{"id":10,"date":"2018-08-01T16:17:47","date_gmt":"2018-08-01T20:17:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lee-associates.com\/miami\/?p=10"},"modified":"2022-10-19T12:02:06","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T16:02:06","slug":"miami-takes-steps-to-become-a-truly-international-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lee-associates.com\/southflorida\/2018\/08\/01\/miami-takes-steps-to-become-a-truly-international-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami Takes Steps To Become A Truly International City"},"content":{"rendered":"

Johanna and\u00a0Juha Mikkola personify Miami\u2019s emerging economy: entrepreneurial, creative and shaped by cultures ranging from the Americas and the Caribbean, to Europe and Asia.<\/p>\n

In less than five years, the\u00a0Finnish\u00a0couple has scaled up their tech education business with a little help from some new friends. They\u2019ve completed a first capital raise \u2013 $1 million from Academic Work, a global\u00a0Swedish\u00a0staffing company with just a handful of U.S. partners.<\/p>\n

The Swedes chose Wyncode, the Mikkolas\u2019 company; they chose Miami. Millennials with a small child, the Mikkolas relocated from Toronto and left jobs in other sectors \u2013 corporate for her, retail for him \u2013 to live the good, beachy life and train computer coders in the artsy Wynwood neighborhood. They say cosmopolitan Toronto seems vanilla in comparison.<\/p>\n

After growing up in the European melting pot, they feel right at home in Miami. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s all I\u2019ve ever known,\u201d says Juha, who studied at the International School of Helsinki.<\/p>\n

\u201cCultural diversity speaks to us, but it\u2019s a real thing here,\u201d Johanna adds. \u201cIt brings different ideas, forcing you to think about things in new ways.\u201d<\/h3>\n

Long considered the gateway to\u00a0Latin America, with a laser focus on tourism, hospitality, transportation and real estate development, Miami is working on broadening its global reach. Community leaders are reimagining the city as an idea generator for technology, education, banking, the arts, media and fashion. High-concept incubators are gaining on traditional brick-and-mortar operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is becoming a place where things are made, products and services are created, businesses are locating, and that has helped transition the narrative of who Miami is,\u201d says Steven Pedigo, an urbanist on the faculty of\u00a0New York University.<\/h3>\n

Pedigo is research director of the\u00a0Miami Urban Future Initiative<\/strong>\u00a0at\u00a0Florida International University, a think tank for quantifying the trends that are reshaping the city.<\/p>\n

One money-backed booster of Miami\u2019s cultural energy is Naeem Khan, the Indian-American fashion designer whose star rose when he dressed former first lady Michelle Obama for her premier state dinner in 2009.<\/p>\n

Based in Manhattan, Khan is moving his production to a sleekly modern complex on the Miami River that will also house a fashion design high school, scheduled to open in 2020. He\u2019s investing $30 million because, he says, \u201cMiami has incredible potential to become a very important part of the fashion world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Khan, a part-time Miami resident, will draw upon the city\u2019s homegrown wealth of Latin American artisans and channel the globalism \u2013 materials, expertise and consumers from everywhere \u2013 that he prizes in his business.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a transient city, Miami. It has Art Basel for a week in December, but we need permanent jobs in order to create a vibrant and full circle of a city,\u201d Khan says. \u201cYou need manufacturing, and we felt that Miami could be perfect for that.\u201d He aims to add 70 to 100 jobs to the local economy.<\/h3>\n

Khan struck out on his own after apprenticing with the iconic designer Halston as a 19-year-old immigrant. He\u2019s at the top of the entrepreneurial heap, but he represents a universal wish.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have people who are looking to have the American dream, which isn\u2019t home ownership anymore, it\u2019s entrepreneurship,\u201d says Susan Amat, founder and chief executive of Venture Hive.<\/h3>\n

Her Miami-based company produces software and helps corporations, governments and educators enhance innovation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have so many people here who want to be entrepreneurs, it\u2019s crazy, which is great because they can,\u201d she says.<\/h3>\n

Statistics show that Miami has the raw materials to support their efforts, especially internationally. Here are four key findings from a May 2018 Miami Urban Future Initiative research paper called \u201cBenchmarking Miami\u2019s Globalization<\/a>\u201c:<\/p>\n