A $33 BILLION ECONOMIC IMPACT IS ABOUT TO HIT MIAMI.

IS YOUR SMALL BUSINESS READY TO RIDE THE WAVE?Excerpts from a Whitepaper by

Miami Growth Advisorswww.miamigrowthadvisors.com

This paper is intended to be a guide for the small business owner on what he or she must do to be ready for Miami’s wave of opportunity. Read it and place yourself at the foreground of a thunderous wave that promises to transform South Florida’s local economy, businesses and wealth.

Let’s start with a multi-billion dollargame-changing event called the Panama Canal expansion

Today, the Panama Canal’s maximum ship size is 4,400 TEUs (1,000 ft)lengths by 100 ft widths) referred to as ‘Panamax’ ships. Upon completion of the new third lock system the larger ‘Post-Panamax’ ships, 12,600 TEU’s (1,400 ft lengths by 160 ft widths) can transverse the canal. These larger ships allow for the delivery of containers at reduced prices due to the sheer scale of delivery capacity—imports and exports will grow exponentially. Completion is scheduled for early 2015.

Until now South Florida has been primarily a consumer market. In fact, for every four container loads that come, only one goes back up North with goods. Three containers return empty! This gap is expected to be used up by new imports making their way North. Multiple government incentives are being designed to stimulate manufacturing in South Florida and trade with Latin America.

This influx of commerce, imports, exports and new businesses are just a few of the factors eminent in Miami’s horizon. The perfect convergence of events with a tidal wave of economic opportunity. How can your prepare your business to claim your share? That’s what these Whitepapers is about.

Growth for all industries

Expect to see an increase in demand for skilled workers and industrial complexes to accommodate the increased volume of container traffic flowing through the Port of Miami. This increased trade will also lead to massive growth of ancillary businesses not directly tied to the Port. Businesses such as customs brokers, freight forwarders and logistics firms. All of these companies will need additional services and resources—attorneys, banking, accounting, accommodations, entertainment and more—creating business development opportunities for all kinds of businesses.

In the words of Florida’s Governor Scott, “Our port’s infrastructure improvements and expansion plans will dramatically drive Miami’s (and all of Florida’s) economy forward for decades to come with an estimated additional $30 billion dollar economic impact over the next 10 years. We also expect to create over 33,000 new local Miami Dade County jobs with an average annual salary of over $55,000 a year.” These are impressive numbers indeed.

The Expansion in detail

With the completion of the Panama Canal expansion, in early 2015, Florida is making major infrastructure improvements to ports and rail systems in hopes of attracting shippers looking to reach southeastern states quickly. (Note: 70% of the US population lives east of the Mississippi River.)

In order for the Port of Miami to accommodate these super ships, the depth of the port must be at least 50 feet and would require dredging. The next port up the east coast with a 50 foot depth is in Norfolk, Virginia, 797 nautical miles to the north. The final permitting to dredge Government Cut was granted in May of this year. The dredging is scheduled to start in early 2014 and expected to be complete in early 2015.

The 2 Billion dollar port expansion includes the tunnel going from Dodge Island, 120 feet under Government Cut, to Watson Island connecting the Port to Interstate 395. The project started in May of 2010, and on July 31st of this year, “Harriet” the large bore drill designed for this project, broke through to Dodge Island and completed the eastbound tunnel. The project is slated to complete in May of 2014. The Port of Miami will be adding four more super post-Panamax gantry cranes used to load and unload containers to the two already at the facility, vastly improving turnaround times in loading and unloading. There seems to be a recurring date emerging with a convergence of timelines, isn’t that interesting?

The Expansion in detail

Now let’s expand our vision and include what’s happening with Flagler’s railroad. The port is upgrading its rail links and creating an intermodal rail yard to be complete in the spring of 2014, along with renovations to the bridge that carries rail cars from the port’s island home to Florida East Coast Railway yard. Florida East Coast Railway FEC is developing land that it owns along its rail line adjacent to Miami International Airport (MIA) to build a transload logistics center where full container loads can be brought from the ports and broken down into less-than-container loads. This center will be able to perform value-added services as well as receive air shipments from the nearby airport.

Additionally, the Florida East Coast Railway has invested $50 Million in upgrades to the 351 miles of train track between Miami and Jacksonville. The first new railway tracks since the 1900s will be laid for the Florida East Coast Railway’s new passenger train to Orlando also starting in 2014.

All of these infrastructure changes are designed to increase the flow of goods heading north.

The Expansion in detail

Let’s shift our attention from the railroad and the port to the MIA Expansion Project. The North Terminal opened August of 2012 as the “International Arrivals Facility” with 72 lanes for federal inspections servicing up to 2000 people per hour. They’ve now got 6 lanes dedicated solely to expediting global entry processing. Last year MIA led all U.S. airports with an increased passenger growth of 7% coupled with a 5% increase in cargo growth during their 2011–2012 fiscal year.

Just prior to the opening of the MIA’s new arrivals facility, the Metrorail opened its Orange line, improving airport accessibility to all of the areas covered by Metrorail. Other DOT infrastructure improvements being made include the Toll Road 836 from the toll plaza to both I-95 and I -395 to handle the anticipated increase in truck traffic, currently at 28% of all traffic in Miami today.

There is a huge wave of economic opportunity headed our way here in South Florida and the groundswell has already started. At this moment, it may not be apparent to you, but it’s a fact that billions of dollars will be flowing through Miami in the next decade.

Will your business be ready to claim its share? What have you seen as a possibility for your business while reading this whitepaper? What value can your business bring to this game? How can you get involved?

How does this relate to theaverage small business owner?

If you want a copy of the originalwhitepaper, and our 7 Step Readiness Guide,visit: www.MiamiGrowthAdvisors.com

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Will your business beready to ride the wave?