Region May Soon be Known for Brain Gain, Not Drain

Does South Florida still have a talent problem? If you listen to local business owners, the answer may be yes. However, the good news is things are getting better.

My firm recently surveyed business leaders in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, and found that a “lack of qualified workers” is still one of the top concerns for local executives. The surveys, conducted in partnership with the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, shed light on some of the key issues facing the local business community.

Despite concerns about finding local talent, the overall sentiment from survey respondents is overwhelmingly positive. Executives are optimistic about growth opportunities in South Florida and beyond, with 84% of Miami-Dade respondents and 90% of Broward respondents saying they expect their business to continue to improve in the next year.

In addition, the majority of businesses surveyed expect to hire in the coming year – which brings us back to the talent issue.

Signs of improvement

South Florida has certainly made a lot of headway on the talent front in recent years.

The Kauffman Foundation’s 2015 Index of Entrepreneurship ranked Miami as the No. 2 city in the U.S. for start-up activity. Organizations such as LaunchCode, Refresh Miami, Endeavor Miami, eMerge, Venture Hive, and The Lab Miami have been working to grow the city’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and build the local talent base, especially in the emerging tech sector.

“Miami is winning the brain gain race,” wrote Larry Williams, president and CEO of The Beacon Council, in a recent Op-Ed in The Miami Herald. He cited a Knight Foundation-supported study that listed Miami as “one of the top areas in the nation attracting young professionals.”

Initiatives like The Beacon Council’s One Community One Goal (OCOG) and New Leaders Taskforce are helping to counteract South Florida’s long-time “brain drain” problem. The area’s higher-ed institutions have been not only listening to the needs of local business owners, but also partnering with them to address their concerns.

Earlier this year, the OCOG and the Academic Leaders Council – a collaboration of seven local academic institutions – announced the creation of the Talent Development Network (TDN), which provides paid internship opportunities for talented students in Miami-Dade County. The internship placements are concentrated at top local employers in growing industries, such as banking and finance, technology, and life sciences and healthcare.

Another organization, Venture for America, which is a nationwide non-profit that partners with startups to find job placements for talented graduates, just sent its second cohort of fellows to Miami to work at local tech-based startups.

These efforts are, in part, a way to encourage young professionals (and young businesses) to grow with our community instead of taking their talents elsewhere.

Opportunity remains

While significant progress has been made in addressing South Florida’s talent problem over the past few years, there’s still more work to be done.

Concern about the shortage of talent was nearly unanimous at a recent CEO roundtable discussion that we held in Fort Lauderdale. Some executives at the event shared their solutions for finding qualified workers, including hiring from outside their industries or hiring returning veterans. A couple of the executives said they teach at local universities so they can get to know the top students.

Education is certainly one of the keys to closing the talent gap – and it needs to start early.

At the roundtable, Laurie Sallarulo, CEO of Junior Achievement of South Florida, talked to business leaders about the training programs that her non-profit offers for young students. Junior Achievement reaches about 90,000 students per year in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties with K-12 programs geared toward work readiness and entrepreneurship.

Career training for South Florida’s growing sectors is happening at all levels. Just last month, the Florida Board of Governors announced a $3.5 million grant to help train students at Florida Atlantic University, Broward College and Palm Beach State College for jobs in computer science and engineering.

Attracting and retaining talent, especially in highly specialized industries, is a challenge that South Florida businesses have faced for years. However, there are encouraging signs that the tide is turning on the talent hunt. Through collaboration between local organizations, education institutions and businesses, we can continue to make our community a more attractive place for young professionals to live, work and play, and we can educate tomorrow’s workforce with the skills businesses need to succeed.

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James R. Kaufman, CPA, is the CEO and founding principal of Miami-based Kaufman Rossin, one of the Top 100 firms in the U.S. The Kaufman Rossin Group provides CPA, advisory and fund administration services to clients around the world. Jim can be reached at jkaufman@kaufmanrossin.com.