South Florida Multinationals Oversee $221 Billion in Annual Revenues, Says Study From WorldCity and UM School of Business

Coral Gables, Fla. – Feb. 27, 2009 – South Florida’s multinational firms oversee in excess of $221 billion in annual revenues, a 9 percent increase year over year, according to the results of a study conducted by WorldCity and co-sponsored by the University of Miami School of Business Administration.

The WorldCity study, co-sponsored by the School for a second year, also finds that 1,146 multinationals represent 54 nations, employ 129,000 workers in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, and oversee 605,000 workers worldwide.

In the year-long 2008 study, WorldCity also examined the decision-making power of these multinationals by analyzing their corporate structure. Slightly more than 47 percent have a top marketing position based in South Florida, one-fifth have a director of human resources, 13 percent have a top technology position and slightly less than 6 percent have a top government affairs or public policy official.

“What this study shows, graphically and powerfully, is the disproportionately large and significant role played by Miami and South Florida in the global economy,” said WorldCity President Ken Roberts. “It also shows the incredible decision-making power that resides here. The $221 billion in annual revenues overseen from here is a larger figure than the GDP of most of the Latin American and Caribbean nations many of these multinationals here are charged with overseeing.”

“It is clear from these findings that Miami and South Florida maintain a competitive edge when it comes to international business, and that positions the region very well for future growth,” said Barbara Kahn, dean of the University of Miami School of Business Administration. “We are very pleased to support this important study and other efforts that illustrate the region’s economic strength and that encourage firms to establish and grow global operations here.”

Results of the study were released at WorldCity’s fourth annual Who’s Here’s Celebration for the multinational community on Thursday, Feb. 26. Dean Kahn participated in a panel discussion, “Winning in Tough Market Conditions,” held in conjunction with the release of the report.
 
Other key findings of the Who’s Here Economic Impact Study:

• 45 companies oversee in excess of $1 billion in annual revenues, including the new No. 1 General Motors, which oversees $18.9 billion in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and the Middle East – and has reached record profits for five consecutive years.
        

• Six of the Top 10 were founded in South Florida and have their global headquarters here: No. 2 Office Depot, No. 3 World Fuel Services, No. 4 Carnival Corp., No. 6 Ryder Systems, No. 7 Royal Caribbean, and No. 10 Brightstar.
            

• Outside of the United States, the country best represented in the WorldCity database is the United Kingdom with 55 firms, followed by Spain at 52, France at 45, and rounding out the Top 5, Japan at 36. There are 666 U.S.-headquartered companies in the WorldCity database.
           

• The Latin American nations with the greatest number of companies here are Brazil, with 17, Colombia with 13 and Argentina with nine.
            

• WorldCity divides the geographic area covered by the 1,146 companies into four categories: Latin America/Caribbean (33 percent), Western Hemisphere, including Latin America/Caribbean (15 percent), global (20 percent) and local or South Florida (32 percent).
             

• By type of business, the greatest percentage are service sector (209 companies) followed by transportation and logistics (147), technology (140) and financial services (130).
            

• Miami-Dade County accounts for 75 percent of the companies in the database, many of them clustered in the downtown/Brickell area, the Blue Lagoon area south of Miami International Airport and Coral Gables. Broward County accounts for an additional 20 percent of the companies, including GM, DHL, Microsoft and Citrix, while Palm Beach County accounts for 5 percent of the companies, including Office Depot, Rinker Materials and Wackenhut.
         

“The impact of the deterioration in the U.S. and global economy we are seeing now might not even show up in year three of the study, next year,” said Roberts, WorldCity’s president. “Latin America largely continued to hold up well through most of 2008. That is not to say there is not a palpable skittishness among the CEOs of many of the multinationals we are interviewing on a regular basis.”

Other sponsors of the study, for the second year, included the Beacon Council, the law firm Diaz Reus and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida. Additional support for the study was provided by Enterprise Florida, the Broward Alliance and the Development Board of Palm Beach. VIEW FULL REPORT (PDF)

About WorldCity
WorldCity is a media company focused on the impact of globalization on local communities. The 11-year-old company hosts more than 40 events annually in South Florida for key groups within the multinational community, maintains the Who’s Here database, produces on-line content, and publishes annual import-export TradeNumbers publications for Miami, Los Angeles, Houston, the United States, Perishables and other markets.

About the University of Miami School of Business Administration
The University of Miami School of Business Administration is a leading business school, offering undergraduate business, full-time MBA, Executive MBA, MS, PhD and non-degree executive education programs. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Miami, the School is located in a major hub of international trade and commerce and acclaimed for the global orientation and diversity of its faculty, students and curriculum. The School delivers its programs at its main campus in Coral Gables as well as at locations across Florida and abroad. More information about the University of Miami School of Business can be found at www.bus.miami.edu.

Media Contacts:

Ken Roberts
President
WorldCity
305-441-2244
kroberts@worldcityweb.com