Invest:Insights
Miami
While most people and organizations have stepped up to try and help their communities through this difficult period of time, there are those select individuals who find opportunity in others’ struggles. David Schwartz, President & CEO of Florida International Bankers Association, discussed with Abby Melone that there has been a significant uptick in COVID-19 related fraud as corrupt individuals look to take advantage of others during this uncertain and confusing time.
To help minimize the impact of the coronavirus on the local community, Florida International University tapped into its global roots to help students and residents face the present challenging times. Through its network of partners, FIU quickly mobilized to supply personal protection equipment to students and the local community as the coronavirus spread throughout Miami-Dade County. As the school thinks about a future under the coronavirus landscape and beyond, leadership skills will be a critical component to their curriculum and class offerings, College of Business Dean Joanne Li told Invest: Insights.
Smart business practices are not always innate in every business owner or leader, but thankfully there are a lot of advisory options available to support these individuals. Meredith Tucker, Principal at KaufmanRossin, spoke with Abby Melone about businesses needing to be more sophisticated about their cash flow as well as managing it more effectively during times of crisis. She also touched upon the importance of promoting entrepreneurialism, especially in times of doubt stemming from crisis, which ultimately provides support towards economic recovery.
As Florida pushes full steam ahead on its reopening process, the community has many questions about how certain things will operate in a post-COVID-19 world. A good portion of these questions surround what the future of in-person education will look like, which was a main topic of conversation during John Quelch’s, Vice Provost for the University of Miami and Dean of the Miami Herbert Business School, interview with Abby Melone. He discussed that for his university, the arriving class will have a ‘flex arrival’ to address how new students come back onto campus. He emphasized that leadership will play an even more important role as he observed that there has been a leadership deficit throughout this pandemic
The pandemic has caused financial hardships for most business sectors, and the healthcare sector was not immune. Dr. Jorge Sosa, Medical Director of Bariatric Surgery at Palmetto General Hospital, discussed with Abby Melone that the financial impact for hospitals and healthcare centers has been tough, and we may see an increase in M&A activity amongst solo practices in the near future. He touched on the fact that the reintroduction of elective surgeries has been a much welcomed relief for hospital systems in regards to recouping some of the lost income from the last few months.
After the challenges the real estate market faced in the last economic recession in 2008-2009, many speculated how the current economic slowdown may affect real estate this time around. Jorge Guerra Jr., the President and Chief Executive Officer of Real Estate Sales Force (RESF), spoke with Abby Melone about the current state of the market in which he says that, so far, he has seen sales prices and rental rates hold steady even though the available volume of listings has decreased.
The world may be hyper-focused on one specific virus for the moment, but that does not mean people should be avoiding hospitals and not addressing health concerns. This was an important message relayed by Michael Bell, CEO of Hialeah Hospital, to Abby Melone during their discussion. He also made sure to highlight that his hospital is well equipped to handle the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the massively important role that his hospital’s employees have played during this crisis
During times of crisis, the emphasis on being able to circulate the most current news and happenings is heightened ten-fold. This need for current information showcases the importance of great journalism during these uncertain times, especially local journalism. This was one of the messages Raul Moas, the Miami Program Director for Knight Foundation, relayed to Abby Melone as well as speaking to the importance of entrepreneurialism during times of economic crisis.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the nation as a whole, certain segments of the population have been disproportionately affected.
It was only months ago that the nation was experiencing record low levels of unemployment, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic this is no longer the case. As both job seekers and hiring managers attempt to navigate this unprecedented time, government leaders and community organizations like CareerSource South Florida are doing their best to help however they can. Rick Beasley, Executive Director for CareerSource South Florida, discussed with Abby Melone how the Paycheck Protection Program and the CARES Act are helping to bring many people back into the workforce. He also suggested that while individuals wait for the employment to rebound, that they should be working on sharpening and broadening their skills as well as working on acquiring certifications.
With Gov. DeSantis turning his attention from responding to the initial pandemic to now slowly beginning to reopen the state, he is aided and advised by the ‘Re-Open Florida Task Force’ that includes some of the most well known and respected business and community leaders in the state. Included in this is Dev Motwani, the President and CEO of Merrimac Ventures, who discussed with Abby Melone about addressing the needs of the business community upon reopening. He also spoke on lenders, landlords and tenants working together through the pains of this crisis as the real estate market is slower to recover from economic downturns compared to areas like the stock market.
