Small Craft to seek help.

The owner, Fred Herman, had been something of a mentor to Clarke. He pushed the young man to use his hands and make his own innovations. “[He said,] ‘I’m going to teach you a trade. You’re going to have

I created the patterns for the canopy, cut the panels, sewed them together, and together we created a marine-grade shade platform.

TUCCI

CEO DOUGAN CLARKE (ABOVE), ON THE INNOVATIVE DESIGN FOR WHAT BECAME THE TUUCI OUTDOOR UMBRELLA, AS SHOWN ABOVE ON A BRICKELL ROOFTOP.

PHOTO BY TIEGE DOLLY

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these skills forever,’” Clarke remembers. “He taught me how to innovate, use my imagination, and put it into the physical world.”

Clarke enlisted Herman’s help to build the umbrellas for Jamaica, using the same materials and techniques they used for boats. According to Clarke, this was unique for the outdoor patio industry at the time. “I made those first few hundred umbrellas myself,” he says. “I created the patterns for the canopy, cut the panels, sewed them together, and together we created a marine-grade shade platform.” Afterward, Clarke patented the new system, which became the genesis of Tuuci, launched in 1998.

Twenty-five years later, The Ultimate Umbrella Company, Inc. (which trades under its acronym, Tuuci) has grown from a 200-squarefoot boat shop to more than 400,000-square-feet of production space on three continents, including its primary production campus and global HQ in Miami. The manufacturing process is based on high quality materials, skilled artisans, and state-of-the-art equipment. The frame of a Tuuci umbrella is made from fiberglass, marine-grade hardwood, or durable aluminum alloy, all three of which provide exceptional strength and corrosion resistance. The canopy is made from a variety of materials, including Sunbrella acrylic fabric, which is the industry standard for outdoor applications due to its resistance to fading, mold, and mildew.

Tuuci umbrellas are all made-to-order, encouraging clients to express themselves through their outdoor decor. “We’re not a company that builds hundreds of umbrellas for stocks and puts them on the shelves in two colors,” says Clarke.

Clients are wide-ranging, from luxury homeowners to high-end resorts around the world to outdoor restaurants. Designs vary according

to individual color pallets, taste, and branding, from sophisticated hotels on the Riviera to Caribbean vacation rentals. Tuuci supplies umbrellas to nearly every Starbucks location in the U.S., for example, incorporating their green color and logo. “It’s about creating destinations, whether it’s in a hospitality venue or a residential venue, and doing it in a durable and serviceable way,” says the CEO.

Shortly after establishing Tuuci, Clarke expanded the company into the global market. He set up manufacturing plants in Holland and Vietnam to target the European, Middle Eastern, and Asian markets. Tuuci also began making a variety of other outdoor products in addition to umbrellas, and the company now offers outdoor furniture, including cabanas, planters, and windscreens.

According to Clarke, the company’s revenue has been doubling every few years, though he declined to disclose exact numbers. With Miami serving as its global HQ, Clarke feels that the area’s diverse, multinational workforce provides Tuuci with the ability to be more inventive. “I think a lot of the people that work here are incredibly innovative because of their backgrounds and where they came from,” he says. “If you had to do a lot with a little, and you’ve brought that thought process to our company, we embrace it. That’s how I started and that is the culture permeated throughout.”

The company’s slogan, “Born in Miami,” remains fitting. “It’s part of the DNA of our company and who we are to the marketplace,” Clarke says, reflecting on why he keeps Tuuci in Miami. “We’re just very proud to have been born in Miami and to have our innovative roots here.” l

MONTE CARLO

BARCELONA

CARIBBEAN

TUUCI AROUND THE WORLD

MEXICO

A Woman for All Seasons

HOW VENTURE CAPITALIST LAURA GONZALEZ- ESTEFANI IS BRIDGING THE EURO-U.S. CULTURAL DIVIDE

BY DOREEN HEMLOCK

Her father was an entrepreneur in import-export who spoke four languages and traveled the world. Her mother is among the first generation of women in Spain moving up in corporate management. She grew up knowing no limitations on geography or gender, encouraged to dream big and “go for it.”

That background helps explain why Madrid-born Laura Gonzalez-Estefani is pioneering from Miami, developing one of the world’s few investment platforms led by women, focused internationally and working hands-on with entrepreneurs even before they take in seed capital.

She founded TheVentureCity in 2017 and has already raised nearly $180 million to invest in software companies globally, with stakes in such South Florida ventures as Boatsetter and Outloud.ai. Headquartered in Miami and Madrid, TheVentureCity now works with roughly 180 founders, 110 companies, 50 investors, and 70 partners from Google to eBay. Its staff tops 30 in Spain, California, Brazil, and Miami, where it employs eight, says the effervescent Spaniard, who calls herself “a citizen of the world.”

“Talent has no zip code,” says Gonzalez-Estefani. “And you don’t have to move to the U.S. to work for an American company now. There are so many Americans building ventures now from Argentina, Spain, and other places where the cost of talent is cheaper.”

A mother of three and now 46 years old, Gonzalez-Estefani became a tech entrepreneur at age 21, co-founding an international beach tourism site, Esplaya.com. That was back in 1999, when the internet was new and “empty of content,” even before Google took off. But when the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, the intrepid Spaniard says she learned a hard lesson: “What it meant not to have the right investors.”

She went to work for others, including Siemens and eBay, and in 2008 became Facebook’s first employee in Madrid as country manager for Spain. She helped develop Facebook in several European nations, and in 2011 moved to Facebook headquarters in California, eventually leading its growth and mobile partnerships for Latin America. She traveled often through Miami, where she was impressed by myriad entrepreneurs from humble origins – often immigrants like herself – who’d built billion-dollar companies that she dubs “iguana-corns” and developed multi-generational wealth from their own sweat and creativity.

“The biggest surprise for me in Miami has been the talent,” says Gonzalez-Estefani. “Very early on, I got to meet Manny and Melissa Medina, Adriana Cisneros… people whose families started pretty much from nothing; extremely resilient, scrappy, authentic people who don’t hide who they are and are proud of their beginnings. They’d invite you to their homes, cook for you, introduce you to their friends. And I was like: What is this? When I moved to the [San Francisco] Bay Area, nobody welcomed me this way.”

Eager to return to entrepreneurship and innovate in financing

Talent has no zip code. And you don’t have to move to the U.S. to work for an American company now...

LAURA GONZALEZ-ESTEFANI, THEVENTURECITY FOUNDER

startups, Gonzalez-Estefani relocated to Miami in 2015 “to learn from the best,” she says. She tapped her network from Silicon Valley, Latin America, and beyond, partnering with Miami-based investment advisor Clara Bullrich and operations chief Santiago Canalejo to launch TheVentureCity two years later. She calls the group a community, not a venture capital company. “We had a community of founders and operators before we had a venture capital fund,” she says.

TheVentureCity now invests in multiple ways. Its VC funds operate like most, typically investing $3 to 8 million in early-stage ventures over a period of 10 years. Its holding company also offers seed capital, often $250,000 to $500,000 for some 30 companies a year. Plus, the group pumps in extra when its portfolio companies do well, sometimes starting Special Purpose Vehicles to invest another $5 or 10 million. What’s more, the team and its network work hands-on to mentor promising entrepreneurs, with Laura an empathetic, high-energy cheerleader quick to laugh and share, colleagues say.

The vibe in the community is more collaborative than many VCs, even festive. The joy flowed at workshops and its latest summit held at the New World Center in Miami Beach in February, attended by some 400 people, under the motto: Listen to the music, not the noise.

Bilingual and bicultural, Gonzalez-Estefani recognizes the importance of navigating business cultures across borders. She sees big differences, for example, in the two nations where she’s lived longest: Spain and the U.S. Start with problem-solving. Spaniards, she says, tend to be “tremendously creative” when they find a roadblock: leaping, tunneling, doing back-flips, often acting without asking – all

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in the knavish, sometimes crafty way known in Spanish as “picaro,” she says. Americans instead tend to be more “by the book,” asking permission first and often taking longer to address the roadblock. Yet for company-building, Americans are typically motivated to think big and view failure as a step to potential success later. Spain’s culture tends to be more conservative. Spaniards tend to have little or no tolerance for failure, often crimping the ambitions of would-be innovators, she says.

“In Madrid, you don’t talk about your mistakes,” says Gonzalez-Estefani. “But here in the U.S., you share learnings all the time – ‘I made this mistake, and this is what I learned.’” She’s instituted frank discussions about mistakes at TheVentureCity, with meetings featuring “The Challenge of the Week” and its lessons.

Such insights, enthusiasm, and openness sparked tech executive Francesca de Quesada Covey to join Gonzalez-Estefani in leading TheVentureCity in 2021. The two had worked together at Facebook and stayed friends. De Quesada describes Laura as an energetic, kind-hearted, visionary thinker who fearlessly follows her intuition and pursues her goals, making sure to lift all around her in that building process.

“Laura’s focused on entrepreneurs who don’t come from traditional ecosystems. She says you can find great talent everywhere but not opportunity, so she works to extend that opportunity to people who can be the great solvers of today’s challenges,” says de Quesada, who recently left TheVenture City to become Miami-Dade County’s Chief of Economic Innovation and Development.

Years ago, when Gonzalez-Estefani’s parents first encouraged her “to dream big,” they had to no idea she'd soon be helping others do the same. l

Filling the Talent Gap

WHEN THE PANDEMIC HIT, UK’S DEVELOP REALIZED THERE WAS A SOFTWARE ENGINEERING GAP – INCLUDING IN THE U.S.

BY YOUSRA BENKIRANE

The software industry is becoming increasingly ubiquitous, especially since the pandemic induced traditional companies to migrate to online and digitization. According to one estimate, the three counties of South Florida – Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach – are now home to 44,000 software engineers and programmers. And yet, software development skills are more in-demand than ever.

Enter Develop, a software recruiting firm that saw an opportunity when the world came to a standstill in early 2020. The UK-based company switched gears from consulting to recruiting after realizing that the demand for people with high-level software skills was greater than the supply of suitable candidates – and growing.

While the firm’s headhunters still call themselves consultants, their job is to recruit candidates skilled in specific software coding – such as Java, Python, JavaScript, and Change – for clients ranging from startups to major multinationals. Recruits can be hired on a permanent or contract basis, depending on a client’s needs. “Our consultants spend their days networking,” explains co-founder Joey Trait. “They spend days speaking to hundreds of JavaScript developers so that they’ve

already built those relationships. When you’re working with someone like us, you’re buying access to our network.” Develop claims to give clients access to the top five percent of software engineering talent, offering services like technical testing of potential recruits in the UK, Germany, and now the U.S. vis-à-vis Miami.

Notably, Develop’s recruiters are required to have strong software literacy, learning to code in the languages they recruit for, such as Java. Trait says this allows recruiters to “have better conversations with the candidate community and better understand what a client is trying to achieve.” As technology constantly evolves, each week the company trains their employees with all new software updates. “If I go to France, and I start to speak French, even though my French is not the best, they will respect me because I’m trying to learn the language, I’m trying to be part of the community. So that’s why everyone learns to code in the language they recruit for,” Trait says.

For Develop, tech recruitment is like being a sports recruiter, “If you’re the Miami Heat, you need the best players in the country. It’s the same from a technology perspective,” he says. Some clients are

Our consultants spend their days networking, speaking to hundreds of JavaScript developers so that they’ve already built those relationships…

JOEY TRAIT. CO-FOUNDER AND MANAGING DIRECTOR OF DEVELOP

willing to go above and beyond in this war for talent, offering to handle all immigration documentation and relocation costs to find the best candidates in the world.

With $15 million in gross revenue last year, the recruitment firm’s offices in the UK, Germany, and Miami employ about 50 people; in July 2022, the firm opened its office in Miami’s Brickell financial district, where it employs eight consultants, two of whom were brought from the UK.

Like other tech firms expanding to the Greater Miami area, Develop’s founders were sold by Mayor Francis Suarez’s commitment to make Miami the international hub for finance and technology. “I looked at other cities and the leadership in each area,” says Trait. “I felt that Mayor Suarez was the right person at the right time in Miami. I think he’s so frontfoot from a technology perspective, and he’s aggressively looking to create something in Miami. That really resonated with us.” l

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Rum With a Story

A NEW BRAND OF RUM, MADE IN PANAMA WITH CUBAN ROOTS, LAUNCHES IN MIAMI

BY KATELIN STECZ

Miami, Cuba, and rum – the three have been inextricably linked throughout history. From the prohibition, when rumrunners would smuggle bottles of Bacardi from Cuba, to the reinvigoration of Miami’s rum culture during the Cuban Revolution, Miami’s past is soaked in the sugarcane derived liquor.

Now comes Cuban immigrant Janet Diaz-Bonilla, who hopes to use Miami’s favorite alcoholic beverage to change history’s perspective of Cubans that came over during the Mariel exodus.

On May 17, 1980, six-year-old Janet Diaz-Bonilla arrived in the U.S. after spending 17 hours crossing the Florida Straits on the Mariel boatlift. Her family was seeking political asylum; her father had been imprisoned and tortured for attempting to escape Cuba. Like many immigrants seeking asylum, however, Diaz-Bonilla and her family faced discrimination associated with the “Marielito” label, since the boatlift also ferried thousands of criminals released from Cuban jails. To shift public perception, Diaz-Bonilla decided to bring her journey to light with a screenplay. Instead of making a movie, however, she ended up making a rum.

La Marielita rum officially launched in October 2022, with a first shipment of 400 cases and a first year of 10,000 bottles in a private-label distillery in Las Cabras de Pesé, Panama. There, the final blend was crafted by world-renowned Cuban rum master, Francisco José “Don Pancho” Fernández Pérez, recognized as the “Godfather of Rum.”

Even though the rum market is saturated, Diaz-Bonilla hopes to carve out a niche for La Marielita. “I think it is perfect for Miami because not only is it a really high-quality rum, but my story resonates so deeply with Miami’s culture. Anyone can be a Marielita. Anyone can be an immigrant,” says Diaz-Bonilla, the company CEO.

Diaz-Bonilla says the rum’s unique distillation process is what will make it stand out from larger brands like Bacardi. “Spirits in general are experiencing a premiumization of brands, where consumers are willing to pay a premium for more aging, better tasting, and higher status spirit brands. We are aiming for that niche of the rum market,” she says.

La Marielita is aged for 18 years in American white oak casks that formerly contained bourbon, and contains notes of cacao, vanilla, coffee bean, and orange blossom. The combination of these flavors creates what Diaz-Bonillo calls a rum that’s for everyone. “I think our rum is smooth enough for a feminine palate but has enough body to appeal to the masculine,” she says.

Unlike most rums, La Marielita has no additives or added sugar. Being aged for so long allows the rum to be drinkable without the extra sugar that “young” rum usually requires. Julio Cabrera, co-founder of one of the top 50 best bars in the world, Cafe La Trova, says he’s happy to have La Marielita in his bar for its story as well as its quality. “[Diaz-Bonillo and her husband] came to La Trova and presented their rum to me. I tried it and heard the story. And for me, the story was fantastic,” says Cabrera, also a Cuban

immigrant. “But the rum was also really good quality. Complex, well-balanced, and elegant.”

Besides Cafe La Trova, La Marielita is also served at the Ball and Chain music club and at Miami stores like Jensen’s Liquors, Sunset Corners, Vintage Liquors, and Pantry Liquors, as well as online at lamarielita.com.

“We are only a few months into our journey, and we’ve already had amazing feedback,” says Diaz-Bonilla. “When our plan for growth is executed, we will be in all possible states and many countries around the world through distribution partnerships…. La Marielita Rum will be one of the mainstays in the ultra-premium rum segment.” l

I think it is perfect for Miami because not only is it a really high-quality rum, but my story resonates so deeply with Miami’s culture...

JANET DIAZ-BONILLA,

FOUNDER OF LA MARIELITA, ARRIVED IN THE U.S. ON THE MARIEL BOATLIFT.

Funding Foreign Nationals

PACIFIC NATIONAL BANK LOOKS TO NON-RESIDENT FOREIGN CLIENTS FOR GROWTH

BY J.P. FABER

Pacific National has always had a foreign connection, ever since it arrived in Miami with Ecuadorian ownership in 1985. The irony is that, after transforming itself into a largely domestic U.S. bank, Pacific National is now back in the business of working with foreign nationals looking to invest in assets, principally in real estate.

