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As Miami-Dade continues to be one of the largest exporting counties, Enterprise Florida, the state’s public-private partnership and economic development organization whose mission is to diversify the state’s economy through job creation, is seeing companies in the county make high use of its trade grants and export assistance.
In 2022, Enterprise Florida Inc. consulted with 722 companies based in Miami-Dade, said TJ Villamil, senior vice president of International Trade and Development. The company has also made 80 trade grants to Miami-Dade companies in 2022 to support their export efforts. These grants have generated over $157 million in export sales, according to those companies.
Delegates of the office of International Trade and Development at Enterprise consult with those companies.
“We sit down with a company,” Mr. Villamil said. “Our trade managers, based around the state, do a site visit, they meet you in person. They go to your manufacturing shop and figure out where you are as a company. How are you doing? How many employees do you have? What are some of your pain points? What are some of the opportunities you’re looking at? And it’s a truly consultative process, so it’s not one size fits all.”
Then, depending on results of that meeting, he added, Enterprise trade managers recommend a whole slew of grants and programs that work best for the company.
For small businesses, Enterprise has put together a grant called the Export Marketing Plan (EMP) in partnership with Florida’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network and the US Commercial Service. The EMP is a roadmap for businesses to navigate where best to export their products abroad, based on which countries would buy the product and would be receptive to their brand. Recipients pay $500 to Florida’s SBCD Network and Enterprise pays the remaining $4,500 of the program’s costs.
Florida’s exporting market last year was headed by Brazil, generating more than $4.48 billion; followed by Canada, generating almost $4.14 billion; and Mexico, generating $3.3 billion to Florida’s economy, according to data from Enterprise Florida.
Enterprise Florida also has trade shows and trade mission grants to help businesses attend target sector trade shows. “That is another part of our legislative mandate coming from our leadership in Tallahassee,” said Mr. Villamil. “It shows that it is really important to diversify as a state and grow.”
For Target Sector Trade Show grants, Enterprise covers 75% of the cost of trade show booths, up to $7,500 for in-person events. “So, aviation, aerospace, life sciences, financial services, technology, clean tech, and information technology; all these really important industry sectors,” he said. “So, we have trade managers specifically in those industry sectors that help companies in Florida in those sectors grow at big trade shows around the world.”
For example, the world’s largest healthcare industry trade show is MEDICA Trade Fair in Düsseldorf, Germany. The most recent was Nov. 14 to 17. For the aviation and aerospace industries, the Paris Air Show in France is next June 19 to 25. These trade shows will showcase big Florida pavilions, as Enterprise helps offset some of the cost for companies to travel and give their businesses an international platform.
“Not only are we looking at specific sectors, but we’re looking at specific markets,” Mr. Villamil added. “We have really awesome trade missions put on by our team. We have one focused on Africa, through our Africa’s Expansion Program. So, we’re going to be in Senegal in February.”
In addition, a team in Miami is focused on nations in Latin America, he said. “We just came back from Panama and Ecuador, and we’re going to go to Guyana in March, and Paraguay later in the year. So, that’ll be fantastic.”
The Gold Key/Matchmaker Grants Program is another important tool Enterprise Florida uses with businesses that are new or lack exporting expertise, by subsidizing the cost of meeting with pre-qualified buyers, agents, importers, or representatives interested in their products.
Enterprise Florida, through its Florida Export Diversification and Expansion program, an initiative to help qualified companies start exporting their goods into overseas markets, grants up to $2,500 for a US Commercial Service trade mission offering Gold Key service, and another $2,500 for a contractor providing business matchmaker services to small businesses in Florida.
“It really is not a one-size-fits-all [approach],” said Mr. Villamil. “It depends on the company and where they are in their lifecycle to take advantage of our consultative program and our grant programs.”
Last year, Florida had record total merchandise trade of over $160 billion in goods moving in and out of Florida via exporting and importing, said Mr. Villamil. “That’s thanks to the leadership of our state governor and the elected officials in Tallahassee, making sure that Florida was open and ready to receives all this business. And this year, we are on pace to break last year’s record and have $190 billion worth of total merchandise goods, both import and export, move through the state of Florida.”
Photo: Messe Düsseldorf/ ctillmann
https://www.miamitodaynews.com/2022/12/27/enterprise-florida-makes-grants-to-80-miami-dade-firms/
