Miami Lakes and its surrounding areas are referred to as the “Gateway to the Americas.” This is not merely a clever catchphrase, but a fact of business life. Many of the region’s businesses rely on the aviation industry. 

This industry is propelled by Miami International Airport (MIA), which is the largest entry point to Latin America and the Caribbean in the world, for both passengers and cargo; nourished by area education and training institutions and flight simulation facilities; and sustained by the more than 400 maintenance, overhaul, and parts manufacturing industries that flourish in Miami-Dade County. These numbers are sure to grow as development proceeds at Opa-Locka Executive Airport.

As a State, Florida is the undisputed air traffic hub of the Western Hemisphere for both passengers and cargo, and a major flight training and maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) location. Industry leadership is driven and supported by the presence of virtually every major defense contractor, a 50-year legacy of space launch at NASA's Kennedy Space Center and the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, Florida's many U.S. military installations, its incredible air transport infrastructure, and its high-quality workforce.

The Life Sciences sector makes up the largest component for the regional industry in South Florida. The area is home to more than 1,300 Life Sciences companies with over 13,000 employees. These companies generate more than $2.9 million in total annual revenue. South Florida’s Life Sciences industry is anchored by the University of Miami’s multiple research institutions and the newly renamed Miami Health District.
Florida is home to some of the nation's most highly regarded research centers, and ranks 2nd in the U.S. for the number of FDA-registered medical device establishments.

This industry is comprised of licensed professionals and experts experienced in the following disciplines.

• Accounting
• Architects
• Commercial Real Estate
• Engineers
• Legal Services

For over 25 years, Miami-Dade has been home to the largest concentration of domestic and international banks on the East Coast south of New York City. Banks from North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America have local offices to serve offshore customers with personal or business ties to the region. In the past two years, there’s been rapid growth in institutions serving companies in the Pacific Rim.

This sector is propelled by Miami-Dade County’s access and influence in Latin America and the Caribbean; nourished by the area’s graduate and post-graduate educational institutions; and sustained by the 16, 237 accounting, architectural, real estate, engineering, and legal services firms that grow and flourish in Miami-Dade County.

Nearly 90% of the state’s gross economic output is generated in the service sector. Florida's more than 122,000 Financial and Professional Services companies employ nearly 832,000 workers at locations around the state, and the industry's designation as a "high impact" sector, further signifies its importance to our economy.

South Florida has remained at the forefront of information technology innovation since the birth of the IBM PC in Boca Raton. This growing segment is driven by Miami’s network of fiber optic routes, which include eight underwater cable landings located between Miami and Fort Lauderdale. This attribute makes Miami Lakes an ideal location for a Tier-1 Network Access Point (NAP), which is the NAP of the Americas, a telecommunications hub that links the Americas, and the area businesses that serve them, with the rest of the world.

Recent improvements in local university facilities promise to draw still more tech-savvy young people to the area. Miami Dade College’s ETCOTA (Emerging Technology Center of the Americas) is a state-of-the-art technology facility that trains students in computer science, while the College of Engineering at Florida International University has the $15 million Motorola Nanofabrication Research Facility, the first centralized facility of its kind in the state of Florida.

Miami-Dade County is one of the world’s leading metropolitan areas for global companies, with a roster of more than 1,000 multinational corporations that includes Apple, Oracle, IBM, Clorox, Burger King and Porsche.

For these global companies, as well as thousands of smaller businesses in the international sector, Miami Lakes’ proximity to Latin America and the Caribbean is a key strategic asset that makes our community the ideal location for international commerce in the Western Hemisphere. The region offers unparalleled access to European and Asian markets through Miami International Airport and the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami, a pivotal connecting point between the Americas and the rest of the world and the #1 container port in Florida.

As the "Gateway to the Americas," Miami-Dade County has emerged as an international hub for commerce. Our proximity to Latin America and the Caribbean is a key strategic asset while the Port of Miami is the pivotal connecting point between the Americas and Europe, as well as Asia.

The Port of Miami is the #1 container port in Florida and among the top ten container ports in the United States, as well as North America’s closest port to the Panama Canal. As the Western Hemisphere's commercial gateway, the logistics and distribution industry is poised to grow further with the Panama Canal expansion in 2014 and the numerous infrastructure developments and upgrades underway around the state.