“Initially, the bank was entirely focused on the Ecuadorian traffic and business,” says Carlos Fernandez-Guzman, president and CEO of Pacific National, who joined the bank in 2010. “Today, we have international accounts from Ecuador [and across South America] but we are 85 percent domestic.” Fernandez-Guzman helped move the bank in that direction after it was bought by a private group from Connecticut in 2014.

At one point, Pacific National’s foreign business dropped down to between four and five percent, says Fernandez-Guzman, but has since then “grown prudently so that we don’t run into any compliance issues.” The CEO expects it to grow further, to about 20 percent of the bank’s business.

Most of Pacific National’s domestic business is in commercial real estate, everything from neighborhood retail centers to Class B suburban office buildings, even light industrial warehousing. Its international business, meanwhile, falls into two main categories –the purchasing of income-producing real estate as an investment, and the maintenance of cash accounts, “sometimes for safety and sometimes for paying their bills through a U.S. account.”

At present, says Fernandez-Guzman, the bank’s foreign clients are principally from the South American nations of Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil. “The balance is pretty even among those countries,” he says, "though we are starting to see more out of Uruguay and Paraguay.”

While the bank will finance the purchase of U.S. property by foreign nationals, it does so as a business investment. “The bank does a lot of foreign national financing for folks that want a home they can live in eventually but that can generate income now. We don’t do second homes or consumer loans, but [purchases] held in company names used to generate income,” says Fernandez-Guzman.

Like many Miami area financial institutions, Pacific National Bank is headquartered on Brickell Avenue, once dubbed Wall Street South. And like other banks in the Brickell financial district, it provides a haven for flight capital from the Americas. “When things are bad in Latin America, people want to get their money out,” says David Schwartz, the president and CEO of FIBA (the Miami-based Financial & International Bankers Association). “They are big believers in buying property – whether it’s rental properties or a second home where they will spend time. That has been going on here for time eternal.”

Lately, says Schwartz, the election of new left-leaning governments in Latin America has increased this flow. “There was definitely a pick-up when you saw the elections turning [left] in places like Peru and Chile and Colombia. Whenever there is political uncertainty, that leads to economic uncertainty, and that leads to people saying, “I’m calling my banker in Miami and I’m sending more assets.”

While Pacific National is a relatively small bank (current assets: $1.2 billion), it makes up for that with its expertise in navigating international regulations. “We document well all the international accounts, and ensure they comply with all U.S. laws, so there are no issues in terms of compliance,” says Fernandez-Guzman. “It does add some cost, but not necessarily double or triple the cost of the account. And we have become very good at it, which gives us a competitive advantage for accounts that really don’t want the instability of banks that may not understand the international business as we do.” l

The balance is pretty even among those countries, though we are starting to see more out of Uruguay and Paraguay.

CARLOS FERNANDEZ-GUZMAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF PACIFIC NATIONAL, DISCUSSING CLIENTS FROM CHILE, ARGENTINA, ECUADOR, COLOMBIA AND BRAZIL.

Photo by Rodolfo Benitez

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Another Newcomer

AIROPS CHOOSES MIAMI FOR ITS TECH ECOSYSTEM

Add another San Francisco startup to the list of firms relocating to Miami to expand globally: AirOps, named for its software that aims to make operations as easy as breathing air.

AirOps moved its headquarters months after launching in 2022 to be in a similar time zone to one of its co-founders, who’s based in his homeland of Uruguay and leads tech development there. Miami also serves as a more convenient place for the three principals to meet, says co-founder Matt Hammel.

The newcomers have found Miami’s tech ecosystem “a breath of fresh air,” compared to the San Francisco scene that “is a little more structured. You’re less likely to meet founders and others unexpectedly,” says Hammel, who enjoys local tech meetups in Wynwood and other areas. “Miami has this positive, nascent energy the way San Francisco probably was years ago.”

AirOps offers a software-as-a-service platform, with products aimed for low-tech and non-tech operators of small and mid-sized businesses to analyze data and automate business processes. It is launching a new “self-serve” product this year to let users create their own apps.

The company currently operates with 14 people, including four in Miami and 10 in Uruguay. To date, it has raised $7 million in seed funding, with investors including Founder Collective, Village Global, Wing Venture Capital, and X Fund. It plans to seek additional capital later this year. l -

Doreen Hemlock

B R I N G I N G H O P E

You can make possible the training of health professionals in pediatric live donor liver transplant in Latin America and the Caribbean.

FRESH FROM SAN FRANCISCO: HAMMEL AND HIS CREW, READY TO BECOME PART OF THE MIAMI HIGH-TECH ENVIRONMENT

Canada’s AI-Based Butler

HOW ALFRED TECHNOLOGIES EXPANDED FROM A PRIVATE CLIENTELE TO CORPORATE CUSTOMERS

BY YOUSRA BENKIRANE

Behind every successful entrepreneur (or superhero) is an Alfred Pennyworth, the man behind the scenes who makes it all happen. Named after the resourceful butler from the Batman franchise, Alfred Technologies quietly supports the hospitality industry with their wine and spirits inventory solutions, keeping inventory management at a minimum while maximizing the profitability of daily operations. “We want to make sure that the superheroes [in] the hospitality industry have great tools to help them succeed,” said Pierre-Sébastien Gauthier, vice president of business development and major accounts. “Alfred [Pennyworth] manages the Batcave –Alfred Technologies manages the wine cave.”

Powered by AI, Québec-based Alfred Technologies works with restaurants, bars, hotels, and private wine collectors to streamline the inventory process. The company’s operations focus on three main pillars: finding the optimal tasting range by giving clients data on the maturity level, best sell date, and expiration of wine; perpetual inventory, a continuous scanning system used to record inventory in real-time; and the marketing purchases price tool, which gathers data to determine the current market value of each bottle so clients can customize the price to their strategy. The information is then put inside a database to create an intelligent wine list. Over the last 11 years, that database has grown to almost 370,000 products.

Founder and tech veteran Guy Doucet started Alfred Technologies with no prior experience in the hospitality industry. Known for his innovation in engineering, he was contracted by the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ), one of several government organizations responsible for the trade of alcoholic beverages in Canada, to build a database for their website. “They were losing a lot of stock, so I helped them build a model of the database,” Doucet says. “At that time, we were also trying to build an application to serve all private collectors.”

After realizing the potential of what he had created, Doucet bought the database back from SAQ in 2015 and rebranded as Alfred Technologies. “We realized that if we had a great database, we could do a lot of those boring tasks that no one wants to do,” he says.

From 2015 through 2018, Alfred Technologies mostly catered to private wine collectors. Knowing that such a niche clientele constrained the company’s growth, the company began enhancing its technology solutions during the pandemic, rebuilding as an AI-based platform dedicated to bigger operations. “If we wanted to scale our business to the level that we wanted, we needed bigger operations,” Gauthier said. “[And I thought,] ‘We need big customers, and the States will bring them to us.’”

In 2021, the company opened their first U.S.-based office in San Francisco and then expanded into Miami’s Brickell financial district shortly after, with 40 employees globally. Pre-pandemic, the company’s revenue reached $2 million. Since then, Alfred Technologies has grown more than 50 percent each year. Clients include the Intercontinental in San Francisco, Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, the Bell Center (where the Montreal Canadiens hockey team

plays), and several restaurants in New York. Recently, Alfred began work on a pilot to increase sales and customer experience for Miami-based Club Med. The famed resort is testing Alfred’s solutions in their Cancun and Charlevoix, Québec, locations; Doucet predicts that over the next two years his company will work with Club Med “in 30 or 40 clubs all around the world.”

Alfred Technologies is now looking to further expand in the U.S. and to lock down more business in Miami. “We’re now at the inflection point,” Doucet says. “We have big groups, and they’re all testing the platform. The results are good everywhere… I think we’re [going] to grow really fast this year.” l

TOP: GUY DOUCET, FOUNDER OF ALFRED TECHNOLOGIES

Bridging Miami and CARICOM

A LOCAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM HELPS SOURCD ENTER THE GLOBAL TECH INDUSTRY

BY NATALIA CLEMENT

With innovation on the rise in Miami, Vishaja Boedjawan saw an opportunity for her procurement company to be part of the city’s growing tech ecosystem. She just needed a little help. So, she looked to Venture Miami, the City of Miami’s economic development office. They invited Boedjawan to join the FIU-Venture Miami Opportunity Program, a 14-week course at Florida International University that provides support and resources for female business owners of color in South Florida.

Boedjawan is the CEO of SOURCD, a procurement sourcing solution for businesses in CARICOM countries that she founded in 2021. CARICOM, which stands for Caribbean Community, is an intergovernmental organization that unites 15 member countries through economics and culture. Within those 15 countries is Suriname, Boedjawan’s home country. There, she saw that small and medium-sized businesses didn’t have a standard procurement process for raw materials. She identified operational challenges in her family’s steel manufacturing business largely due to raw material shortages and supply chain delays caused by having a single supplier. Now, SOURCD provides businesses in Suriname with multiple supplier options that go through a rigorous sourcing process, acting as the logistics middleman.

“We want to help streamline supply chain sourcing and management processes from end to end, from the minute they have a request for a product until it gets to their warehouse,” Boedjawan says. For

instance, during the pandemic, Suriname was suffering from medical oxygen shortages. SOURCD stepped in and helped source oxygen cylinders, oxygen masks, and other related healthcare equipment.

The company currently works with businesses in CARICOM member states in the manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture, maritime, and food processing industries. Its gross revenue last year topped just $120,000 but is projected to grow fivefold in 2023. SOURCD’s procurement platform is still in development, with $1 million raised for software development, new hires, marketing, and sales. The expected deliverable date for the completed platform is Q1 of 2024.

Boedjawan, a financial consultant, had no prior experience in the tech industry. But after she joined last year’s cohort of business owners in the FIU-Venture Miami Opportunity Program, she was able to develop her idea of turning SOURCD into a procurement software platform. “I didn’t believe this would work because I was scared of doing that first step,” Boedjawan says. “[The program] really pushed me to go through with this. They made me believe it was the right time to implement it. I was probably going to wait another three to four years.”

According to Boedjawan, the FIU-Venture Miami program is “the whole package” for business owners and startups. The curriculum consists of networking opportunities, one-on-one mentoring, public speaking and pitching, and assistance from the Florida Small Business Development Center. As a naturally shy person, Boedjawan values the professional and personal growth she went through. “I had trouble reaching out to people and networking, but the team really brought out the best in me,” she says.

Boedjawan took the knowledge and experience she gained and partnered with Silicon Dorp, a foundation that aims to create an innovation ecosystem that will “integrate the best in Suriname culturally, biodiversity-wise, and technologically.” She plans on expanding the company’s services to Guyana and Trinidad this year. “I would like SOURCD to be part of [Miami’s] evolving innovation ecosystem while also establishing its presence in the CARICOM countries,” the CEO says. “Basically, acting as a bridge between Miami and CARICOM.” l

I had trouble reaching out to people and networking, but the team really brought out the best in me...

VISHAJA BOEDJAWAN AT THE FIU-VENTURE MIAMI OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM

Perfectly Positioned

As one of the top ports in the world and located at the confluence of South Florida’s Atlantic shipping lanes, airways, railways and highways, we are your unrivaled connection to global markets.

We’ll take it from here.

eMerge The Mission of

We’ve been very fortunate to have access to great deal flow. A logical extension for us is to invest in these startups institutionally.

CEO FELICE

WITH PRESIDENT MELISSA MEDINA AND NFL SPORTS STAR TOM BRADY AT EMERGE 2023

BY XXXXX XXXXXXX

GORORDO, SEATED

PHOTO

How Miami’s annual high-tech event has created an ecosystem

BY DOREEN HEMLOCK

Some call it the “connective tissue” of Miami’s tech eco-system. Others describe it as an “anchor.” For startups, it’s a prized platform to gain visibility. For more established companies, it’s a partner to link with promising investments and hire new talent. For governments, it’s even a trusted advisor.

When some 20,000 people from 50 countries converged in Miami Beach this April for South Florida’s largest tech conference, it might have seemed reasonable to view the event organizer, eMerge Americas, as a successful show producer. After all, the international conference has more than tripled attendance since its 2014 launch and woos headliners like spiritual guru Deepak Chopra and this year, U.S. football legend Tom Brady. This year alone, some 100 startups competed for more than half a million dollars in funding and prizes. But while the show remains a centerpiece, eMerge Americas has blossomed into far more than that. The group created with the goal of making Miami a tech hub for the Americas has become a year-round platform, a convener of pitch competitions across the hemisphere, and a key source of information for

the tech community. Indeed, it’s helped catalyze tech growth so strongly in South Florida that it’s now widened its mission and aims to transform Miami into a global tech hub.

Even the structure of eMerge Americas has evolved. First a nonprofit, it’s now become a private entity and attracted such well-known investors as baseball star Alex Rodriguez and venture capital firm Florida Funders. These days, it’s also looking to add a venture capital component to help finance young tech ventures.

“We’ve been very fortunate to have access to great deal flow,” says CEO Felice Gorordo, noting 80 of the companies that took part in the Startup Showcases at its April conferences have raised more than $1 billion in venture capital. “A logical extension for us is to invest in these startups institutionally.”

MANNY MEDINA AIMS “TO CONNECT THE DOTS”

The effort began in 2011. Miami entrepreneur Manny Medina had just sold his data center company Terremark Worldwide to Verizon in a $2 billion deal. Relaxing in the Florida Keys, he realized there was no good reason that entrepreneurs in Miami had to go to Silicon Valley and New York to get funded. Miami had all the elements to become a successful tech hub. All it needed was help to connect the dots.

Medina put together a steering committee of some 40 people interested in that vision, including lawyer Francis Suarez, now mayor of Miami. He backed studies through the nonprofit Technology Foundation of the Americas which he created, and he laid out a plan to develop the tech hub, working with five key stakeholders: entrepreneurs, investors, corporations, academia, and government, leveraging Miami’s role as a gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean. He envisioned a conference to build momentum.

The first eMerge conference in 2014 drew some 5,000 people, with help from Medina’s pal Pitbull, the singer and businessman Armando Christian Perez, also known as Mr. 305, who gave a talk on entrepreneurship and created buzz. The eMerge team kept busy before and after – sending out newsletters, meeting with diverse groups in South Florida and the Americas, and preaching Miami's potential as a tech hub.

“The eMerge platform kept the tech conversation going when it wasn’t always popular,” says Marc Billings, who launched pioneering accelerator Incubate Miami in

the 2010s, founded several South Florida tech ventures, and is now building the BlackDove network of digital art galleries from Miami’s Wynwood district. “If it weren’t for eMerge, all the hard work around town may have gone unnoticed. They were the cohesive brand that showed the aggregate progress of the community.” He calls eMerge “the cohesive tissue that links the community when there’d otherwise be gaps.”

By 2019, before the COVID pandemic, eMerge drew some 16,000 people from 40-plus countries to its April conference,

with booths representing nations as distant as Israel. COVID halted the show in 2020 and 2021, but its work continued through meetings, reports, and news online.

FERTILE GROUND DURING COVID

Then, suddenly, during COVID, tech entrepreneurs and financiers from higher-tax states with colder climates began streaming into South Florida, generating media attention across the U.S. and globally. Miami racked up the strongest tech job growth in the country,

with record funding for local startups.

“Many people think it all happened during the pandemic, that people came from California, New York, and Chicago” to put Miami on the world tech map, says MiamiDade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “But we had fertile ground because of what Manny [Medina] had created. We already had a very vibrant tech ecosystem [by 2020]… Manny was ahead of the curve… He saw what others did not see at that time, that we had a county made up of very ambitious entrepreneurs, that we are the bridge to Latin America, and that we can and already do bring major funders and investors to the table.”

As mayor, Levine Cava works closely with eMerge, speaking at its April shows and relying on the group as advisors. She credits eMerge as the “the anchor” for what’s become Miami Tech Month, a series of conferences, events, and celebrations on tech topics from Web3 to NFTs and beyond. She

says eMerge also helped her develop the nonprofit Miami-Dade Innovation Authority. That group gives grants to ventures to help solve such local challenges as housing and transit, with grantees invited to pilot their solutions with the government. It recently started up with $3 million each from the county, the Knight Foundation, and hedge fund Citadel’s CEO Ken Griffin, who moved from Chicago to Miami during COVID.

MELISSA MEDINA KEEN TO INCLUDE THE UNDER-REPRESENTED

While Cuba-born Manny Medina dreamed up eMerge to give back to his adopted home, it’s his Miami-born daughter Melissa who’s been developing its activities. She was a member of the founding team and has served as president since 2018. Now a mother of five, Melissa helped organize the

Manny was ahead of the curve... He saw what others did not see at that time, that we had a county made up of very ambitious entrepreneurs, that we are the bridge to Latin America."

