I recently attended the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce’s 2014 South Florida Economic Summit, featuring Governor Rick Scott as one of the guest speakers.  In Gov. Scott’s remarks, he spoke of the need to create additional jobs and continue to grow Florida’s economy in key sectors like tourism and technology.  To that end, Gov. Scott spoke of the importance of key projects such as the Port Tunnel and the Port of Miami Dredge, which not only create initial and permanent jobs but also allows for the continued growth of visitors to Florida.

With respect to the technology sector, Florida is considered the third largest state for this industry and continues to grow.  With the upcoming eMerge Tech Conference scheduled for May of 2014 at the Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami is poised to compete with major tech conferences in Las Vegas and California, establishing itself as a key market for the technology sector.   Other key topics of the summit included discussions on the importance of continued emphasis on education at all levels, with a keen focus on maintaining Florida’s state universities in top positions in the country.  The Summit also included a session on Miami as a luxury brand destination, which included a spirited dialogue on the importance of a state-of-the-art convention center in order to continue to attract key conventions to our community.

"Miami is no longer deemed just a gateway to Latin America,” said Suzanne Amaducci-Adams, Bilzin Sumberg’s Hospitality Practice Group Chair. “It is capturing interest from virtually all corners of the globe, and all types of investors looking to invest in and be a part of the city’s future as the next great global city.”

The Summit concluded with remarks from the U.S. Department of Labor Secretary, Thomas E. Perez, as well as AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson, who provided insight into the state of the economy and focused on the need to make critical changes to the existing Federal deficit.