Building Miami's Creative Talent Is Key To Its Future: Greater Miami's Creative Class Ranks 11th In The Nation

Authored by Richard Florida and Steven Pedigo, this latest release of the FIU-Miami Creative City Initiative evaluates Miami's Creative Class – those with skills in computer and math, arts and media, architecture and engineering, business and finance, law, education, management, and healthcare – in comparison to the 53 large metros with populations over one million, as well as all 382 metros in the U.S.  The report also takes a deep dive into the nine key occupational groups that make up the Creative Class and offers a series of insights for growing Miami's Creative Class workforce, listed below.

"Although Miami's Creative Class has demonstrated considerable growth over the last decade, it continues to lag behind the nation's most advanced regions.  What's most relevant about our findings is that the region's potential for future growth is huge," said Florida. "It is important that regional leaders and stakeholders think strategically about how to leverage and enhance these strengths for greater economic gain."

Key findings include:

• Eleventh Largest by Employment: Miami's Creative Class is the 11^th largest in the nation – double the size of recognized Creative Class hubs like Austin, Portland, and Nashville.
• Small Share of Workforce:  Miami's Creative Class makes up 26 percent of the region's employment, ranking it 47^th out of 53 large metros and 138^th out of all 382 metros in the U.S.
• Strong Salaries: Greater Miami's Creative Class averages $76,000 in wages and salaries, ranking 26^th among large metros.
• Healthcare: With 154,000 workers, Healthcare is by far Greater Miami's largest creative cluster, growing 11 percent by 2024.
• Business and Finance: 136,000 creative workers make up Miami's Business and Finance occupational cluster, making it the region's second-largest creative cluster. By 2024, this cluster is expected to grow by 11 percent.
• Education:  Education is Greater Miami's third-largest creative cluster, with roughly 118,000 workers. Although Education is projected to increase by 13 percent over the next seven years, the cluster's current share of employees lags behind the national average by 13 percent.
• Management:  Management, with 104,000 employees, is Greater Miami's fourth-largest creative cluster, but lags the national average by 28 percent.
• Computer and Mathematical Occupations: With 49,000 workers, the Computer and Mathematical cluster is the region's fifth-largest, growing 15 percent by 2024.
• Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media: With 46,00 workers, Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media is the metro's sixth-largest creative cluster. This cluster is central to Miami's broad creative economy and is expected to grow by 8 percent in the next seven years.
• Legal. With 38,000 workers, Greater Miami's Legal cluster is 75 percent larger than the national average.
• Architecture and Engineering: With just 25,000 workers, Miami's Architecture and Engineering cluster lags the national average by 41 percent.
• Life, Physical and Social Sciences: Miami's Life, Physical and Social Sciences cluster, with 11,000 employees, is the smallest of the nine creative occupational clusters. This cluster is half the size of the national average.

Based on the report's analysis, it also identifies seven key recommendations on which the Greater Miami region can build and deepen its creative economy.

1. Leverage the Central Role of the Creative Media Cluster. Media is central to greater Miami's current creative economy, as well as to its future growth.
2. Build on Miami's Role as a Global City and Latin American Hub. This status is reflected in the region's relatively high concentration of CEOs and high-level business and financial managers.
3. Capitalize on the Budding Wealth Management Cluster. Greater Miami is already developing a considerable wealth management cluster in part because of its role as a destination for wealthy individuals and families.
4. Develop Healthcare as an Export Cluster. Few regions have managed to turn healthcare into an export cluster, but Greater Miami has.
5. Develop Real Estate as an Export Cluster. Greater Miami has considerable capabilities in real estate, but its history of locally focused development has left it vulnerable to cycles of boom and bust.
6. Grow the Technology Economy Alongside the Creative Economy. Greater Miami must embed tech into the region's own local capabilities.
7. Bolster the Education Cluster, Especially in Post-Secondary Education. All leading creative regions are surrounded by great universities and post-secondary institutions that offer an abundance of university and post-secondary talent.

About Creative Class Group: The Creative Class Group is an advisory services firm composed of leading next-generation researchers, academics, and business strategists. Utilizing its unique approach and metrics, CCG works with companies and governments worldwide. CCG Founder, Richard Florida is the Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at The University of Toronto's, Rotman School of Management, and Global Research Professor at NYU.  He is Senior Editor at The Atlantic where he cofounded and serves as Editor-at-Large for City Lab and is a Visiting Fellow of the FIU-Miami Creative City Initiative.  Rana Florida, CEO of CCG who writes on business and entrepreneurship for Fast Company and the Huffington Post, serves as Director of the FIU-Miami Creative City Initiative.  Steven Pedigo, Director of Research at CCG is a Visiting Fellow.  Reham Alexander is CCG'S Director of Operations and Events and runs the events programming for the FIU-Miami Creative City Initiative.  For more information about CCG, visit: www.creativeclass.com.

About FIU: Florida International University is classified by Carnegie as a R1: Doctoral Universities - Highest Research Activity and recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers 196 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, computer science, international relations, architecture, law, and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes almost $9 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded more than 220,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU's Medina Aquarius Program houses the Aquarius Reef Base, a unique underwater research facility in the Florida Keys. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA with more than 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.

About the FIU-Miami Creative City Initiative:  A collaboration between Florida International University and the Creative Class Group, the FIU-Miami Creative City Initiative engages political, business, and cultural leaders, faculty, students, alumni, and the greater community in a dialogue on how creativity, culture, design, and innovation can drive the greater Miami regional economy.

SOURCE Creative Class Group

Related Links

http://www.creativeclass.com