MIAMI-DADE MAYOR DANIELLA

LEVINE CAVA, AT THE 2023 SHOW.

ABOVE: EVENT ATTENDEES TAKE A BREAK IN A LOUNGE BUBBLE.

OPPOSITE PAGE: MANNY MEDINA ON THE EMERGE STAGE

Women in Tech summit at eMerge’s second conference in 2015 to “empower and inspire women,” and she's now ensuring that women are “completely threaded into everything we do.” Women now represent about half the attendees and many of the speakers at its April show.

“We’re not your typical tech conference that’s very male-dominated,” Melissa says. “We want to be reflective of our community, and we have one of the most diverse communities in the United States.”

Melissa aims to bring in not just women but also Latinos, Black people, and other under-represented groups into the tech scene, joining with numerous organizations on panels, pitch competitions, and varied events in order to expand access. On a Thursday evening in February, for example, she introduced a panel of Black tech entrepreneurs at Miami Beach restaurant Grown, which is owned by Shannon Allen, the wife of NBA basketball star Ray Allen. The event was backed by Chase bank and offered treats by local Black businesses like Chelle’s Cutie Pies, a maker of vegan, Japanese sweet potato desserts.

“You cannot build in a silo without thoughtful conversation. All of our organizations are pieces of a beautiful puzzle building together,” says Melissa. “Our role at eMerge is telling the story and connecting the dots among key stakeholders… with a pay-it-forward mentality.”

Kenasha Paul, who runs the FIU- VentureMiami Opportunity program for female entrepreneurs of color, applauds eMerge’s responsiveness. After telling Melissa about limited access to funders for her cohorts, Medina invited her group to partner on a brunch with funders during eMerge’s La Casa event linked to Miami Art Week, she says. “Melissa is super passionate about making sure it’s an inclusive tech ecosystem, so anyone who puts themselves out there and does the work has access to opportunities,” says Miami-born Paul.

A KEY PLATFORM FOR STARTUPS TO NETWORK

Francisco Cornejo knew none of that when he heard about a pitch competition for startups in his native Ecuador. In late 2019, he and his wife Daniela Vega created an app that combines stories, music, and massage to help children sleep better and build emotional connections with their parents. eMerge helped organize the event in Quito with business accelerator Endeavor, offering winners a fast-track into the Startup

We’re not your typical tech conference that’s very male-dominated. We want to be reflective of our community, and we have one of the most diverse communities in the United States.

MELISSA MEDINA, ABOVE, ON STAGE AT EMERGE 2023

Showcase at its next April conference. Their Storybook App won.

The family had decided that in order to scale their venture they had to move to the bigger, better funded U.S. market and was looking into known tech hubs in California and elsewhere. Thanks to eMerge and its newsletters, they began researching Miami as an option too. In 2022, the family relocated to South Florida, and since then has won more than 15 competitions from backers as diverse as Google and the Miami Herald, taking in millions of dollars in prizes and venture capital investments for Storybook App.

“Everything began with eMerge,” says a grateful Cornejo. “The biggest value has been networking. The more events, the more contacts, the better. The greatest value someone can give is to connect you.”

The challenge now is keeping the momentum going. CEO Gorordo says the group has expanded outreach since 2018, initially visiting Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Chile yearly, and more recently adding stops in Ecuador and the Dominican Republic, to meet and host pitch competitions with partners. The group works with a consortium of universities across the Americas

Everything began with eMerge. The biggest value has been networking. The more events, the more contacts, the better. The greatest value someone can give is to connect you.

that has been forged with the University of Miami.

Still, there are limits on how much Gorordo, Melissa Medina, and their eight-member eMerge staff can do without hiring more temporary crews, as they already do for their April conference. “I don’t think any one of us would have expected this growth,” says Gorordo, a former White House fellow who earlier led tech ventures and founded a nonprofit. He hopes newcomers to Miami – especially well-funded U.S. transplants – will help “take Miami to the next level,” assisting with solutions for such local challenges as transit and housing, and becoming a “beacon” for others to join handson with the community.

Melissa Medina also seeks to leverage incoming wealth in an inclusive way, “to not create larger divides in our city and to make sure we provide opportunities for the under-represented.” Amid the success, entrepreneur Billings says it’s important Miami “not lose its identity,” born largely from its eager immigrants, “the grit, the passion, and determination that has made it attractive for others to come.”

That discussion continued at eMerge’s April conference this year and surely will advance in years to come, together with talks on virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and other topics that we cannot yet imagine. l

TOP: MAYOR SUAREZ ENJOYING THE SHOW AND TALKING TO ATTENDEES ABOVE: JUDGES LISTENING TO AN ENTREPRENEUR PITCHING A STARTUP FOR FUNDING

FRANCISCO CORNEJO FROM ECUADOR, WHO RELOCATED TO MIAMI WITH HIS FAMILY AND RECEIVED BACKING FOR HIS APP.

Planting Seeds in the U.S. Market

MANA TECH’S IMMERSIVE APPROACH TO BRINGING LATIN AMERICAN STARTUPS TO THE U.S. MARKET

BY J.P. FABER

PHOTO BY TIEGE DOLLY

When Charly Esnal co-founded Base Miami with two other partners in 2019, its mission was the same as it is today: to accelerate the learning curve for Latin American tech companies that want to enter the U.S. market or raise capital here. Since then, Esnal’s firm has worked with more than 150 companies, many with notable success stories – Brazilian company Digibee, for example, which raised $25 million and now has offices in Broward County to expand its platform of connecting new digital applications with legacy software systems.

In April of last year, Base Miami took a major step forward, merging with Mana Tech, a division of billionaire Moishe Mana’s neighborhood revitalization platform, Mana Common. Mana, the largest private landowner in Miami, with over 75 properties across Miami's Flagler District and Wynwood Arts District, saw Base Miami as another useful tool in growing Miami’s tech community.

“Mana Tech and Base Miami are at the forefront of solidifying Miami’s position as an international tech hub by helping these young companies expand into the U.S.,” says Esnal, now head of Mana Tech. “These are the types of cutting-edge companies that will be household names over the next few years.”

Moreover, with the resources available from Mana Common, Mana Tech/Base Miami has expanded its pool of partners – including Latin American goverments, which were previously used to identify and sponsor the tech companies nurtured by Esnal and his colleagues. “We had been a straight consulting model, and I was bootstrapping everything, getting government sponsors,” says Esnal. “I had a big vision, and now with Moishe’s support, we can accelerate the mission.”

This year, for the first time, Mana Tech is bringing 15 Latin American startups to Miami, part of a 30-day program that begins with online coaching and culminates with Miami Immersion Week. During that week, the startups go through an in-person bootcamp that ends with a “pitch day” in which the companies pitch their ideas to a panel of tech experts. The winner is then provided with free space, ongoing business and strategy mentoring, and nomination to the Microsoft for Startups Program.

Esnal is quick to point out that while the companies they are vetting are technically “startups” in the U.S., no candidates are considered unless they already have a track record in their home countries. “We say that any entrepreneur that is able to start a company in Latin America, with no resources and a lot of obstacles – that if you bring them to the U.S. market, with its stability, and with the resources of funding, they can really accelerate their growth.”

As for the companies that do not win the honor of first place, the learning experience should prove catalytic. During their week here, the company principals are introduced to mentors, investors, potential partners, etc. “It’s very strategic. We dress the bride and make sure they have all their ducks in a row before coming here,” says Esnal. “We want them to come to Miami, but some realize they aren’t ready for the U.S. market. It’s whatever is best for the founders.” In some cases, the firms are more interested in using Miami as a base for Latin America, “so they can become trans-Latin companies.”

That notion of trans-Latinism is at the heart of the vision not only for Mana Tech, but for all of the divisions that comprise Mana Common, which includes Mana Properties, Mana Commerce, Mana Culture (fashion), Mana Impact (social platforms), and Mana Tech.

“Mana Common is not a development project,” says Mana, despite his soon-to-be-unveiled plans to transform both the down-

town and Wynwood areas with a dramatic architectural makeover. “It’s really an infrastructure. It’s a platform to connect Latin America to North America economically through Miami.… Miami really should be the Western Hemisphere’s global hub.” Mana’s long-term vision, he says, is nothing less than the unification of the hemisphere as one economic unit. “The future of the Americas is that it must be one, with 1.1 billion people [combined]…. The way to go is connecting these economies and making one economy.”

“This is just what I am doing with the Mana Tech initiative – uniting the Americas into one market,” says Esnal. “If we united the U.S. with Latin America, we could move all manufacturing here. And if someone wants to do business in LatAm, they come to Miami, the trade hub for the Americas.”

In the meantime, 15 companies will pitch Mana Tech for the honor of prime position, firms that range from platforms that facilitate the transfer of funds between the U.S. and Latin American countries, to AI-based solutions that boost productivity in large corporations. All had to pay $4,000 each toward their expenses to qualify as a scale-up rather than merely an idea.

What follows are four possible finalists; as of press time, a winner had not yet been chosen. For the answer as to who won over the judges, go to globalmiamimagazine.com.

CHARLY ESNAL, CO-FOUNDER OF BASE MIAMI

These are the types of cuttingedge companies that will be household names over the next few years.

THE CONTESTANTS

COMPANY: SUPLAIT

CEO: CAMILO SILVA CAVIEDES

DESCRIPTION: Suplait enables medium-sized businesses to transform their manual and inefficient procurement processes into an automated and smooth experience, generating savings, increasing visibility, and taking control of their purchasing operations through a conversational, accessible, and easy-to-use platform.

WEBSITE: suplait.com

YEAR FOUNDED: 2022

BACKGROUND: The first startup Silva was part of (leading over 450 people, scaling the project to Chile, Colombia, and the U.S.) now delivers food with adorable robots in the U.S. and Middle East (www.kiwibot.com). He then founded a travel tech startup that simplified the process of booking tours and activities with local operators in Latin America. He had operations in five countries, but when the pandemic hit he had to pivot drastically.

GOAL: Today, Suplait is building a network platform with the vision of connecting all Latin American companies to simplify B2B transactions on a continent with over 18 million businesses that still do not use technology in their B2B purchases. Its purpose is to build the largest B2B trade network in Latin America.

COMPANY: MV SALES & LOGISTICS

CEO: PEDRO PERONI

DESCRIPTION: Today, companies suffer with their field sales forces and transporters. MV Sales & Logistics makes things easier for companies. Its platform automates, controls, and generates real-time field data for their sales and transporter teams in one single solution, and with the possibility to be integrated with any ERP (enterprise resource planning) provider.

YEAR FOUNDED: 2018

WEBSITE: mvsalesandlogistics.com

BACKGROUND: Previously, Pedro worked as an international sales director for FOX 5 New York and then at IE Business School in the markets of LatAm, the EU, and the Gulf region. He graduated with an MBA from IE Business School in Spain and has a bachelor’s degree in international business from EAFIT University in Colombia.

GOAL: “We want to grow in the U.S. market, helping U.S. Latin owners in the distribution sector to grow their businesses and experience in the Latin American market, helping over 4,000 users to improve their sales and logistics processes.”

THE CONTESTANTS

COMPANY: SLIK

CEO: JAVIER BRIGNONE

DESCRIPTION: Slik provides companies with cloud-based surveys and analytics to measure and improve their employee happiness and overall business performance. Unlike other solutions, Slik uses data science to link employee happiness to business outcomes to show a clear ROI on HR initiatives.

YEAR FOUNDED: 2019

WEBSITE: slikpro.com/en/home-en

BACKGROUND: Brignone is an HR professional with a strong focus on business and technology. He spent most of his career managing teams at a senior executive level in Latin America and continues to create new technologies for HR. Today with Slik, he is helping organizations across multiple countries to improve their employee experience through data science. Slik has recently shown how one of its clients achieved seven percent more in revenue by increasing employee engagement by one percent.

GOAL: With more than 50 enterprise clients in LatAm and Spain, including Starbucks and Burger King, Slik is now looking forward to expanding into the U.S. market.

COMPANY: DAMAP

CEO: FEDERICO ZUBIA

DESCRIPTION: As businesses grow, the number of transactions they need to reconcile – from sources like banks, cards, and gateway payments – also increases. This can be a daunting task for finance teams already stretched thin. DaMap created a data platform to automate the financial reconciliation process, reducing tasks normally taking days or weeks to a few minutes per month, in the process saving time, reducing errors, and optimizing financial operations.

YEAR FOUNDED: 2020

WEBSITE: damap.tech

BACKGROUND: CEO Federico Zubía is a finance and banking expert with a deep knowledge of databases and Big Data. He has worked as a consultant for top companies like Johnson & Johnson, McDonald’s, MSD, and MAPFRE, where he learned the value of staying ahead of the curve.

GOAL: DaMap’s goal is to grow by 500 percent per year in the quantity of transactions processed, becoming the most relevant software reconciliation platform in America in eight years. By providing a solution that simplifies financial reconciliation, it can empower companies to focus on growing their business and achieving their goals.

THE CANADA CONNECTION

BY YOUSRA BENKIRANE

Long a stomping ground for Canadian visitors in the winter, South Florida is also a growing business platform for Canadian companies

We’re the biggest foreign investors when it comes to private real estate in Florida...

“Juncos” head to the Sunshine State every year to escape the winter. It’s not uncommon in South Florida to see your Canadian neighbors six months out of the year.

A recent report showed that Florida welcomes almost 3.5 million Canadians annually, while an estimated 150,000 Canadians reside year-round in South Florida. In the past few years, however, there has been more to the relationship between Florida and our neighbors to the north than just sun-seekers. Canada has maintained a strong economic relationship with the state, becoming its biggest international economic partner, including in Florida-origin exports, imports, visitors, and foreign direct investment.

SYLVIA CESARATTO, CONSUL GENERAL OF CANADA

“[Canadians] don’t only come here to spend a couple of weeks. Many come to live here for at least six months. That is important in terms of what they bring to the local economy,” explains the newly appointed Consul General of Canada in Miami, Sylvia Cesaratto. “We’re the biggest foreign investors when it comes to private real estate in Florida,” she adds, citing over $600 million in local property taxes that Canadians contribute annually.

Not all these new residents are retirees sipping margaritas on the beach. “You see interest from Canadian corporations and entrepreneurs [who want] to come down here,” says Louis Guay, a tax principle at Kaufman Rossin and Chairman of the Board for the Canada-Florida Chamber of Commerce (CFCC). According to a report by research firm Joorney, 2021 saw an influx of Canadians who moved to Florida to start a business with the E-2 visa, which is a non-immigrant visa given to individuals from treaty countries who have invested or are in the process of investing a substantial amount of capital in a U.S. business. Many Canadian entrepreneurs use this to start or expand their businesses in Miami. “There’s this connection between Canada and South Florida that’s been around for a very long time, starting with the Canadian snowbirds,” says Guay.

Indeed, Canada is one of Florida’s most important trade partners. Last year, Canada and Florida had a trading relationship of $8 billion, making it the No. 2 export destination and No. 3 import origin for Florida. Enterprise Florida’s Canada office director, Hesam Houryaband, jokes that “Canadians know Florida more than they know other provinces in Canada.” Citing their affinity for the climate, and the similarities in time zone and language, “it only makes sense for them to expand into Florida,” he says.

Moreover, Miami’s reputation as the Gateway for the Americas is important to Canadian companies. “One thing that stands out is South Florida’s regional location, not just for the Southeast U.S., but also the Caribbean and the Latin American markets,” Houryaband says. “When a Canadian company wants to expand to those territories and markets, the most natural place [to] do it from is Miami.” It’s also often cost-effective to have Canadian products depot at a free trade zone in South Florida before shipping them to Latin America or the Caribbean. “With the deep-water ports and international access routes, [Greater Miami] becomes a sort of launching pad for them.”

Along with the seaports, Miami International Airport (MIA) is another key for Canadian cargo operations. The airport is the United States’ primary cargo gateway to Latin America, which Canada’s largest airline, Air Canada, uses to full advantage. Besides flying with a combination passenger-and-freighter fleet, the airline intends to invest in more all-cargo aircraft in the future, including the first converted 767 cargo jets, which began operating on routes linking Miami to Toronto in October 2021. This made Miami the airline’s first scheduled freighter destination in the continental U.S.

