The Miami-Dade Beacon Council, a public-private partnership, is the official economic development organization for Miami-Dade County which is the 4th largest population center in the United States. Led by a professional staff and Board of volunteer community leaders, the organization facilitates business growth and expansion locally, nationally and internationally. The Council was founded in 1985 as an outgrowth of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce to focus on business recruitment, expansion and retention.
The Miami-Dade Beacon Council is the steward for the county-wide economic development plan, One Community One Goal, to strengthen and diversify the economy with high paying jobs. Today, the Miami- Dade Beacon Council continues to advance community objectives through a carefully planned action-oriented agenda developed in collaboration with Miami-Dade County officials, education, business and civic leaders.
Larry Williams
HRS recruited Larry Williams to serve as the President and CEO from Atlanta in 2013. Larry assumed the mantel of leadership shortly after the organization’s reputation and relationship with key stakeholders had been severely damaged.
During his 3-year tenure with the Beacon Council, Larry reestablished the organization’s credibility and restored stakeholder faith and confidence. Under his leadership, the Beacon Council recruited/retained and expanded 100 companies, representing $986M in New Capital Investment and created 4864 new jobs. Larry successfully led economic development missions to Spain, New York and Atlanta. He participated in the development and implementation of eMerge Americas, a new technology and innovation conference positioning Miami as the technology hub of the Americas
Larry was recruited from the Beacon Council and is now serving as the President & CEO of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG). TAG is the largest statewide technology organization in the country with over 35,000 members.