Economic Development Fund

Miami-Dade County has created a stellar partnership opportunity for attracting and expanding the most desirable kinds of businesses -- job creators, industry expanders and neighborhood catalysts. More than ever before, we will be ready to answer when opportunity knocks.

Miami-Dade's Board of County Commissioners approved a measure that establishes the guidelines of a $90 million fund to spur economic development that attracts major new business to the community and creates high-impact jobs.

This Economic Development Fund, funded from the voter-approved Building Better Communities General Obligation Bond, allots $75 million for countywide projects, while the other $15 million is aimed at targeted urban areas.

The County's plans for the $75 million include projects designed to promote major, game-changing business expansions anywhere in Miami-Dade County. The Economic Development Fund will be used to reimburse up to $15 million per project for public infrastructure improvements -- like road construction and water and sewer lines, among others -- as long as the project is consistent with the program's intended goals.

The County has identified five Economic Development Fund strategic areas (1.3 MB): Opa-locka Executive Airport area, the Civic Center/Medical District, the Port of Miami, the Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport area, and the Homestead Air Reserve Base.

These are locations that are fertile ground for the types of industries the fund was designed to attract, namely:

aviation and aerospace
financial and professional services
homeland security and defense
information technology
life sciences
international trade and global commerce

Projects in the targeted urban areas also have to spur economic development that attracts new business to the targeted urban areas and creates jobs. Eligible projects in each targeted urban area are reimbursable up to $3 million.