Commercial real estate is in a precarious position due to the COVID-19 pandemic as there is pressure for rent forgiveness from commercial retail clients and pressure from the banks on landlords of these commercial properties. Michael Feuerman, Managing Director of Berger Commercial, spoke on how his company is dealing with these pressures while also looking towards what the future of commercial real estate may look like post-COVID-19. He identified that the future will see more available commercial real estate space, less people crammed into a space and an increased emphasis on incorporation of things like ‘no touch’ technologies into these spaces.
Since the passage of the CARES Act, banks around the nation have been inundated with PPP loan applications. Jose Cueto, the CEO of International Finance Bank who was recently appointed to the City of Miami’s COVID-19 recovery board, spoke to Abby Melone about his bank’s forward thinking and planning as it relates to the PPP loan applications and how his bank is helping both clients and non clients in submitting and processing these loan applications.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on every city in Florida, the severity of the impact has fluctuated on a case by case basis. In Raúl Valdés-Fauli’s, Mayor for the City of Coral Gables, conversation with Abby Melone he told of the severe impact the pandemic has had on his city but that they are a conservative city and would be able to weather this storm. He also spoke on being a very international city with a finger on the pulse of the concerns for the international community and how they are working towards more communication in an effort to be well positioned when borders open back up.
While the economic and social recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is going to be a long and gradual process, there are large organizations currently working to help where they can in easing this process along. One of the organizations that has stepped up in a big way is UnitedHealthcare who have provided more than $70 million directly to the global community since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Michael Lawton, Chief Executive Officer of the UnitedHealthcare Community and State Health Plan of Florida, spoke on the organization contributing two $500,000 donations to two Florida agencies, Feeding Florida and the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida.
When COVID-19 began its descent upon America’s public and the economy, the country was in a state of economic excellence. Since then, the pandemic has caused the economy to struggle and all sectors within have been impacted and challenged on varying degrees. Construction was one of those sectors that was hit hard but was not brought to a full stop, as construction companies had various projects at differing stages of completion within their pipeline. One of these companies that has had the fortune of being able to continue to conduct business during this crisis was Plaza Construction, as told by their President Brad Meltzer in his discussion with Abby Melone. To be able to continue their projects in development, Mr. Meltzer describes adapting new safety measures and protocols to avoid the spread of COVID-19, and that these same protocols could continue well after the pandemic is over.
While no one could have been prepared for the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought upon the United States, there are organizations that specialize in helping guide through the community through disasters like this. One such organization is Witt O’Brien’s, who are currently playing the role of communicating the needs of the business community to the various governments that they work with and vice versa. Brad Gair, Senior Managing Director of Witt O’Briens, told Abby Melone about the organization’s efforts to supply as much information as possible so that people can understand what is accessible to them and what will be helpful in helping them pull through this pandemic.
While the world is seemingly on pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is the time the 5G industry should be using as an opportunity to push ahead on their larger infrastructure projects, Alice Bravo, the Director of the Miami-Dade Department of Transportation, expressed to Abby Melone. She also speaks on the unprecedented steps that have had to be taken in order for local governments to continue their work, like the governor approving virtual platforms as a way to pass public initiatives in this time of social distancing.
While many hospitals across the United States have experienced a significant influx of patients due to COVID-19, certain specialty outpatient centers have begun to see a decrease in new patient volume. Todd Schonherz, COO of Florida Cancer Specialists, spoke about this decrease in volume with Abby Melone which he attributed to the pandemic causing many people to not have their regularly scheduled procedures and doctors visits. He discussed that a lot of the time these procedures and visits are where doctors initially discover cancer in patients.
Similar to our economy in the United States, the countries that comprise Latin America have been experiencing similar economic challenges and struggles brought on the COVID-19 pandemic. This was expressed to Abby Melone in her conversation with Driss R. Temsamani, the Head of Channels and Enterprise Banking at Citigroup Latin America, who also discussed the financial institution’s well-received community relief efforts and facilitating clients needs on case by case basis as economies around the world prepare to reopen.
The economic and health related challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic will not be resolved by any one individual or entity. Tackling the issues caused by this crisis is going to continue to rely on a collaborative community effort. This was the collective message throughout the roundtable discussion between the South Florida Business Council and Abby Melone. The three local leaders who participated, Alfred Sanchez, Dan Lindblade and Dennis Grady, all touched upon their three individual counties pulling together to help the South Florida region come out successfully from these challenging economic times.
