Spain mission aims to lure tech firms to Miami

The Miami-Dade Beacon Council, the county’s economic development organization, has kicked off its first trade mission in Spain since 2019 to further position the area as a global business destination of choice.

The Spain Economic Development Mission, joined by the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, top economic and political executives of Miami-Dade and the US ambassador in Spain, continues from May 22 to 27 in Madrid and Vigo, Spain, to “build awareness of opportunities for doing business in Miami Dade,” according to the convention bureau.

The mission – sponsored by George Bermudez, business market executive of Bank of America’s global commercial division; David Whitaker, the bureau’s president and CEO; and Gina Polo, a top lawyer from Buchanan Ingersoll and Rooney – is headed by the Beacon Council’s interim President William D. Talbert III and Miami-Dade Commissioner Raquel Regalado, who are spending two days in Madrid and two days in Vigo.

The executive team is meeting with local partners, who organized panels and presentations, such as ICEX, a publicly owned business-oriented entity of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism’s Secretary of State for Commerce in Spain; IGAPE (Instituto Galego de Promocion Economica); the Spanish Chamber of Commerce; and CDTI (Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnologico Industrial).

“This time we’re focused on tech companies and tech start-ups,” said Maria Budet, the Beacon Council’s chief marketing officer, who is also attending.

“That’s a primary industry for us.”

“Spain is our top international market for foreign direct investments,” said Ms. Budet. “We’ve been working with them on an on-going basis for years with over 140 project and hundreds of companies that are looking to expand or relocate to Miami.”

The Beacon Council is currently assisting 10 Spanish companies to relocate or expand to Miami-Dade County. About 320 Spanish companies now operate in the county and more than 400 in Florida, according to public relations company Aviareps Spain. They include telecommunications company Telefonica, Santander Bank, and Air Europa.

The aim of this trade mission, Ms. Budet added, is to return to the practice of yearly visits to Spain, starting in Madrid but visiting other markets around the nation looking to bring business to Miami. Online sessions held the two previous years due to the Covid-19 pandemic were well attended.

“In Vigo, for example,” she said, “we’re meeting with companies that are trade and logistics that are ready to start with us for services in one-on-one meetings to either continue dialogue that started remotely, or to just start that dialogue.”

The program in Vigo on May 25, partnered with IGAPE and Galicia-based bank ABANCA, was to provide Spanish companies the counsel of leaders of the public and private sector in Miami on international expansion. The program is to include panels about commercial advantages Miami offers, better practices and legal implications of doing business in the US, headed by Ms. Polo.

Other Beacon Council executives attending are Mario J. Sacasa, senior vice president of international economic development; and Madeline Mesa, director of international economic development. Additionally, more than 60 Spanish companies looking to expand to Miami are projected to attend, according Aviareps Spain.

“Being able to really engage directly with these companies,” said Ms. Budet, is one of the most exciting aspects of this visit. “This is a market that we value very much, so being able to further our position for Miami-Dade as the global business destination of choice for these Spanish companies [is great.]”