“We are seeing a very strong demand complemented with cargo, [so] we are adding dedicated freighter aircraft into the fleet,” says Vincent Gauthier-Doré, senior director of sales at Air Canada. “Miami is a key hub for us to import and export goods between the two countries and further into Latin America.” In April of last year, the airline ordered two factory-built B767-300Fs that are expected to begin operating this year. This is in addition to the newly built B777Fs that are expected to begin service in 2024, expanding Air Canada’s cargo freighters from three to twelve between now and the end of 2024.

To spur greater connectivity and trade, Air Canada has also reintroduced its direct flights from Vancouver to Miami after an 18year hiatus, joining daily flights from Montreal and Toronto. “It really

responds to a need to have a northeast/southeast link that’s efficient,” explains Gauthier-Doré. “That’s why this route will not only be seasonal, but a year-round service.” Traditionally, airlines fly narrow-body aircraft in North America, but since the demand for Canada-Florida flights is so strong, the airline is using wide-body aircraft.

A SURGE OF CANADIAN COMPANIES

According to the Canada-Florida Chamber, around 200 Canadian-owned businesses are now operating in Miami-Dade County –including international consulting firms Stantec and CGI – employing 10,960 people. Additionally, 4,050 county jobs depend on goods and services exports to Canada.

The presence of Canadian visitors and residents in South Florida has only encouraged additional assimilation between the two

You see interest from Canadian corporations and entrepreneurs who want to come down here.

LOUIS GUAY, A TAX PRINCIPLE AT KAUFMAN ROSSIN AND CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD FOR THE CANADA-FLORIDA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

cultures. Even the famous Canadian coffee chain, Tim Hortons, is looking to bring a piece of home to the French-Canadian communities in South Florida. Founded in 1964 in Ontario, Canada, Tim Hortons is Canada’s largest fast-food restaurant chain, with 5,352 restaurants in 15 countries, including 626 locations in New York, Michigan, and Ohio. And now, talks of Miami-Dade and Broward County joining the list are underway. In a press release, the head of business development for Tim Hortons in the U.S., Ryan Ferranti, said, “We are excited for our recent expansion into new markets in the U.S. and are prioritizing growth in the South Florida market.” Although there is no projected date set for the expansion, the company has claimed to have identified favorable trade areas within the market. “While we are targeting growth in multiple territories within the state of Florida, Miami-Dade and Broward counties are of particular interest given the significant Canadian presence and

Boats ........................................ $10.5M

........................................................................... $3.46M

TOP 2022 IMPORTS: Gas Turbines ....................................................... $283M Planes/Helicopters/Spacecraft ........... $64.4M Frozen Vegetables $61.2M

Source: The Observatory of Economic Complexity, United States Census Bureau USA Trade® Online

tourism in South Florida.”

A year and a half ago, the Bank of Montreal (BMO) developed a South Florida team as part of an expanded focus to target middle market companies (commercial businesses that earn between $20 million and $1 billion in annual revenue). The reason was simple. “It’s a great market and there’s a compelling cross-border component here [in South Florida],” explains Marty McAndrew, managing director and Florida market executive at BMO. The Canadian-based bank currently has 17 traditional branches in Southwest Florida ranging from Tampa to Naples. The South Florida team, however, centers around commercial banking that does not require branches. Made up of Miami natives, the team provides solutions to clients such as providing capital, helping manage foreign exchanges, providing complex and strategic guidance, and facilitating introductions to relevant Canadian business partners. “The principal in our

Canadians know Florida more than they know other provinces in Canada. It only makes sense for them to expand into Florida.

HESAM HOURYABAND, ENTERPRISE FLORIDA’S CANADA OFFICE DIRECTOR

The U.S. is an important market for Bombardier with close to 3,000 aircraft in our fleet, and this highly-efficient facility provides a key focal point for customers based in the area, and those who will visit from as far as Latin America...

ÉRIC MARTEL, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF BOMBARDIER, ON THE NEW MIAMI-OPA LOCKA SERVICE CENTRE AT THE MIAMIOPA LOCKA EXECUTIVE AIRPORT

Miami market was born and raised in Miami. Local connectivity is kind of our secret sauce,” McAndrew explains.

Canadian-based TD Bank Group is another institution with a strong presence in South Florida, totaling 63 branches in Miami-Dade County. In April of last year, the bank announced the launch of a new technology hub in Fort Lauderdale to help TD tap into the region’s surging tech community. The new center will allow TD to scour tech and innovation talent and deliver new digital products and services to its customers. The company plans to add 200 new jobs in the area over the next two years; the influx of talent is expected to accelerate investments in new technologies and enhance digital experiences for its customers.

Then there’s Bombardier, the Canadian business aircraft manufacturer. Headquartered in Montréal, Bombardier opened its new Miami-Opa Locka Service Centre at the Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport (OPF) late last year. The 300,000-square-foot facility will be capable of providing quick and efficient maintenance, repair, and overhaul capabilities for all Bombardier business aircraft. When fully operational, the $100 million project will create almost 300 aerospace jobs in the community, including more than 225 for highly experienced technicians.

“The U.S. is an important market for Bombardier with close to 3,000 aircraft in our fleet, and this highly-efficient facility provides a key focal point for customers based in the area, and those who will visit from as far as Latin America,” said Éric Martel, President and CEO of Bombardier, when the center was opened. “I am delighted to highlight this inauguration that significantly grows our footprint and employment base in Florida.”

The State of Florida is also working closely with Canadian firms to sustain growth for both regions. In February, Enterprise Florida – the state’s commerce department – and the Canada-Florida Chamber of Commerce invited a Canadian delegation to Fort Lauderdale. Led by CFCC President Eric P. Tremblay, the trade mission’s group included executives from 13 Canadian companies in industries ranging from tech to construction.

Among the participants was Alfred Technologies, a wine and spirits information technology firm (see story on page 44). Using artificial intelligence, Alfred Technologies offers inventory solutions, digital wine lists, and menus for restaurant clients. Headquartered in Québec with an office in San Francisco, Alfred Technologies seeks to make its presence known in Florida, which has over 40,000 restaurants and a vibrant hospitality industry – especially in the Miami area, where it intends to open an office. “The energy that we will put into our development is invested in the Florida region,” says Élise Doucet, head of sales. “The industry here is very healthy and growing.”

Indeed, the future seems promising for Miami and Canada’s economic relationship. The first mission from South Florida to Canada has already been planned for September 2023 and the Québec government is now looking to open an office in the Brickell financial district, emphasizing a commitment to strengthen the country’s economic and institutional ties with South Florida. The office – which will be headed by the current director of the Québec office in Barcelona, Isabelle Dessureault – will support the exports of Québec companies and help identify business and partnership opportunities for Québec-based businesses. “Our most recent trade mission showed that the interest of Canadian businesses towards South Florida and Miami-Dade County is strong and not slowing down,” says Guay. “We will continue to build on those solid foundations.” l

ALDO

CANADIAN-OWNED BUSINESSES OPERATING

AIR CANADA

AIR TRANSAT

ATLAS PAPER MILLS

BANK OF MONTREAL (BMO)

BOMBARDIER

CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE (CIBC)

CIRCLE K

CGI CONSULTING

CORESLAB STRUCTURES

DESJARDINS

EARLS RESTAURANT

GILDAN

MANULIFE

MCROBERTS PROTECTIVE AGENCY

NATBANK

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA

RESTAURANT BRANDS

INTERNATIONAL (BURGER KING, POPEYES)

SCOTIABANK

SAPUTO

STANTEC

TD BANK NA

TECO ENERGY

TFORCE

WASTE CONNECTIONS

WESTJET

WSP

A $30 billion business and growing

AS SOUTH FLORIDA’S POST-COVID ECONOMY EXPANDS, BROWARD COUNTY’S PORT EVERGLADES IS SHOWING IMPRESSIVE GROWTH

BY JOSEPH A. MANN JR.

“We took a little hit from COVID,” admits Jonathan Daniels, who has been CEO and port director at Port Everglades since June 2020. “But we’ve made strong progress in all our business sectors [cargo, cruise, and petroleum] and we are significantly ahead of where we were last year.”

Recent figures bear Daniels out. For fiscal year 2022, Port Everglades reported nearly 9.5 million tons of cargo, up 13 percent over FY2021. More remarkable is their growth in cruise passengers, from the depressed figure of 116,946 in 2021 to more than 1.7 million cruise passengers last year, making them the No. 3 in world behind only Port Canaveral and PortMiami. Petroleum imports, a mainstay of the port, grew to more than 121 million barrels in FY2022, up 13 percent – and higher than the pre-COVID peak in 2019. “We’re beyond recovery and are entering into a new growth mode,” says Daniels.

A majority of our imports – clothing, aggregates, fruits and vegetables – are consumed within 80 miles of the port...

JONATHAN DANIELS, CEO AND PORT DIRECTOR AT PORT EVERGLADES

Founded in 1928 to export local agricultural goods, Port Everglades has grown into an economic powerhouse producing an annual economic impact of more than $30 billion, paying over $1 billion in yearly taxes, and supporting an estimated 206,000 jobs statewide – including more than 7,000 direct jobs with companies that operate at the port.

“We are primarily a consumption-zone port,” says Daniels. “A majority of our imports – clothing, aggregates, fruits and vegetables – are consumed within 80 miles of the port. And 69 percent of all inbound cargo is distributed and consumed in Miami-Dade County. Port Everglades and PortMiami together serve a continuously growing market. Neither port alone is large enough to handle the growth we are going to experience, and we both must invest in order to serve the market.”

To take advantage of South Florida’s increasing economic growth, Port Everglades is identifying new opportunities, investing heavily in expanding and upgrading infrastructure, and attracting private capital for its cargo, cruise, and petroleum businesses, Daniels says. The port is currently in the midst of a $3 billion infrastructure program, part of its 20-year master plan. One key element, with a $471 million price tag, is a project to add five new berths for larger cargo ships and increased container capacity. This project – the largest of its type at the port to date – is called the Southport Turning Notch Extension, and will widen one section of the channel from 900 to 2,400 feet.

In another long-term project, the port is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deepen and widen the port’s navigation channels from 42 feet to 48-50 feet, allowing the port to receive some of the world’s largest vessels. The port recently added three new 175-foot gantry cranes costing $13.8 million each, providing a major boost to cargo handling capacity. Called Super Post-Panamax gantry cranes, each one can lift 66 metric tons and can stack containers eight-high and 22 across. They join the port’s existing six gantry cranes, which reach 151-feet and can handle containers stacked six-high on a ship’s deck and reach 16 across.

The port finances part of its capital programs from its own revenues, which grew to $151.7 million in FY2022, up 47 percent over FY2021. The port’s gross profit margin last year – the dollars that can be used for investments – was nearly $53.9 million, 48 percent higher than the previous year. While the 2022 numbers still lag preCOVID, Port Everglades has experienced vigorous growth since FY2022 ended September 30. The port also receives support from state and federal sources. For example, it obtained $19.2 million last year from the U.S. DOT’s Maritime Administration, and this year $32 million from the State of Florida, both for a bulkhead replacement program to protect against rising sea levels and flooding. In 2020, the port received $29.1 million in federal funds to relocate the Fort Lauderdale Coast Guard station. It also works with the county, and recently issued $125 million in bonds for expansion projects.

In many cases, investments in cargo and cruise facilities are public-private partnerships. For example, port-funded improvements to cruise terminals – capital plus interest – are repaid over time by cruise company fees paid to the port. Another example: Vecenergy, which offloads petroleum products and provides fuel additives to oil companies at Port Everglades, is building a $75 million jet fuel storage facility (four tanks) on behalf of an aviation consortium.

ENVIRONMENTAL CARE

Port projects can sometimes have clear environmental impacts. In expanding the Turning Notch channel, the port had to remove eight

acres of mangroves to make room for the new berths. Prior to removing the trees, the port reclaimed a 16-acre site on port property, created a mangrove nursery, and planted 70,000 mangrove trees. “Today, the site looks like old growth,” says Daniels. “We worked with the Audubon Society when we were setting up the new [sanctuary].” The new site has a viewing tower so visitors can watch birds in the mangroves and manatees in a nearby pool.

Since 1996, Port Everglades has been working on a variety of dredging projects in cooperation with the Army Corps of Engineers, the Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. For each project, the port conducts studies to identify coral colonies and moves them

TOP: THE SOUTHPORT TURNING NOTCH EXTENSION WILL WIDEN ONE SECTION OF THE CHANNEL FROM 900 TO 2,400 FEET.

ABOVE: THE NEW JET FUEL TERMINAL DISTRIBUTES JET FUEL TO FOUR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS.

PORT EVERGLADES OVERVIEW

Port Everglades, located adjacent to Fort Lauderdale, handles cargo and cruise traffic, and supplies South Florida with its fuel for automobiles, trucks, aviation, and other activities. The port is a self-supporting enterprise owned by Broward County. It is also a U.S. Navy liberty port, meaning that Navy vessels regularly dock at Port Everglades so sailors can take shore leave. The port covers 2,190 acres; the majority is land owned by Broward County, with some owned by private firms, like oil companies.

THE CRUISE SECTOR

Port Everglades is now the third-largest cruise port in the world, behind only Port Canaveral and PortMiami, with eight cruise terminals serving Azamara, Disney Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises (part of Royal Caribbean Group), Princess Cruises, Cunard Line, Holland America Line (the last three part of Carnival Corp.), Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, Silversea Cruises, Viking Ocean Cruises, and Balearia Caribbean, a ferry service. Its cruise lines cover routes to the Caribbean, Latin America, and Europe.

CARGO

Port Everglades is one of the country’s leading container ports, with cargo that includes clothing, furniture, refrigerated cargo, machinery, vehicles, beverages, and paper. It also handles bulk cargo (like cement), break bulk (like steel), transports motor vehicles and yachts, and imports petroleum products. Port Everglades has 30-plus berths and serves cargo lines that include Maersk, Ham-

burg Sud, Crowley, Great White Fleet, Hapag-Lloyd (America), SeaLand, King Ocean Service, and Mediterranean Shipping, among others. Port Everglades exports to 150 cargo ports in 70 countries, mostly in the Caribbean, Central America, South America, and the Middle East. Most imports arrive from Central America, South America, and Europe.

PETROLEUM

The Port Everglades petroleum depot receives gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, and other energy products, mostly from refineries on the Gulf of Mexico. The port distributes gasoline and diesel fuel to 12 counties via privately owned tanker trucks. It supplies jet fuel to four international airports: Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, Miami, West Palm Beach, and Fort Myers. Pipelines carry fuel to Fort Lauderdale and Miami's international airports; the other two receive deliveries in fuel trucks. Chevron, Citgo, ExxonMobil, and Marathon are some of the oil companies that ship through Port Everglades and store fuel products there. FPL also has large storage tanks at the port.

FREE TRADE ZONE

Port Everglades' Free Trade Zone (FTZ) No. 25 was Florida’s first. As in other FTZs, exporters and importers can store, upgrade, assemble, repackage, and re-ship equipment and merchandise as part of their supply chain, free of duties. Several billions of dollars in merchandise moves through the port’s FTZ each year, and companies using the FTZ pay fees to the port.

to new coral habitats where they can thrive. In one case, “Workers saw that a small sea turtle crawled onto an active construction site,” Daniels says. “Work was halted until the turtle was found and moved to a safe place. We are committed to the environment.”

Another element in the port’s environmental and sustainability program is its plan to invest $160 million in a shore power system for its eight cruise ship berths to reduce emissions. Shore power technology allows cruise ships to shut down their auxiliary engines while in port and draw power from a substation on port property, sharply cutting emissions of nitric and sulfur oxides, carbon dioxide, and particulate matter.

Working with Florida Power & Light (FPL), Disney Cruise Line, and Royal Caribbean Group, Port Everglades hired Moffat & Nichol consultants to develop a feasibility study on upgrading the port’s power system to provide 16 megawatts of electricity to each cruise terminal. The project, scheduled to start next year, requires construction of a new FPL substation at the port; Port Everglades is requesting cost-sharing assistance from state, local, and federal agencies.

SPACE CHALLENGE

The port’s top challenge now is space. Most of its 2,190 acres is already occupied. “While we see opportunities for strong economic growth, what we don’t have is a lot of land, since we’re hemmed in by the city, the airport, and the water,” says Daniels.

ABOVE: THE PORT IS SEEKING EXPANSION INTO LUXURY CRUISE BRANDS SUCH AS RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION BY OFFERING FIRST CLASS FACILITIES FOR DISCERNING VACATIONERS.