While all demographics of people have been negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact on the African American population has been disproportionate to the rest of the population. This was one of the main topics Oliver Gilbert, Mayor of Miami Gardens, discussed with Abby Melone as well as how the city is working to assist in this matter.
Agriculture is a sector of the local economy in Miami-Dade that is quite often overlooked but is very much a major employer and valuable source of revenue for the county. Steven Losner, Mayor of the City of Homestead, explained to Abby Melone that while the local farms and nurseries haven’t had to lay people off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they have been significantly reducing their hours. The answers to the questions surrounding the future of local agriculture still remain to be discovered.
The most at risk communities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic have been the disadvantaged and elderly communities. Dionne Polite, Director of State Operations – Florida for AARP, spoke to Abby Melone about the action that her organization is taking to disseminate information to the public as fast as possible, as well as the importance that intergenerational dialogue has had throughout the pandemic and will have for the foreseeable future.
In order for the business community to begin to recover and revitalize, it is going to take a collective effort from all organizations, both small and large. Truist, one of the larger organizations that has stepped up during this time of crisis, saw their $25 million Truist Cares initiative immediately garner interest from the business community and within days it was tapped out. Now the organization is looking to reup on this relief fund to help benefit the small business community, Truist’s South Florida Regional President, Tony Coley, told Abby Melone.
The COVID-19 pandemic has touched all sectors of the economy, and the real estate market may see more long-term effects than most. Ryan Kratz, President of Colliers International’s Southeast Region | US Brokerage, discussed with Abby Melone that prior to the events of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a sufficient amount of supply in regards to available real estate in Miami-Dade so post COVID-19 there should not be a risk of oversupply or undersupply on the market. He also expressed that real estate professionals should be using this time to educate themselves in preparation for the market reopening.
In order for the business community to begin it’s healing process, we must first truly understand the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has left on these businesses. Alfred Sanchez, President and CEO of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, told Abby Melone about the impact they have seen on the local business community as informed by their research and survey. He discussed that people have had to reduce their staff as well as their businesses working hours and uncertainty is the shared emotion among the business community.
For some universities the transition to an all online curriculum has been handled with relative ease, and has left many educators excited to be on the frontline of how higher education will be permanently changed post COVID-19. Robert Bishop, Dean of the University of South Florida College of Engineering, relayed these same sentiments with Abby Melone, as well as diving into the challenges that this disruption has caused for the graduate programs offered by the university.
While daily life has not had a sense of normalcy since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are still normal and routine processes at work. One such process is the 2020 Census that is currently being conducted, but unlike years past, it has not had the same participation volume. During his discussion with Abby Melone, Mark Trowbridge, President & CEO of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce, spoke of the census not coming back in the volume that it has in years prior with a return rate of 50% versus 74% seen in years past. He also discusses the various programs the Chamber is offering their members based upon their needs.
As COVID-19 began to rapidly spread throughout the country, the severity of the economic impact it would have was quickly realized by the Federal Government. This ultimately lead to the $2 trillion economic stimulus package known as the CARES Act. In speaking with Abby Melone, Michael Finney, the President and CEO of The Beacon Council, implores that small businesses in the Miami-Dade region should explore and go after the additional funds the stimulus package is offering.
By now most people have come to terms with the impact that COVID-19 is having on the community, but those that have firsthand experience with the virus truly understand the magnitude of this situation. CEO of Capital Analytics Abby Melone spoke with City of Miami’s Mayor Francis Suarez about his first hand experience with COVID-19 and the city’s initiative to offer at home tests for its residents.
As all activity in the Miami-Dade region has seemingly come to a sudden halt due to COVID-19, the local leaders are working tirelessly in the background to respond to the pandemic. Abby Melone, CEO of Capital Analytics, sat down with Juan Carlos Bermudez, Mayor for the City of Doral.
Invest:Insights presents Jaret Davis, Co-Manging Partner, Greenberg Traurig
Invest:Insights presents Steven Altchuler, CEO, UHealth – The University of Miami Health System
Invest:Insights presents Eugene Anderson, Dean, University of Miami School of Business
Invest: Insights presents Roberto Munoz, South Florida Market President, BBVA Compass
Invest: Insights presents Kerri Barsh, Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig
Invest: Insights presents Alice Bravo, Director of Miami-Dade County’s Department of Transit