Miami-Dade Beacon Council, the county’s public-private economic development agency, hired Rodrick Miller as its chief executive to replace Michael Finney, the group’s former leader who died in April 2022.
Miller, 45, who has two decades of experience in the field in a variety of places, most recently led Invest Puerto Rico, the island’s nonprofit economic development agency. Before that, he was at the helm of similar agencies in Detroit and New Orleans. A South Carolina native, he also worked stints in economic development roles in Baton Rouge and Arizona.
Following a seven-month search by the Beacon Council, he will start his job on Feb. 15. Turns out the council’s sixth CEO since its start in 1985 knew the highly regarded Finney from when the two men worked in Michigan and they were friends.
The council’s primary responsibility is to foster economic opportunity in Miami-Dade. In its 2021-2022 annual report, the agency said it helped secure commitments from 57 businesses to expand or relocate throughout the county, which council officials concluded will bring in over $800 million of recurring annual economic impact to the area.
“A world-class economic developer, Rod’s understanding of diverse, international markets and the importance of intentionally inclusive, sustainable development make him the right leader for this organization at this time in Miami-Dade’s growth,” said Yolanda Cash Jackson, chair of council’s board of directors. “Rod’s energy and strategic vision for what we can build together — for, by, and with Miami — is infectious. We are confident he will be embraced by this community and help to drive our shared mission forward.”
Miller has had a range of business experience in a variety of cities under some trying times, including launching a program to attract foreign investment in the Phoenix area, expanding the New Orleans economic development agency after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and implementing a small business program in Detroit shortly after the city declared bankruptcy in 2013.
Although he was born in Manning, South Carolina, and considers that home, he’s the son of a military officer who moved the family a lot. For example, early in life he lived in West Berlin before the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, as well as in El Paso, on the U.S. southern border with Texas.
“Living in so many different places shaped my world view. I’ve seen everything from a divided Berlin to rural poverty in the South,” Miller said in an interview. “In 20 years of working in economic development, I try to look at the relationship between business, civil society and government and how all these sectors can bring better wages and opportunities for people.”
Coming to Miami to lead the Beacon Council, Miller said he’s most excited to leverage the county’s diversity.
“The global linkages in Miami are so unique, so how do we tap into that? Because those linkages represent a competitive advantage,“ he said. “We want to do things like attract companies in Latin America looking for a place to relocate that’s more stable, but where they can still have their culture and language.”
Miller said since “so many people in Miami were born in other countries and speak other languages, that makes for an attractive workforce. And I think Miami’s international capacity expands beyond Latin America. I think it has potential to be a truly global city.”
The Beacon Council’s new leader speaks Spanish and Portuguese, and holds a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and a graduate diploma in international finance from the Monterrey Institute of Technology in Mexico.
Finney, his predecessor who was described as an intellectual giant and an energetic crusader for economic development, had led the agency for five years prior to his death last year at age 65. Miller and Finney were friends and had crossed paths in their careers: Finney was the head of Michigan’s economic development agency when Miller was working in Detroit.
“This is a world-class organization and I’m honored to be its sixth president and CEO,” Miller said. “Michael Finney was a good friend of mine and I’m honored to follow in his footsteps.”
This story was originally published January 30, 2023 12:58 PM.