Consequently, Daniels and his team are looking for ways to make more efficient use of the land they have. The use of taller, more powerful gantries to move containers is one example; another is moving some of the maintenance and repair equipment to sites outside the port. The port also asks clients to locate non-essential goods or service areas off-site. This is especially true for towers of empty containers that aren’t retrieved by their owners on a timely basis; the port is looking to store these outside its land.

In an answer to space limitations within Port Everglades, two private companies are investing to provide new warehouses for shippers close by. Seagis Property Group is building nearly 200,000-square-feet of warehouse space just outside the port’s security entrance in Hollywood, while Bridge Industrial is constructing a logistics facility with more than 170,000-square-feet of space in Dania Beach, less than a mile from the port.

FUTURE GROWTH AND BRANDING

Like other seaports, Port Everglades is on the lookout for new sources of revenues. To bring in new cruise ships, Daniels says the port carefully researches cruise line schedules for the next few years to evaluate their needs. The port can then offer space and time alternatives for future routes. Port analysts also focus on luxury and ultra-luxury cruise options, attracting brands like Viking, Silversea, Azamara, and Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection. It helps that the port is located adjacent to Fort Lauderdale, the yachting capital of the

world, and is literally minutes away from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

Port Everglades also has a different strategy for cargo expansion. “In cargo, some ports constantly contact new shipping lines and terminal operators to search for new business,” Daniels says. “We already have a strong portfolio of large and small terminal operators [companies that provide wharfage, dock, storage, and other marine services to shipping companies], and our view is to help existing terminal operators expand their business by offering them better facilities, investments needed for expansion, and operating agreements that allow them to be more flexible.”

Now the port is re-branding itself, trying to move away from the misperception that Port Everglades is part of the Everglades. Earlier this year, the port adopted the trident – used by Poseidon and Neptune – as their new symbol, representing leadership in oceanic and economic development. The previous logo, with a colorful yellow sun shining in the ‘O’ of “Port Everglades” was dropped.

In promoting the port’s new trident symbol, a creative video showed attractive views of the Everglades, which lies miles to the west of the port. “This is the Everglades. Which is great,” appears onscreen, followed by “But it’s not us. This is us,” accompanied by stirring music and dramatic shots of giant cruise and cargo ships on the water, port activities, and images of life in the nearby cities. No swamp here.

“We’re not the largest port, but we have extremely good resources and service,” Daniels says. l

While we see opportunities for strong economic growth, what we don’t have is a lot of land, since we’re hemmed in by the city, the airport, and the water.

JONATHAN DANIELS, CEO AND DIRECTOR OF PORT EVERGLADES

Impetus for Global Latin Fashions

At the recent Latin American Fashion Summit, South and Central American designers strutted their stuff

BY HARRIET MAYS POWELL

Latinos now form the largest racial and ethnic minority in the United States, accounting for nearly 19 percent of its citizens. According to a 2022 report from the Latino Donor Collaborative, if that population were a country, it would have a GDP of $2.8 trillion, roughly equivalent to that of either the UK, France, or India.

This economic power – let alone the buying power in Latin America itself – has not gone unnoticed by two fashion industry entrepreneurs, sisters-in-law Estefania Lacayo and Samantha Tams, who together founded the Latin American Fashion Summit (LAFS) in 2018. Their mission was to bring Latin American talent to the global fashion industry. After a successful fourth summit held in the Miami Design District

last November, where the event will now be an annual fixture, the duo recently launched their newest venture, “Raíces” or “Roots,” in Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic.

The three-day, jam-packed event was staged in March, just a week after the end of the Paris fashion shows. Lacayo and Tams invited the fashion industry to the Caribbean, with the aim of creating a fusion between a networking event and a trade show. In contrast to a typical dreary convention center venue, Raíces took over the historic 16th-century Ciudad Colonial, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Thanks to support from the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Tourism, as well as various other sponsors, they were able to “show the culture, the heritage, the artisans, and the gastronomy of the host country,” says Tams. “We wanted to expose our guests to the best of Latin America.”

On arrival, it was hard not to be impressed. A private car shuttled me from the airport to a townhouse hotel in the colonial zone, a charming bougainvillea-smothered establishment replete with antique furniture, plunge pools, and private butlers. No detail was left untouched. The opening event, themed “Caribbean Nights,” featured live music, lavish décor, and regional cuisine. Lacayo admitted to me that she is a “fanatic about aesthetics,” and despite the splendor of the setting she continued to mumble her dissatisfaction with the venue’s chandeliers for much of the evening.

On the following days, lunches were hosted in the city’s top restaurants, with cocktail receptions held at museums and art exhibitions. Lacayo, Tams, and most of the attendees were dressed from breakfast to past midnight in a parade of glamorous gowns by a portfolio of Latin designers. Lacayo explained the intended differ-

FASHION INDUSTRY ENTREPRENEUR SAMANTHA TAMS (LEFT) WITH HER SISTER-IN-LAW ESTEFANIA LACAYO. TOGETHER, THEY LAUNCHED RAÍCES, A THREE DAY FASHION EVENT. THE OPENING NIGHT, THEMED “CARIBBEAN NIGHTS,” FEATURED LIVE MUSIC, LAVISH DÉCOR, AND REGIONAL CUISINE.

ence between Raíces and the LAFS summit in Miami. “The latter is a think tank of sorts,” she said, “combining C-suite executives and power brokers with celebrity guest speakers like Pharell Williams and the socialite and Moda Operandi founder, Lauren Santo Domingo. [LAFS] is not just to uncover the new fashion coming out of Latin America but the latest in business best practices as well.”

In contrast, the purpose of the Raíces event was to facilitate “more casual interactions between those doing business in Latin America and those looking to do so,” said Lacayo. “Many growing brands aren’t interested in learning about the metaverse from some CEO. They’re just not there yet.”

Raíces will rotate each spring to a different Latin American

We wanted to expose our guests to the best of Latin America...

city. Emerging designers will be able to meet buyers, learn how to pitch magazine editors, and hear what fashion directors from large U.S. retailers want via panel discussions or intimate Q&As. At the March event in Santo Domingo, sessions were housed in the tented courtyard of an historic fortress, Fortaleza Ozama. Participants could meet speakers like designers Esteban Cortazar or Raul Lopez of Luar (a Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy designer award finalist this year), as well as Karla Martínez de Salas, head of editorial content at Vogue Mexico & Latin America.

In another landmark building nearby, Casa de los Vitrales, two floors were brimming with pop-up booths. There, regional brands exhibited their wares, allowing interaction with buyers and editors, as well as fostering informal meetings between fellow Latinos.

Support for nascent designers comes through scholarships provided by NGOs, wealthy individuals, and marquee brands that include Tiffany & Co, Michael Kors, Audemars Piguet, and Lexus. Lacayo stresses, however, the importance of limiting scholarship funding. “Don’t give them 100 percent,” she says. “Let them be a little hungry. If they don’t have any skin in the game, then they don’t learn from their mistakes.”

The duo’s own paths to success were not initially paved with gold. Tam described to me the misogyny she experienced when expecting her second child while working as a buyer at Saks Fifth Avenue in Mexico. Initially, she had no thought to become an entrepreneur but decided she didn’t want to be part of the corporate system.

Lacayo, on the other hand, had a falling out with her then business partner in a New York fashion start-up, which had left her “feeling like a complete failure.” She stopped work for a year

to concentrate on beginning a family, which eluded her given the stress. Along the way, her husband (who she says is a huge feminist) invited her to join him for the Ideas Festival at the Aspen Institute where she listened to the likes of Warren Buffett and Jeff Bezos. This provided her with the "aha" moment. Calls to fashion directors and friends in the industry resulted in positive feedback about her vision. She then returned to her hometown in Nicaragua for a family vacation that included Tams. There, the two decided to join forces and agreed to imbue their new company with the “core values of sustainability and social impact, with a primary aim of giving upcoming talent access to industry leaders,” says Lacayo.

For myself as a fashion journalist, with much of my career spent

The Latin American Fashion Summit is not just to uncover the new fashion coming out of Latin America but the latest in business best practices as well.

ESTEFANIA LACAYO EXPLAINS THE CONCEPT BEHIND THE LATIN AMERICAN FASHION SUMMIT (LAFS)

OPPOSITE PAGE:

TOP LEFT: MICHU BRAND HANDBAG MADE BY DESIGNER EMMA CARVAJAL USING SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS

TOP RIGHT: AUTHENTIC PANAMA HAT HAND WOVEN IN ECUADOR BY THE MODERN MONARCHIE LABEL

BOTTOM LEFT: THE GEO JEWELRY BRAND FROM NICARAGUAN JEWELERY DESIGNER GEORGINA VARGAS

BOTTOM RIGHT: DOMINICAN BRAND ISLA & WHITE POP-UP

in New York and the European fashion capitals, it was fascinating to witness the array of talent on display in Santo Domingo. A steady stream of designers continues to emerge from Colombia, with Emma Carvajal’s line of handbags, Michu, winning deserved praise from buyers and editors alike for sophisticated designs using sustainable materials that support regional artisans. Another Colombian brand, Oculta, produces one-size garments, also made from sustainable materials, which are inspired by indigenous people in Africa.

A leading Peruvian brand, Escudo, showed their superb designs of crocheted dresses that take a month to make, one of which was worn by Czech supermodel Karolina Kurkova – who flew in directly from the Oscars – at the final night’s dinner. Rounding out the highlights were Nicaraguan jeweler Georgina Vargas’ line, Geo, comprising modern interchangeable vermeil pieces made from recycled silver. I also loved the authentic Panama straw hats, hand-woven in Ecuador and produced by the ‘lawyers turned hat designers’ duo behind the firm Modern Monarchie. A special edition, decorated with gold plated pins with semi-precious stones, was designed exclusively for the guests at the lunch they hosted during the event.

But apart from Alexandre Birman, a leading shoe designer and a sponsor of LAFS, there were surprisingly few contributors from Brazil. Lacayo admits that they haven’t yet cracked Brazil. “It’s like a bubble in its own right, but we’ll get there!” she told me.

Each succeeding LAFS summit has doubled its attendance. According to company research, some 45 percent of participants are Latinos living in Florida, New York, California, and Texas. Another 40 percent come from Latin America, while the remaining 15 percent are from Europe, Asia, and Africa. At the time of writing, final numbers weren’t available from the inaugural Raíces event. But if the last LAFS numbers are any indication – 2,200 combined virtual and live attendees, 80,000-plus social media followers, and 494 million impressions across influencer accounts, shared content, and press – their audience continues to grow. And in addition to their two annual live and virtual summits, Tams and Lacayo have launched Tribu, a subscription-based tech platform intended to connect fashion entrepreneurs via a social media app.

Unsurprisingly, several Latin American countries have already lobbied to be the next locale for Raíces 2024. l

RIGHT: SUPERMODEL KAROLINA KURKOVA WEARING AN ESCUDO CROCHET DRESS THAT TAKES ONE MONTH TO MAKE. (DRESS ALSO SHOWN ABOVE)

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SPECIAL CITY REPORT PEREIRA, COLOMBIA

Sponsored by: World Trade Center Pereira

TABLE OF CONTENTS SPECIAL REPORT

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A modern transit system is emblematic of the rise of Pereira, a metro area that surveys call Colombia’s most livable, with low unemployment and growing foreign investment, some from Miami.

90

PEREIRA RISING CIVISMO 101

To understand Pereira’s ascent, a key word to know is civismo, or civic action. Civismo explains how residents banded together to build the city’s airport.

92 94

THE BUSINESS CLIMATE COFFEE TOURISM

Observations on commerce and lifestyle by architect Jaime Velez, who designed WTC Pereira and many iconic structures around the world.

Visit the coffee region to meet Alejandro Bedoya, a third-generation coffee producer of the small “specialty” brand called Combia Mountain Coffee.

98

ADDING A THIRD SHIFT

Pereira may not be where you’d expect to find a company supplying renewable energy equipment to the world, but that’s exactly what Magnetron does.

PEREIRA RISING

HOSPITALITY, AN UPGRADED AIRPORT, AND A WORLD TRADE CENTER HELP BOOST THIS COLOMBIAN CITY

BY DOREEN HEMLOCK / PHOTOS BY RODOLFO BENITEZ

PEREIRA, Colombia. It’s a weekday morning in this small, welcoming city in Colombia’s coffee-growing heartland, and residents of mountainside neighborhoods are commuting comfortably through the air on Alpine-style cable cars, riding high above the streets, looking down on lush, green parks.

The modern transit system is one sign of the rise of Pereira, a metro area that surveys call Colombia’s most livable, with low unemployment and growing foreign investment, some from Miami.

Pereira shines as the hub of the region that inspired Disney’s film "Encanto," with its charming towns, open-hearted people, and the world’s tallest palm trees. Deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its “coffee cultural landscape,” it made Forbes’ list of the best places to visit this year and the Bloomberg Pursuits list last year. It’s already a top tourism destination for Colombians.

Long a center for apparel and local commerce, Pereira is now diversifying

Business has jumped at Pereira’s Matecaña International Airport since the 2020 renovation. Last year, nearly 3 million passengers flew in and out, about double the 2016 tally.

in manufacturing and becoming a distribution center for the coffee zone and beyond. With pro-business leaders, an upgraded airport, and improving highway links, it’s attracting foreign investors too. A Cuban-American entrepreneur is launching a Pereira-based airline, Aerolineas del Café, which will fly to Miami and such Caribbean tourism spots as Punta Cana. And a group from South Florida is setting up the new World Trade Center-Pereira, complete with a tower to feature corporate offices, apartments, and medical tourism facilities. Pereira leaders now promote the area for business in Miami-Dade County, officially their “sister” metro.

The city’s rise began at least a decade ago, but COVID-19 sped growth. Lots of tech-savvy entrepreneurs began moving to the area from bigger Colombian cities for better quality of life and lower costs, much like New Yorkers have flocked to Miami. Even some Americans are retiring in the region to enjoy year-round weather in the 70s Fahrenheit, friendly folks, and prices a fraction of those in Florida.

One newcomer from Bogota, business consultant Juan Jose Lopez, says the region’s collaborative culture has transformed him. “In Pereira,” says Lopez, speaking Spanish, “I’ve learned to change one letter: from yo (meaning “I”) to co-,” as in community and co-create. His work is more group-focused.

Here are five aspects of the rise of Pereira, a metro area of some 700,000 residents that some compare to a Boca Raton or Kansas City in the U.S, or a mini-Medellin in Colombia, especially now that the city hosts the same aerial cable car system that helped usher in the “Medellin Miracle.”

A MODERN AIRPORT: A 3.5-HOUR FLIGHT FROM MIAMI

Fly direct from Miami to Pereira on a flight that takes about 3.5 hours, and the first thing you notice is the bright, new airport terminal. Colombia's Avianca Airlines has long served the destination from Miami, and American Airlines began direct Miami-Pereira service five years ago, even before the $60 million airport upgrade that added the terminal and extended the runway for larger jets.

Business has jumped at Pereira’s Matecaña International Airport since that 2020 renovation. Last year, nearly 3 million passengers flew in and out, about double the 2016 tally, says airport manager Francisco Valencia, a 43-year-old lawyer long active in Pereira affairs. Plans call for growth to 5 million passengers yearly in the 2040s, but, says Valencia, “we’ll reach that number earlier, for sure.”

Built in the 1940s by Pereira residents, picks and shovels in hand, Matecaña is city-owned. Yet the airport is privately run in one of the public-private partnerships now popular in Colombia. The operator, part of CSS Construction, also runs Bogota’s new El Dorado airport and some dozen others in Latin America, says Jorge Diaz, the Chile-born airport operations manager. Diaz also expects strong growth at Matecaña, partly because outmigration from the coffee zone in the 1990s and 2000s – after a major earthquake and the Great Recession – keeps fueling demand for flights back to visit family.

“That painful emigration gives us a more global and cosmopol-

FRANCISCO VALENCIA, AIRPORT MANAGER (RIGHT) WITH JORGE DIAZ, OPERATIONS MANAGER

MOST POPULOUS COUNTRIES IN SOUTH AMERICA (2020 DATA)

BRAZIL: 212.5 MILLION

COLOMBIA: 50.8 MILLION

ARGENTINA: 45.1 MILLION

PERU: 32.9 MILLION

VENEZUELA: 28.4 MILLION

SOURCE: WORLDOMETER

MOST POPULOUS METRO AREAS IN COLOMBIA (2020 DATA)

BOGOTA: 10.9 MILLION

MEDELLIN: 4.0 MILLION

CALI: 2.8 MILLION

BARRANQUILLA: 2.3 MILLION

BUCARAMANGA: 1.3 MILLION

PEREIRA: 0.6 MILLION

Source: U.N. World Population Prospects. Data 2020.

itan view here,” says Diaz, predicting direct flights year-round from Matecaña to New York and Madrid some day.

