SFRPC e-Highlights & News You Can Use...

Isabel Cosio Carballo

Executive Director

FEBRUARY 2022

Senator Steve Geller

SFRPC Chair

Prosperous Communities ~ Healthier Environment ~ Vibrant Economy

THE COUNCIL WELCOMES A NEWLY ELECTED EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, BOARD MEMBERS, AND SPECIAL GUESTS TO ITS FIRST MEETING OF THE NEW YEAR

The Council welcomes the return of former Chair Broward County Commissioner and Senator Steve Geller as the newly elected Chair for 2022; Key West Commissioner Samuel Kaufman as First Vice Chair; Broward County Commissioner Quentin “Beam” Furr as Second Vice Chair; Miami-Dade County Commissioner René Garcia as Treasurer; Monroe County Commissioner Michelle Coldiron as Secretary; and former Chair Mario J. Bailey to serve as Immediate Past Chair.

2022 Executive Committee

Senator Steve Geller

SFRPC Chair

Broward County Commissioner

Samuel Kaufman

First Vice Chair

Key West City Commissioner

Quentin "Beam" Furr

Second Vice Chair

Broward County Commissioner

Senator René Garcia

Treasurer

Miami-Dade County Commissioner

Michelle Coldiron

Secretary

Monroe County Commissioner

Mario J. Bailey

Immediate Past Chair

Miami-Dade County Governor's Appointee

MILITARY INSTALLATION RESILIENCE REVIEW

The U.S. Department of Defense Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC) has awarded the South Florida Regional Planning Council (SFRPC) funding to conduct a regional Military Installation Resilience Review (MIRR) of four key military installations over the next 18 months.

COUNCIL RLF PROGRAM RECOGNIZED AS PEER LEADER

Due to our strength and dedication in supporting minority-owned businesses with financial assistance through our Revolving Loan Fund Programs, the South Florida Regional Planning Council has been selected as a peer leader by the Economic Development Administration to help further encourage diversity and promote equitable lending to small business owners throughout the mid-Atlantic and Florida regions.

REVOLVING LOAN FUND PROGRAMS

The Council works with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration to provide low interest rate loans to small and medium-sized businesses in the counties of Monroe, Miami-Dade, and Broward. The Council’s Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Program is designed to meet the needs of businesses that are not met by conventional lenders.

To date, the CARES RLF has funded

$5.38 million dollars and we continue to have funds available to assist small businesses.

Are you in need of financial assistance to help your small or medium-sized business recover from the COVID-19 pandemic? Please take a few minutes and tell us how we can help you.

The SFRPC has EPA funded loan-money available for site remediation and subsequent redevelopment.

The SFRPC has been participating in Brownfield assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment since 2001.

Our Brownfields Partnership and Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund initiatives include:

Ongoing Public Marina and Coastline Resilience Brownfields Initiative
$300,000 EPA Grant – 79^th Street Corridor Neighborhood Initiative
$600,000 EPA Grant – Coalition Partnership – Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council and South Florida Regional Planning Council
$500,000 EPA Grant (pending) – Homestead CRA
$1,000,000 BCRLF – (pending) – Miami-Dade River Redevelopment

WELCOME TO RENAISSANCE POINT...

The Southeast Florida Community Development Fund, Inc. (SFCDFI) is an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization, whose primary mission is to promote community and economic development, access to capital for small businesses, and job creation.

The SFCDFI contracts with the South Florida Regional Planning Council for lending expertise, loan management, and administrative staff support.

We are proud to announce that most recently, the SFCDFI partnered with the Lauderhill CRA and successfully completed the initial phase of four (4) affordable single family residential homes for first time minority homebuyers residing in the City of Lauderhill. Through this program, homebuyers have the opportunity to transition from a rental unit to home ownership with the help from the Lauderhill CRA. Financing for the construction of the homes were provided by a partnership of the SFCDFI and the Broward County Housing Finance Authority.

We congratulate the homebuyers of 5801 – 5831 NW 27^th Court in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

VIEW MODEL B

VIEW MODEL C

IN OTHER NEWS...

The SFRPC has expanded its economic development COVID-response activities to include technical assistance, enhanced regional planning, collaboration, and intergovernmental coordination among local governments.

The South Florida Local Emergency Planning Committee hosted their annual Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) & E-Plan Training Workshop on Thursday January 27, 2022. This webinar was presented in collaboration with the State of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management (FDEM).

Each year, the LEPC hosts this presentation to ensure that residents, employees, and facility operators across the South Florida region are educated on EPCRA’s reporting requirements, as well as the public information regarding chemical storage that is made available to communities through EPCRA. E-Plan is the nationally recognized software used to file chemical inventory reports as required by law and EPCRA. FDEM provided E-Plan user training to those in attendance, helping to increase compliance and awareness of EPCRA across our region.

Our former Deputy Director & LEPC Coordinator, Manny Cela, was honored at the 2022 State Emergency Response Commission Meeting, and received the Thomas Yatabe Award, presented by Ric Delp, Chairman of the Emerald Coast LEPC.

Congrats, Manny!

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT UPDATES

COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY (CEDS)

As part of the Council’s responsibility to maintain the region’s CEDS, Council staff hosted a joint work group meeting of the Business Attraction/Workforce Development focus group on January 10th and the Economic Diversification work group on January 31st. Staff welcomed back the returning CEDS Strategy Committee members and new work group members and explained their role in updating the region’s CEDS. Staff reviewed the CARES Act Goals and Objectives at the CEDS Strategy Committee at its second meeting on December 6th. Feedback was gathered from the work group members identifying specific priority projects that align with the Goals and Objective of the CARES Act Element of the CEDS.

The final CARES Act Element of the CEDS will be completed by June 2022 and the final 2022-2027 CEDS document will be submitted to EDA by September 2022.

MIAMI-DADE TRANSPORTATION PLANNING ORGANIZATION'S COVID-19 TRAVEL BEHAVIOR TREND ANALYSIS

Council staff completed work on the COVID-19 Travel Behavior Trend Analysis at the end of 2021. The goal of the project is to understand the impact that the pandemic has had on those that utilize the surface transportation networks in Miami-Dade County and project future travel behaviors and how these behavioral shifts may impact transportation demand. As the impacts to travel due to COVID-19 are ongoing, the project serves as a baseline to document the impacts to travel during the pandemic. The impacts to travel patterns during the business lockdown phases of the COVID-19 led to precipitous drops in travel of unprecedented levels, particularly to transit. Overall travel has steadily increased in Miami-Dade County since the beginning of the pandemic and in some cases is back to pre-pandemic levels.

The findings of the report will be presented by TPO staff to the Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Council (TPC) in February. The TPC is responsible for the technical adequacy of the TPO’s planning program and advises the TPO Governing Board on the various proposed program actions. Staff will join TPO staff in support of the presentation and coordinated in TPO staff in preparation.