One of the ballpark project's critical elements is the opportunity to increase local employment and contracting opportunities for local firms. Not only does this represent a significant short-term injection into the industry, but also a unique opportunity for small local firms to develop the capacity and expertise to expand and produce a catalytic impact for the local economy. All contracting must be in compliance with Miami-Dade County's Community Small Business Enterprise (CSBE) and Small Business Enterprise (SBE) programs, as well as the Community Workforce Program.

As of May 31, 2011, 56 contracts totaling $380 million had been awarded. These contracts together include an 11.66 percent ($44.3 million) required small business participation goal. However, actual awards to small businesses totaled $71.5 million or 18.8 percent of the awards to date. Small Business participation has totaled $2.1 million on the architectural and engineering package, $3.5 million on the construction management package and $65.9 million on construction packages.

Additionally, the construction agreement calls for aspirational goals that 50 percent of the labor force live in Miami-Dade County and 20 percent of those County residents live within the City. It also calls for at least 50 percent of the hired firms to be based in Miami-Dade County. As the table below shows, these figures are being exceeded through May 2011.

*Goal set by Miami-Dade County's Review Committee

Staff from Hunt/Moss have been presenting project status reports to the CSBE Advisory Board on a quarterly basis since December 2009. During each quarterly presentation, the Advisory Board receives information on the current level of CSBE participation which includes the dollars awarded and paid as well as the total percentage complete for the overall project.