Miami entrepreneur Tony Guerra sees so much potential that he’s starting a new airline in Pereira, Aerolineas del Café. He expects to launch three-times-a-week charters to Miami soon and then begin scheduled services to Miami and such Caribbean tourist havens as Punta Cana and Cancun. He has long operated charters between Miami and Cuba, popular among travelers who carry lots of luggage.

Guerra says he’s amazed that experienced aviation staff in the city were able to obtain approvals for his new carrier within months, faster and at a lower cost than in Miami. “When people share my passions and dreams,” says Guerra, “I know I’ve found the right team.”

From Matecaña, varied airlines now offer year-round flights direct to such Colombian cities as Bogota, Medellin, and Cartagena, and overseas to Panama and Miami. Colombia’s Avianca began seasonal service in December to New York and Miami. The airport’s VIP lounge debuted in September.

LOGISTICS EXPANSION: FOR THE COFFEE ZONE AND ALL COLOMBIA

Visit the warehouses and logistics parks filling up on Pereira’s outskirts, and you also feel the area modernizing. Businesses mainly distribute goods for the coffee region, and some serve the entire

MOST POPULOUS COUNTRIES IN SOUTH AMERICA

BRAZIL: 212.5 MILLION

COLOMBIA: 50.8 MILLION

ARGENTINA: 45.1 MILLION

PERU: 32.9 MILLION

VENEZUELA: 28.4 MILLION

Source: Worldometer

MOST POPULOUS METRO AREAS IN COLOMBIA

BOGOTA: 10.9 MILLION

MEDELLIN: 4.0 MILLION

CALI: 2.8 MILLION

BARRANQUILLA: 2.3 MILLION

BUCARAMANGA: 1.3 MILLION

PEREIRA: 0.6 MILLION

Source: U.N. World Population Prospects. Data 2020.

TONY GUERRA, A MIAMI ENTREPRENEUR STARTING A NEW AIRLINE IN PEREIRA

Amazon

Caribbean Sea

ENCHANTING ENCANTO

Call it the "Encanto" effect. Disney’s animated film about family, magic, and perseverance is giving a boost to tourism in the mountainous, coffee-growing region in Colombia that inspired the movie, especially the small towns around the Valle de Cocora (Cocora Valley), home to the world’s tallest palm trees.

In Salento, known for colorfully painted homes on narrow streets, one store now proudly displays a sign with "Encanto" written in lettering similar to Disney’s. Shopkeeper Hernan Ocampo says his great-grandparents were among Salento’s founders more than a century ago and built a typical home with thick earthen walls around a central courtyard, a structure he now rents out for Airbnb stays.

“People come here from all over the world for the greenery, fresh air, tranquility, and small-town lifestyle,” says Ocampo, 63. He wants the area to mindfully develop “sustainable tourism” based on nature and not become overly commercial, eroding the magic that enchanted Disney and others. He’d like to see more hiking, plus “forest bathing,” meditation retreats, and other environmentally sensitive visits.

Colombians have long enjoyed family trips exploring small towns, eating local specialties, stopping in local pubs, checking out shops, and taking walks in what they call “to small town” or pueblear

Visiting Salento from Bogota, the Rey family was excited to realize they were in the same town whose joyful colors pervade "Encanto." Seven-year-old Agatha, wearing glittery blue glasses, a pink sweater, and a mermaid T-shirt, gladly sang the film’s hit, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” in Spanish, having seen "Encanto" at least three times. Her mom, Ezra, says the movie offers a mélange of Colombian cultures, from coastal vallenato music to coffee-highland hospitality. She was surprised to see so many overseas travelers in the Cocora Valley, especially from France and Germany. Might they be part of the "Encanto" effect?

country, an area nearly twice the size of Texas and home to 51 million residents.

Juan Martin Noreña, shown above, general manager of the Coffee Zone Logistics Center, sees Pereira as a perfect nationwide hub for a simple reason: location. The city sits in the center of a circle that has, within a 120-mile radius, all three of Colombia’s biggest cities – Bogota, Medellin, and Cali – and the country’s busiest Pacific coast seaport, Buenaventura. That circle represents nearly half of Colombia’s population and more than 75 percent of the country’s economic output, Noreña says.

“Our biggest challenge has been the mountains, which traditionally fragmented our country and made road transport difficult,” says Noreña. “But with new highway systems being built under private concessions, and Bogota so crowded and running out of space for warehouses, we see opportunities for Pereira to increasingly become a distribution center for all of Colombia.”

Costs are part of the draw. Rental rates for warehouse space at Pereira area logistics centers now run under $1 per square foot, slightly less than Bogata and cheaper than Medellin, according to reports from commercial real-estate brokers. Also alluring: room to grow. Unlike Bogota, Pereira has ample acreage to develop big warehouses, says Noreña.

Among companies selling nationwide from Pereira is locally based Duna, which distributes motorcycle parts, mainly from China, and employs 55 people. Finance manager John Castaño lauds the area’s “strategic location” and its proximity to Buenaventura, where the motorcycle parts arrive by ship.

Today, most logistics in Pereira remain regional. Germanybased DHL Express, for example, centralizes its fast-turn, air-cargo deliveries in Bogota and then sends goods onward, says Colombia

country manager Allan Cornejo. Even so, DHL Express plans to add a third sales office in Pereira this year to handle the area’s rising volumes of air freight, such as specialty coffees and spare parts for factories. Says Cornejo, “The coffee region is becoming an important development hub for the country.”

WORLD TRADE CENTER-PEREIRA: AN ICONIC TOWER RISING

Tech entrepreneur Jacob William took a circuitous route from India through the U.S. to invest in the World Trade Center-Pereira and its signature tower, soon to rise next to the city’s convention center.

William had built up an outsourcing company, Flatworld Solutions, that grew to more than 5,000 employees in call centers and back-office services worldwide, including some in the Philippines and Latin America. While doing business in Bogota some six years ago, he visited Pereira and was captivated by the area’s generous people, hearty meals like pork chicharron, and mountains like those in his native Tamil Nadu in south India. He found the region business-friendly and poised for robust growth, its tech universities a helpful component. He sensed the city was “like what Austin was many, many years ago.”

Long familiar with the World Trade Center (WTC) network, William opted to buy the WTC license for Pereira to take part in that growth. He teamed with fellow South Florida resident and colleague Lauro Bianda, who also grew up around mountains in his native Switzerland. As co-founders, they foresaw the WTC-Pereira hosting many outsourcing firms and even offering tech courses to students from across Latin America.

“I truly believe that training, education, and technology are what [will] bring Latin America to its potential,” says William.

“And the World Trade Center brand will be a beacon for Pereira on the world map,” integrating the city into a network of more than 300 properties licensed in some 90 countries.

The WTC-Pereira tower aims to be iconic in itself, designed by world-class architects and marketed by the Colombian unit of Colliers International, the global real estate firm based in Canada.

Colliers already has sold most of the apartments in the 14-story tower, units that can be rented out for Airbnb-type stays. It’s now selling the tower’s retail space, offices, and medical facilities, tapping the trend of U.S. residents and others to visit Colombia for affordable healthcare from dentistry to anti-aging treatments. Plans call for glass elevators to highlight mountain views and electric-vehicle chargers, among other eco-friendly features, says Colliers development director Cesar Cano, who hails from Guatemala.

“An Indian, Swiss, and Guatemalan doing a project in Pereira is something I’d never imagined,” he joked. The WTC tower, just a

I truly believe that training, education, and technology are what [will] bring Latin America to its potential. And the World Trade Center brand will be a beacon for Pereira on the world map.

JACOB WILLIAM, TOP RIGHT, INVESTOR IN THE WORLD TRADE CENTER-PEREIRA, ABOVE LEFT.

BELOW RIGHT: LAURO BIANDA, CO-FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF WORLD TRADE CENTER-PEREIRA

short drive from Matecaña airport, is due for completion in late 2025.

Bianda says the WTC team appreciates Pereira for its big-heartedness. An example: One night talking in the hotel lobby, William realized he’d forgotten to bring dress shoes he needed for a meeting the next morning. Bianda asked a hotel employee if stores were open, but she said it was too late, asking why he needed shoes. A short while later, the employee returned with dress shoes she’d fetched from her home – new ones her husband hadn’t worn yet. She said to keep them and hoped they’d fit. They did.

“It was beyond kindness and generosity,” says Bianda. “And that’s what keeps surprising me about Pereira: the people.”

PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS: TAX BREAKS, OPPORTUNITIES

Government and civic groups play a key role in any community, and in Pereira, they’re united in promoting the city, infrastructure, and jobs. Mayor Carlos Maya, elected in 2020, works closely with the Pereira Chamber of Commerce and spoke with Global Miami at its offices. He’s been prioritizing the economy and education, even personally earning an online master’s degree in “smart cities.”

Under Maya’s helm, Pereira became the first city in Colombia to open after COVID-19 lockdowns. “We had to deal with problems of public health and economic health at the same time, not consecutively, or too many businesses would have gone bust,” says Maya, 43, a longtime accountant with the municipality. Pereira offered vaccines widely, even in its soccer stadium. It also boosted tax breaks for companies creating jobs, with rates falling to zero percent when firms added at least 100 new positions.

That unified approach has helped the city excel, with the lowest

Pereira has the lowest unemployment rate among cities in Colombia (8.6 percent in January), the lowest inequality score nationwide (a Gini co-efficient of .4 in 2022) and an improved municipal credit rating.

unemployment rate among cities in Colombia (8.6 percent in January), the lowest inequality score nationwide (a Gini co-efficient of .4 in 2022) and an improved municipal credit rating (AAA from Fitch in August), surveys show. “City coffers now take in more tax revenue than they did before COVID,” thanks to added business, says Maya.

In recent years, Pereira has been welcoming new call centers, agribusiness, factories, retail stores, and hotels, with a Hilton soon to open. Investors often find the customer service better, staff turnover lower, and costs more modest than in bigger Colombian cities, says Chamber President Jorge Ivan Ramirez.

“Your dollar really stretches here,” says Andrea Salazar, who runs the Chamber’s Invest in Pereira program. Colombia’s minimum wage now runs about $300 a month at March 2023 exchange rates. In Pereira, an employee earning $1,000 monthly and manager $2,000 monthly earn good salaries, she says. A family of four can

We had to deal with problems of public health and economic health at the same time, not consecutively, or too many businesses would have gone bust.

CARLOS

MAYA, MAYOR OF PEREIRA, ON THE COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS

AAA FROM FITCH IN AUGUST

live well on $5,000 monthly, with children in private school, household help, and a country club membership – a lifestyle impossible with that income in Miami or even in Bogota, says Salazar, who left Colombia’s capital and jobs at multinationals during the 2010s to return and give back to the coffee region where she grew up.

Of course, faster growth and in-migration bring challenges too, as longtime Floridians can attest. “One thing I worry about is losing our culture: the way we help others, say hello, and welcome everyone. We stop at an intersection and let someone pass,” says the Chamber’s Ramirez. “We joke now, when we hear someone honk their horn, ‘Oh, they must not be from here.’ I was taught to only honk in an emergency.”

AERIAL CABLE CAR: A SYMBOL OF PEREIRA’S ASCENT

Perhaps the clearest sign of Pereira’s rise is its new aerial cable car, known as MegaCable, which links hillside communities with the downtown, slashing transit times and opening new opportunities for jobs, education, and other activities.

Colombia pioneered the use of Alpine ski-lifts for public transport in the early 2000s in Medellin in a “social urbanism” project that helped usher in what’s called the “Medellin Miracle.” By boosting access for the poorest residents and better integrating them into the mainstream, crime and poverty plunged. The transit system worked so well that it’s since been deployed in many Colombian cities and across Latin America, including in Mexico, Ecuador, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic, says project advisor Juan Pablo Lopez.

Pereira opened its aerial cable car system, Colombia’s longest at 2.1 miles, in September 2021. Now, residents of the low-income, hilltop Villa Santana neighborhood can reach the downtown in comfort on a single fare in 14 minutes, instead of paying at least two fares on separate, crowded road trips that often take an hour or more. Plus, they can access the city’s MegaBus system on that same fare.

“The role of public transit in economic development can be quite intangible, but it’s important,” says Lopez, 35, who works on cable car projects internationally. “It improves the quality of life. You can have more hobbies, more time with the family, and not spend all your time going to work and back.”

Pereira’s MegaCable now averages some 8,000 riders per day, reducing vehicular traffic and pollution. Construction took about 21 months, less time with less disruption than light-rail or subway, he says. “Development costs for aerial cable cars are about 10 percent of the price for a subway,” says Lopez. “And the space you need for cable car towers is relatively small, like placing needles in urban acupuncture.” The cable system is such a source of pride that coffee zone families often ride it for fun to enjoy the lofty views and sensation of flying. Some elders who’ve never boarded a plane have cried on the ride.

Managers of MegaCable personify how far Pereira has advanced. Many are sons of farmers, the first in their families to finish college. Lopez’s dad worked with farm animals, then for the city, and in his 40s, graduated as an economist. He encouraged his children to study and attend college, “preferably a public one.” Lopez earned his engineering degree at Pereira’s public research Tech University, where he first worked on maintenance software for a cable car system. “That’s the story of all of us,” he says.

Ramirez can relate. He’s the son of coffee farmers and put himself through law school, working and studying full-time. At 43, he warmly helps the community keep banding together to modernize, and, more and more, to tap international tourism, investment, and opportunities.

“Pereira,” says Ramirez humbly, “is a city that’s discovering the world, and the world is discovering.” l

Development costs for aerial cable cars are about 10 percent of the price for a subway, and the space you need for cable car towers is relatively small...

JUAN PABLO LOPEZ (TOP), PROJECT ADVISOR FOR THE AERIAL CABLE CAR

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CIVISMO 101

NO MONEY TO BUILD AN AIRPORT? WE’LL DO IT OURSELVES!

To understand Pereira’s ascent, a key word to know is civismo, or civic action. Civismo explains how residents banded together to build the city’s airport in the 1940s and the sports complex in the 1970s, contributing everything from jewelry to muscle power in order to develop the projects.

Mauricio Vega drew on that civic heritage in the early 2010s, when the city faced 24 percent unemployment in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Vega, then president of the Pereira Chamber of Commerce, saw a lifeline in tourism and a convention center, but the city lacked cash.

Here’s what happened in Vega’s own words, translated from Spanish and lightly edited, in an inspiring effort that earned the first award ever for a Colombian Chamber of Commerce from the World Chambers Federation:

We do things here in a very special way. Our grandparents wanted an airport, so they went to the department capital, which then was Manizales, and said, “Look, we have land we can buy cheap. We need your support to go to the national government.” And Manizales said, “What airport? You’re very small. If we get an airport, it’ll be here.” And our ancestors said, “We’ll do it ourselves.” And they did.

Rich families donated the land. Women gave up their rings, necklaces, earrings, silver candlesticks… And the townspeople turned out to public invitations (convites) on weekends with picks and shovels to build the airport. There are wonderful photos of a chain of children passing rocks, one by one from the river, all the way up to the airport. They built the airport through enormous effort and gave it to the city, which is why we have the only international airport in Colombia that doesn’t belong to the national government.

We built San Jorge Hospital earlier in the same way… There was even a short article in The Times of London about it, saying that a remote town in a distant country in South America offers a lesson on how to get projects built through civismo.... And the people did it again and built the Olympic Village for the national sports championship in 1974.

So, in the early 2010s, Pereira had 24 percent unemployment, one of the highest rates in the country. About 60 percent of households said they had a family member living overseas. Between earthquakes, low coffee prices, the global financial crisis, and violence elsewhere in Colombia, the situation was critical. And from all our research, we saw the solution in tourism. UNESCO had just declared the region a World Heritage Site. And I thought: How can

We do things here in a very special way. Our grandparents wanted an airport, so they went to the department capital, which then was Manizales, and said, “Look, we have land we can buy cheap. We need your support to go to the national government.” And Manizales said, “What airport? You’re very small. If we get an airport, it’ll be here.” And our ancestors said, “We’ll do it ourselves.” And they did.

MAURICIO VEGA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, ON THE CIVIL ACTION NEEDED TO BUILD THE CITY’S AIRPORT

we become a tourist destination, if we don’t have anywhere to host conferences and conventions?

