FYI Miami: October 22, 2015

Below are some of the FYIs in this week’s edition. The entire content of this week’s FYIs and Insider sections is available by subscription only. To subscribe click here.

PORT LAND USE: Miami-Dade County would survey all seaport users about their needs for port land for the next 30 years before committing any of that land to other uses under a resolution approved by a 3-2 vote last week by the county commission’s Economic Prosperity Committee. If the full commission approves, port plans for commercial development will be updated based on the survey results. The sponsor of the measure, Rebeca Sosa, told fellow commissioners that the survey is expected to move fast enough to harm no potential users of vacant port lands and then to lead to more port revenues via an open process to seek commercial users there. Other than an aborted effort to use the land for a soccer stadium, only one unsolicited offer has been made to the county to use lands on the port’s southwest corner. The full commission this month voted to bar any measures to commit use of that land until it can clear up any legal barriers lingering from the City of Miami’s conveyance of that land to the county.

WHO’S LOCAL?: Miami-Dade County, which by code gives local vendors preference for county contracts, is poised to focus on every vendor’s local ties in a resolution that the Economic Prosperity Committee sent to the full county commission last week. The measure by Rebeca Sosa would require that all vendors bidding or contracting with the county list all of their offices in Miami-Dade, how many of their employees live here, what percentage of their total employees live here, and the total number of employees who live in South Florida counties with which Miami-Dade has reciprocity on local preference agreements. “All we are pursuing is that those who are labeled local are really local,” Ms. Sosa told the committee.

PUERTO RICO CALLS: Eight to 25 participants will travel to Puerto Rico on a trade mission organized by the Puerto Rico Chapter of the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce Southeast. The Nov 17-19 trip coincides with EXPO Puerto Rico 2015, an annual international event promoted by Puerto Rico’s Department of Economic Development & Commerce. Business meetings and networking sessions will be arranged for the traveling participants. Despite the commonwealth’s ongoing debt crisis, South Florida’s Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce recently told Miami Today that now is the time to invest in the island. “The chamber is somewhat rightfully-so concerned about conditions in Puerto Rico,” said Luis De Rosa, the chamber’s president. “At the same time, we’re optimistic that opportunities are available for those who are looking for the right price in terms of investment, relocation and developing partnerships in Puerto Rico.”