And in my despair, with no money, I remembered our history. I asked our PR people to design a campaign to raise funds for the project… and they came up with The First Brick. The idea was, recalling the civismo of our ancestors, to invite citizens to donate the first brick to build the convention center. Back then, a brick cost about 500 Colombian pesos, or maybe 10 [U.S.] cents – not much.

So, we began with an event for all the politicians to get their support. We got initial donations from businesses active with the Chamber, and the ball started rolling. Within two months, the city was full of signs for The First Brick. Then, we started going to schools and telling the story of the airport – I must have visited 40 or 50 schools - and asking everyone for 500 pesos. We’d take the donations – sometimes literally a brick - and write down the donor’s name. And we promised when the convention center was built, we’d have a civismo wall and list all the names of every person who donated.

We raised so much money from citizens that politicians couldn’t say no. The governor said, “I’ll put in millions,” the regional Council donated, and things snowballed. The federal government joined in. President [Juan Manuel] Santos fell in love with the project, came to Pereira, and gave us 15 billion pesos. And with that, we could start to build … We inaugurated the convention center on Feb. 1, 2016 on the 50th anniversary of the department of Risaralda.

Someone from Colombia who worked at CNN en Español told journalist Ismael Cala the story, and I went to Miami to speak on his show. I was so proud of Pereira…

There’s an international group of Chambers of Commerce that holds a conference every two years. In 2016, it was in Australia. They hold a contest for best Chamber projects, and we always compete. That year, they called us to say we were finalists in the “unconventional” category, and they asked us to come to the conference and defend our project. The presentation was in English, so I wrote out everything I had to say and practiced. About a week before the trip, I said, “I think the most beautiful part of this campaign was the participation of children.” So, someone on the PR team said, ‘Why don’t we find a child in Australia? There’s got to be someone there from Pereira with a child who can bring you a brick and share our message....’ So, we all started looking. Through Facebook, we found a couple in Sydney with an 8-year-old boy, so I went and met the child to build rapport. We went to lunch and a park, we gave him a gift, and we showed him the auditorium where we’d speak.

After the presentation, the audience gave us a standing ovation, and some people cried. The boy was perfect. He said something in English like, “With this brick, I give you the hopes of the children of Colombia.” And we won first place! It was the first time a Chamber of Commerce from Colombia won an international competition. Even President Santos tweeted out congratulations. What a celebration! That prize is now in the convention center. l

The Business Climate

OBSERVATIONS ON COMMERCE AND LIFESTYLE BY THE ARCHITECT WHO DESIGNED WTC PEREIRA

He helped design the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, among other iconic structures around the world during four decades at global architecture firm SOM, living mainly in Chicago.

Now, architect Jaime Velez is back in his Colombian hometown and collaborating on the city’s most sophisticated tower, the World Trade Center-Pereira. Here’s our chat with Velez, 64, on how business and lifestyle differ in Pereira from big cities in the U.S. and beyond.

Tell us about your career before your return to Pereira.

I received my master’s in architecture from the University of Wisconsin and worked 32 years with SOM, mostly from Chicago. It was extremely demanding, although the global aspects were quite interesting. I worked on the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and the World Trade Center-Beijing, focusing on interiors… and my last project was a renovation of the UN headquarters in Geneva.

The lifestyle took a toll on me. With United Airlines, I have 2.5 million miles flown, which is insane. So, at 58, it was time to come home.

How is doing business here different than in the U.S.?

First, the American style of business is much more direct and efficient. Here in Colombia, there’s a lot of emphasis on the personal side of things, on the social aspects of work. People like to do business with people they like. It’s really important to become someone’s friend.

Second, you need to be fairly flexible, because the schedules which drive a lot of the success of American business are more lax here. When we’d start a project in the U.S., there’d be a timetable, and it would be followed in a very strict fashion. Here, the schedule is more malleable. The projects are not quite as well-defined from the get-go.

But in the end, there’s a lot of room to bring new ideas to bear. People here are willing to listen, while in the States, to a degree – and I don’t mean to be negative – there are formulas that are followed. Here, there’s still an opportunity to explore and more willingness to take a chance.

It’s been difficult coming home, because I had to un-train

myself. But my partner Oscar Valencia has helped me find a middle ground and say, “Don’t get so frustrated. This is what happens here.”

Would you advise others coming from overseas to get a local partner?

Not just in Colombia, but everywhere. With SOM, we always, always had a local partner. It’s suicidal not to, because the local partner helps you navigate logistics.

How is it living here, compared to Chicago?

At 58, I was looking for a lifestyle that was quieter, more focused on nature… Now, I live in the countryside. I enjoy having a garden to go to, as opposed to living in a small apartment in a high-rise. And the weather is so comfortable. Chicago winters are not for the faint of heart.

What do you miss in the U.S.?

I have an American friend who says, “I can live anywhere, as long as it has an airport,” and he’s right. I go to the states often.

I miss that life in the U.S. is more orderly – you know what to expect. You plan, and it happens. Here, the lifestyle and the way the world moves is a little more spur-of-the-moment – which is nice, once you get used to it and un-program yourself. l

Here in Colombia, there’s a lot of emphasis on the personal side of things, on the social aspects of work. People like to do business with people they like.

ARCHITECT JAIME VELEZ

Our story is a love story...

Coffee Tourism

HOW A VISIT TO COMBIA ALTA BOOSTED OUR RESPECT FOR COFFEE

We were still in the early rounds of coffee-tasting when a European in our group – so impressed by the wealth of information – interrupted the presentation. “I know so much about wine,” he confessed, “but I drink lots more coffee than wine, and I realize now that I don’t know much about coffee.”

Our group was inside the family home of Alejandro Bedoya, a third-generation coffee producer. At 32, he’s combining his college degree in business, his international certification in coffee-tasting, and his family’s love of art and ecoogy to develop a small “specialty” brand called Combia Mountain Coffee.

We’d driven about half an hour from Pereira into the steep, verdant mountains to reach the farmhouse. Bedoya greeted us warmly with stories of his grandparents who’d started the homestead. They had met and married elsewhere, but his grandma’s parents didn’t like granddad, so the newlyweds took off and settled in this highland, dubbed Combia Alta. “Our story,” says Bedoya, “is a love story.”

Business degree in hand, Bedoya seeks to honor his elders in a modern way. He’s created specialty coffees to match their personalities: Dali, gentle like his mom; and Delio, strong like his dad, for instance. Each blend comes in a box decorated with a print of a

floral painting made by his sister.

We first sat in the living room, adorned with the same colorful floor tiles and dark wood furniture that the grandparents installed. From the kitchen came the smell of wood burning in the stove.

Bedoya started us off with a cup of chaqueta, a typical morning coffee that acts as a "jacket" to warm you in the crisp air before farming. It’s a drip brew, made with medium-roast beans and sweetened with panela, an unrefined sugarcane juice.

Daniel Henao, a manager in the area’s Coffee Cluster that helps farmers and roasters, joined us and explained how Colombia is moving up the value chain. Instead of selling mainly green coffee beans abroad, more producers like Bedoya are roasting, blending, and developing their own brands, both for local sale and export. That helps them earn more per kilo – a needed boost now that climate change is reducing local production.

“Because we have so much rain, there’s less fruit,” says Henao, referring to the juicy, red cherries that hold the bean inside. “That’s a message to the world: We have to take care of our ecosystems.”

We then gathered in the dining room around a table full of glasses holding blends from Bedoya’s farm and others nearby.

ALEJANDRO BEDOYA, LOCAL COFFEE PRODUCER

WORLD’S LARGEST COFFEE PRODUCERS*

More than 70 countries produce coffee, but more than two-thirds of total production comes from five nations. Brazil accounts for more than one-third of world output.

BRAZIL: 58.2 MILLION

VIETNAM: 30.4 MILLION

COLOMBIA: 14.1 MILLION

INDONESIA: 11.4 MILLION

ETHIOPIA: 7.3 MILLION

WORLD TOTAL: 164.9 MILLION

Bedoya shared the basics of the region’s coffee as we peppered him with questions.

Plant a seed and reap fruit some 24 months later. A bush can last 25 years, if well-tended. Harvesting is by hand, which Brazilians call “romantic.” (Brazil often uses machines.) Most coffee is arabica, which tastes lighter and more flowery than the robusta species. A blend is designated a “specialty” coffee after a panel of certified tasters rates it at least 80 of 100 points, says Bedoya.

Next, we slowly inhaled the fragrance off each glass of the dry ground coffee to "wake up" our noses, "because we’re inside our heads, in our every-day thoughts, disconnected from the present moment,” according to Bedoya. Then, we learned the anatomy of the fruit, from its outer skin, pulp, and hull to the silver skin protecting the seed or bean. Bedoya showed us seeds in varied forms. He told us he dries his beans in thin layers in the sun for 10 days to get the right humidity for optimal roasting. Too much moisture, the coffee can spoil fast; too little, the taste fades. The fullest flavors come from medium roasts, he says.

Bedoya then added boiling water to the glasses, and we inhaled the aroma or bloom, head down, nose to each cup. The scent differed, now wet. No one shared their opinion so as not to influence the rest.

Finally, we tasted the liquid in each glass off small spoons, sucking it in swiftly “to feel a splash in the back of the mouth and particles up toward the nose,” as Bedoya said. We washed off the spoon after each slurp. Then, we repeated the cycle after the coffees cooled a bit to check if the taste was consistent. We found the coffees diverse, some with more hints of berries, others more florals or chocolate. Bedoya linked the variety to soil, altitude, micro-climate, drying, roasting, blending, and more. Most of us chose the same blend as our favorite, but there was no judgment. “The best coffee is the one you like,” said Henao open-heartedly.

After homemade pumpkin cake, we headed out, up a windy, dirt road to touch the coffee bushes and munch on their fruit. We walked by orange and banana trees, hibiscus bushes, and other tropical plants amid sounds of birds and vistas of valleys, quite relaxed. Bedoya's grandparents surely would be proud. I’m grateful for his love of family and pursuit of excellence, with a deeper respect for coffee. l

Colombia’s coffee-growing region is developing a “Ruta de Café” featuring small farms that offer tours, tastings, and, in some cases, overnight stays, even with cottages. Pereira recently launched a “Passport” that highlights farms and other coffee stops, with details on Instagram at @pasaportedelcafe.

*Production of 60-kilo bags in 2019-2020 crop year. Source: International Coffee Organization, ico.org.

ALEJANDRO BEDOYA AT THE FARMHOUSE IN THE STEEP, VERDANT MOUNTAINS. COFFEE PRODUCERS LIKE BEDOYA ARE ROASTING, BLENDING, AND DEVELOPING THEIR OWN BRANDS, BOTH FOR LOCAL SALE AND EXPORT.

Adding a Third Shift

INSIDE THE BUSTLING MANUFACTURING WORLD OF MAGNETRON

Colombia’s coffee-growing region may not be where you’d expect to find a company supplying renewable energy equipment to the world, but that’s just what family-owned Magnetron does, providing transformers to German, Spanish, and U.S. solar titans and even electric car makers.

Business is so brisk that Magnetron plans to hire 150 more employees this year, boosting staff to 820 and the number of countries it supplies to almost three dozen. “We’re adding a third shift at the factory to meet demand,” says Magnetron’s second-generation CEO, Alejandro Navarro.

Started a half century ago as a repair shop for electric motors, Magnetron now makes custom, built-to-order transformers that energy companies use to distribute and store electricity. Its products run in solar-energy parks in the U.S. and beyond.

The company’s pivot to renewable energy was born out of adversity. In the 2000s, Magnetron relied on oil-producing Venezuela as its top customer, but by 2015, after the global financial crisis and Venezuela’s political turmoil, that market collapsed. The company was forced to trim staff and consider new options. The worldwide shift to energy from the sun, wind, and batteries looked promising.

With manufacturing costs lower than most build-to-order producers in the U.S. and Europe and quicker delivery times than many larger rivals, Magnetron broadened its focus. Today, renewable-energy accounts for about one-third of its sales, mainly in the Americas. The rest of its transformers go to conventional electricity producers, some in the Middle East.

“In Miami, we have a local distributor that has sold our transformers in Puerto Rico, among other markets,” says Navarro, 56, who often travels to meet customers and welcomes them in Pereira.

The story of Magnetron spans from popular candies to a respected Colombian president, from U.S. manufacturing giant Westinghouse to Japan’s just-in-time production used by Toyota. It all began when Alejandro’s dad, Marcial, was working at a factory for longtime candymaker Colombina (which now has its U.S. headquarters in Miami). Marcial, an electro-mechanical engineer, sometimes brought motors for repair to a local machine shop. When that shop’s owner looked to retire in the 1960s, he asked Marcial to take over his business.

Back then, the Coffee Federation was starting a project to bring electricity to rural areas. A manager in the Federation suggested Marcial make the transformers needed to switch the voltage of electricity from poles to homes.

Marcial and his team reverse-engineered a transformer from a different producer through a process of trial and error – “the first attempt gave off pyrotechnics,” his son admits – and came up with a safe, quality product that met international standards. Sales took off with rural electrification.

“When I fly over the coffee-growing region, it’s very emotional for me, because those are our transformers that I see that have

changed the lives of so many families,” says Alejandro Navarro. Working at the company was a young economist from Pereira named Cesar Gaviria. He became city mayor, Colombia’s president (1990-94), and later, chief of the Organization of American States in Washington, DC.

In the 1970s, Magnetron partnered with Westinghouse, which provided capital and technology and became majority owner. In the 1980s, Europe’s ABB bought out Westinghouse’s transformer business. Marcial parted ways and went out on his own.

By then, his engineer son Alejandro had joined the venture. With Japan as the world’s manufacturing beacon in the 1980s, Alejandro earned a fellowship to study in Kyushu, learning such concepts as just-in-time production and continuous improvement. He took those lessons back to the Pereira factory.

Nowadays, Magnetron is investing some $4 million to expand production. It trains painters and others using virtual-reality glasses that measure dexterity and range of movement. It shares profits with employees, paying 70-day salary bonuses last year. And Alejandro’s son, Juan Jose, has joined too.

Says Navarro, as employees pack equipment for export: “We transform energy into growth for our company and for the coffee-growing region.” l

ALEJANDRO NAVARRO, MAGNETRON CEO, AT THE FACTORY IN THE COFFEE REGION

LOCA TED IN THE HEA RT OF CO RAL GABLES, MIAMI FL

Recognized as one of the top travel agencies in the nation. American Society of Travel Advisors agency of the year.

Recognitions received from the South Florida Business Journal, Miami Today, Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce, among many others.

An Evening at Novikov

ASIAN INGREDIENTS, UNORTHODOX COLORS, AND A MILLENNIAL CROWD

BY KYLIE WANG

At Novikov Miami, happy hour is referred to as “Social Hour,” not because you won’t be happy but because the bar will be packed, leaving you almost no choice but to socialize. Though the Downtown Miami restaurant does tend to draw a crowd of Instagram influencers and post-work partiers, it’s also surprisingly upscale with select options for bar bites and drinks weekdays from 5 to 8 pm.

The cocktails, usually $19, are $11 during social hour and include their famous wasabi martini, an addition to Novikov’s menu that reflects the Chinese-Japanese fusion restaurant’s commitment to vibrant Asian ingredients and unorthodox colors. The light green drink is made with a vodka base and then infused with wasabi, lemon juice, pineapple puree, basil, and yuzu, an East Asian citrus fruit. The result is something akin to a lemon drop martini but with less tang and a slightly spicy overlay. It’s an adventurous order but nothing close to the jumpstarting kick a bite of wasabi usually gives, which makes for easy drinking.

The lychee martini, meanwhile, is our choice for the best cocktail on the menu. It's simple and sweet without being overpowering, an ode to the delicate fruit for which it is named. Most lychee drinks use vodka or vermouth as a base, but Novikov goes for gin, a component that adds a floral flavor to the rose-colored cocktail and pairs much better with Yakult, the sweetened Japanese probiotic milk beverage the bar imports specifically for this martini. The bitters, meanwhile, come from Kentucky – a cultural blend that gives the drink a slightly otherworldly feel.

Besides the colorful hue of the drinks, Novikov’s commitment to seasonal ingredients separates it from other sushi bars. Along the far wall is a full seafood and vegetable “market” on display for patrons to handpick their ingredients. With fresh lobster, crab, fruits, veggies, and more, the mini market consists of globally sourced ingredients that are provided daily. While none of this is used for social hour, the dinner and executive lunch offerings make full use of what’s on display as guests pick from an extensive menu of sushi, sashimi, nigiri, caviar, maki, dim sum, and more.

The happy hour menu is substantially contracted, with only dim sum ($10), spring rolls ($10), bao buns ($11), and steamed edamame ($6) on offer at the bar. The simplest of East Asian appetizers, these basic offerings are delicious, especially the crispy pork bao buns ($19 without the social hour discount) which come with slices of fresh cucumber, herbs, and a sweet glaze wrapped around each tender piece. The outside is crisp, the inside deliciously soft and easy to chew.

While social hour provides a good taste of what Novikov has to offer, those who find themselves craving a wasabi martini in their dreams on Saturday night can return for Novikov’s most popular meal, Sunday brunch, served both inside and on the shaded outdoor patio. The signature ($99) and premium ($199) menus offer up a nice buffet selection in addition to an entrée (slightly better cuts on the premium menu) and all the drinks you can put down. For the worldclass martinis though, you’ll have to go with the premium offering. l

TOP: LYCHEE MARTINI, OUR FAVORITE HAPPY HOUR CHOICE

ABOVE: NOVIKOV'S FAMOUS WASABI MARTINI, VODKA INFUSED WITH WASABI

BOTTOM: THE BAR AT NOVIKOV

Betting on Fashion in Miami

A VISIT WITH HAKAN BAYKAM AT THE INSTITUTO MARANGONI

BY HARRIET MAYS POWELL

Irecently met with Hakan Baykam, CEO and President of Instituto Marangoni Miami (IMM), at his office in the fashion school’s seven-floor building in the heart of Miami’s Design District. Although born in Turkey, Baykam was raised in Italy and consequently speaks English with a pronounced Italian accent.

“Today, there are nine Marangoni schools around the world, with the three most important being in the fashion capitals of Europe – Milan, Paris, and London,” Baykam tells me, and it was in Milan that the first Instituto Marangoni was founded in 1935 by the tailor Giulio Marangoni. Its famous alumni include Franco Moschino, Alessandra Fracchinetti, Julie de Libran, Alessandro Santori, and Domenico Dolce of Dolce & Gabbana fame.

Meanwhile, Miami, Florence, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Mumbai, and Dubai make up the rest of the institute’s global footprint. Each school has a distinct personality that reflects the local culture and market, says Baykam. “London is very avant-garde, Milan is very pragmatic with perfect tailoring, and Paris is the most elegant,” he explains. “But Miami is unique, a melting pot, because everyone and everything comes together here.” The institute has already attracted the attention of leading professionals like the CMOs of Under Armour and Tommy Hilfiger and Nike's creative director.

Baykam arrived in Florida from Milan in 2015, and finally opened the doors to the Miami institute in 2018 after a long and difficult bureaucratic process. He says he bet on Miami’s potential because the city “is no

longer just a shopping destination, but an educational hub, which will attract the untapped talent from Latin America.”

To help achieve this, IMM arranges an annual “Miami Fashion Movement” tour across the region. The year’s top five students travel to fashion weeks in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, and Panama, where their work is showcased in runway shows. (Plans are underway for the tour to be extended to Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil.) Simultaneously, the school scouts the top local talent and offers scholarships for study at IMM.

The school provides additional scholarships through an innovative partnership with Zepeto – an app and social media platform – which allows students to personalize avatars and to create virtual fashion designs

Paris is the most elegant, but Miami is unique, a melting pot, because everyone and everything comes together here...

HAKAN BAYKAM (ABOVE), CEO OF INSTITUTO MARANGONI MIAMI.

OPPOSITE PAGE: A DRESS MADE FROM CAMO UNIFORM (LEFT), AND SUSTAINABLE FASHION MADE FROM SHEETS

within a digital facsimile of the school’s campus. Ultimately, says Baykam, such virtual designs set in virtual worlds can help brands predict the probable success of their collections before sourcing materials and actually manufacturing the product, greatly reducing the wasteful “fast fashion” of firms like Zara and H&M.

A core tenet running throughout the curriculum is sustainability. Given that fashion is a leading global polluter, reducing waste and designing with the earth’s ecosystems in mind is fundamental to IMM’s mission. Recently, students were given recycled army uniforms from Goodwill and tasked with transforming them into Haute Couture ballgowns; men’s silk ties donated by Ferragamo were turned into short dresses; and, my personal favorite, a white pleated dress that

would not be out of place on a Paris catwalk was created from second-hand bedsheets donated by SoHo house.

IMM combines the Italian way of teaching, which is very “hands on,” with the innate business ethos of America. The aim, Baykan says, is to graduate students who are not only creative, but also have a solid understanding of business; a lack of financial savvy is often cited as one of the major stumbling blocks for burgeoning designers. The institute offers several master’s degrees, numerous B.A. diplomas, and one-year intensive courses.

Baykam’s bet clearly seems to be paying off. With just 20 students enrolled in 2018, he expects to end this year with approximately 450. The long-term goal is to persuade graduates to stay in Miami. To this

end, Baykam has created strong relationships and collaborations with local companies. Pre-pandemic, in 2020, he claims that IMM placed 100 percent of its students in paying jobs after graduation.

Baykam’s other passion is to cultivate the untapped creative talent from Latin America, which he insists is totally underestimated. “They just didn’t have access to the fashion world. So, Miami – and a degree from IMM – can be their bridge,” he says.

There is still plenty of work to do. In the next two years, Baykan hopes to secure land for an adjunct campus, build dormitories and housing for the students, and create a space for larger events and runway shows. When all is complete, he says he will have fulfilled his dream of creating a “fashion city” in Miami. l

Marvelous Mamey

BY ANDREW GAYLE

There is something inherently thrilling about sitting in a restaurant in Miami’s leafy suburb of Coral Gables that the New York Times recently ordained as one of the top 50 in the United States. You read that correctly. One of the top 50 in the entire country. What we wanted to find out was whether the restaurant measures up to that accolade. It does. And then some.

At any given restaurant, there is good food and sometimes great food. Some dishes are better than others. At Mamey, there are no weak items on the menu. The culinary creations of Chef Niven Patel are spectacular, and his growing reputation as one of the most important young chefs in America is well deserved.

The overriding culinary proposition of Mamey, with some South Asian exceptions, is Caribbean cuisine infused with the spices of India. Patel has a background in both, having spent years as a chef in Turks and Caicos and subsequently at the helm of his successful Ghee Indian restaurant in Dadeland. That tells only part of the story, however. The rest is Patel’s ingenious combinations and contrasts of tastes and textures that create complex flavor profiles.

Take, for example, one of the newer items on the menu, the shrimp spring roll. This consists of a single large shrimp wrapped in spring roll pastry. The roll itself comes out warm, with a thin crust that contrasts with the cool, plump shrimp inside, both in texture and temperature. A sweet chili sauce for dipping adds a piquant edge. We could have ended the night right there, with plate after plate of these succulent crustaceans.

Or take the glazed lamb ribs. These are first baked with a rub of spices that include coriander and cumin, then served on a plate with sliced, pickled star fruit, the plate itself pooled with sweet and sour vinegar tamarind sauce. We were instructed by our waitress to take a bite of the starfruit with each bite of lamb, to offset the lamb

A VISIT TO CHEF NIVEN PATEL’S AWARDWINNING RESTAURANT IN CORAL GABLES

TOP: CHEF NIVEN PATEL ABOVE: EXOTIC AND WARM, MAMEY'S INTERIOR IS DOMINATED BY AN IMPRESSIVE BAR OPPOSITE PAGE

TOP LEFT: SHRIMP SPRING ROLL

TOP RIGHT: JERK PORK BELLY

BOTTOM LEFT: MOJO CHICKEN

BOTTOM RIGHT: TUNA TARTAR

fat with the penetrating sour of the pickled fruit. The combination was a delightful dance between opposites.

All of Patel’s dishes are like these, with surprising layers of complimentary and contrasting tastes. His jerk pork belly, for example, is dusted with Jamaican spices and placed atop sliced maduros previously sauteed in Indian ghee butter and then drizzled with an aioli yogurt. Each bite of pork broke the jerk crust and unveiled soft juicy strands of meat inside, balanced by the sweet banana flavor of the madura.

Even something as simple as mojo chicken becomes an elevated dish at Mamey. The chicken breast is cooked just enough, so that it remains moist and rich with the garlicky flavor of mojo marinade. Excellent by itself, it’s then served atop a bed of rice cooked with adzuki black beans, avocado, spinach, and coconut milk, then topped with pickled onions. Another dish we sampled, the tuna tartar, also took the expected to another level. The tuna was laced with a creamy aioli and smoked soy, along with sesame seeds sprinkled throughout, so that each bite regaled the tongue with soft, citrusy yellowfin tuna

and a spackling of the tiny seeds, contrasted by tostones that were thinner and crunchier than pastier Cuban varieties.

The ambience of Mamey is nearly as exotic and layered as the food. Most of the seating in the main room is at low tables with comfortable chairs, so that it feels like you’re in an elegant but informal supper club. One whole wall is dominated by a bar, the sound of the cocktail shaker adding to the atmosphere. Two of the other walls are comprised of jungle murals a la Rousseau, with tropical plants staged in front of the murals. A large wicker chandelier overhead adds to the feeling that you are somewhere on the border between Zanzibar and a Rainforest Cafe. Outside seating consists of a long, high-ceilinged breezeway with its own parade of Moroccan-style lanterns. With a soundtrack of contemporary upbeat African rhythms, it feels remarkably like Rick’s Café in "Casablanca."

Mamey is a restaurant that would awe even the snootiest food critics in cities like New York, London, or Paris. The fact that it is just south of Downtown Miami is something everyone should take advantage of. l

A Hotel for All Seasons

AT THE FOUR SEASONS IN MIAMI, THE STAY IS BOTH DOWN TO EARTH AND OVER THE TOP

BY KYLIE WANG

On the day I arrived at the Four Seasons on Brickell, it was pouring down Miami's infamous "white rain," the blinding drench that Miami locals know all too well. Still, despite lashing winds that drove the rain partway into the covered underground driveway, the well-oiled machine of the Four Seasons’ service arm didn’t miss a step, directing us out of the storm and into the warmth of the tower’s ground floor lobby. This is what the Four Seasons does best – service that negates the need to think. Want an umbrella? Ask the concierge and he’ll quite literally go running to find one. Want a bottle of wine at EDGE, the hotel’s on-site steakhouse, that’s only available at one of the restaurants downstairs? The manager will return with it in a matter of minutes.

The result of this fluid service is a personalized experience, something unexpected from such a large corporate hotel chain. Worldwide, the Toronto-based company currently operates more than 100 hotels and resorts with tens of thousands of employees. But at the Four Seasons Miami, the space feels oddly intimate –not cramped, but certainly less grand than the 70-story skyscraper (Miami’s second-tallest) might boast on first impression. The reason is a combination of factors, some due to the hotel’s relative size compared to the entire tower (the Four Seasons hotel occupies floors seven to 36 with the rest of the building devoted to office space and condominiums) and the design of the common spaces, which encourage close communion.

The hotel has 221 rooms and suites and 84 residential units. On top of that is another 14,831-square-feet of meeting space, including a 5,830-square-foot ballroom and five breakout rooms. There may be better sites for huge conferences, but an outdoor reception at the Palm Grove Pool, where palm trees grow out of the water and pop-up bars can be strategically placed in the shallows, is a very Miami way of doing business.

For one-on-one meetings, however, it would be hard not to

TOP: THE FOUR SEASONS SKYSCRAPER DOMINATES THE MIAMI SKYLINE

ABOVE: EDGE, STEAK AND BAR

OPPOSITE PAGE:

TOP LEFT: EXECUTIVE BAY VIEW SUITE

BOTTOM LEFT: STANDARD DOUBLE ROOM

RIGHT: THE MAIN POOL, AN OASIS FOR THE TRAVEL WEARY

FOUR SEASONS HOTEL MIAMI

1435 BRICKELL AVE.

305.358.3535

For booking: whatahotel.com

seal the deal at EDGE, Steak & Bar. The restaurant, located in the seventh-floor lobby, focuses on contemporary American cuisine under the direction of executive chef Aaron Brooks and restaurant chef Juan Jimenez. Brooks is Australian, which might explain the sourcing of the Wagyu churrasco ($52), which is grade seven (of nine) and mouthwateringly tender, paired with au poivre sauce and cipollini onions that fall apart into bite-sized pieces. Jimenez is from Ecuador, and the menu is his, which explains the snapper ceviche ($22) paired with leche de tigre sauce and mariquitas (plantain chips).

The restaurant manages to be both social and private, offering the seclusion of comfortable booths. The same is true for the pool, which has 11 private cabanas, and for the on-site Equinox gym, which offers private instruction. The facilities are expansive: 50,000-square-feet with all the usual equipment, plus a bevy of additional machines, studios for boxing and Pilates, a steam room and sauna, and daily classes in spinning, yoga, and the like. For anyone planning on daily workouts during their visit, the gym is reason enough to stay at the Four Seasons.

Similarly, anyone worn out from a long international flight will want to visit the spa, also operated by Equinox, for a signature regeneration package. Running over three hours, the package includes a full

body scrub, hydrating body wrap, aromatherapy massage, and regenerative facial, all designed to reduce jetlag and increase serenity. Other offerings are available, as well as salon services at Rik Rak, which does everything from highlights to manicures.

With hospitality down to a science and a close-knit experience that makes a visit feel more like coming home after a long day, the Four Seasons makes traveling easy and, beyond that, comfortable. Most of the client-facing employees come from international backgrounds, which facilitates communication, and the service is exceptional. Also impressive is the atmosphere created by the design of the hotel. In the lobby along the hallway leading to the pool there were small booths and tables, full of guests planning their excursions for the day or deciding what time to meet a client for dinner, everyone choosing to be in a comfortable shared space rather than their private rooms.

As I departed the next day, now under clear skies and fresh from a morning swim in the pool, I wondered if it was possible to stay here forever. The answer is yes, of course, which is why the Four Seasons offers permanent residences. As the hotel’s website declares, “We can arrange virtually anything.” l

Single-Family Homes, $11-$13 Million

Moving a whole family along with a business can be daunting, not to mention expensive. To provide an idea of what is available in the CEO price range, we’ve assembled a trio of suburban homes that provide plenty of space for both children and luxury amenities. Perfect for the executive trans-

plants that are now so often moving into Miami, these homes are all in affluent neighborhoods with private schools nearby. We asked three local realtors for their single-family home listings between $11 and 13 million in Greater Miami. This is what they offered.

545

LISTING PRICE: $11.5M

This elegant Spanish Colonial Revival style home comes with high ceilings, Calacatta marble floors, antique-styled lighting fixtures, and a wine cellar, gym, and media room. The living areas seamlessly connect to the outdoor entertaining areas, as

well as the pool and separate guest suite. In the affluent suburb of Coral Gables, this home is close to grade-A schools and upscale restaurants and shopping. Listing Agent: Judith Zeder (Coldwell Banker Realty), 305.613.5550

SPANISH COLONIAL REVIVAL

San Antonio Avenue, Coral Gables 10 bed / 10 full bath / 2 half bath. 9,950 sq. ft.

LISTING PRICE: $12.9M

META RESIDENCE ONE

10860 SW 67th Court, Pinecrest

7 bed / 9 bath. 11,000 sq. ft.

The world’s first-ever “MetaReal Mansion,” Meta Residence One has a digital twin in the Sandbox metaverse. Developed by Gabe Sierra and Voxel Architects, the high-tech single-family home is nestled on over an acre of tropical land, with a

separate guest house including its own entrance and garage. The virtual home is an exact replica of the physical one. Listing Agent: Michael Martinez and Kiki Rutten (ONE Sotheby’s International Realty), 305.979.9367, 786.856.4719

LISTING PRICE: $11.5M

RECREATIONAL HAVEN

4845 Davis Road, Miami

7 bed / 8 full bath / 2 half bath. 10,551 sq. ft.

With a focus on recreation, this 1.5-acre property offers a guest house and a separate recreational house complete with an outdoor lighted tennis/pickleball court, pool, and two outdoor “summer” kitchens. The

main home includes two master suites, an expansive family room, and a covered patio for large-scale entertaining. Perfect for active families with children. Listing Agent: Audrey Ross (Compass), 305.661.4003

Cruise Port

Cruise ships lined up and waiting to depart from PortMiami, which is now installing port charging systems to efficiently power the vessels while docked.