Eric Knowles, President & CEO, Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce

Invest: spoke with Eric Knowles, president and CEO of the Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce, about how the chamber is connecting small businesses to major development activity, strengthening workforce pathways, and expanding access to capital across the region. “Miami’s opportunity is that everybody wants to be here,” Knowles said.

How does the chamber work closely with major corporations and institutions, and how do these partnerships translate into opportunities for local businesses?

My focus is to really get engaged with the developers so that there are opportunities and to ensure that our members are able to participate from a construction perspective. But there are so many other areas beyond construction, whether you have legal, financing, accountants, or event personnel.

The biggest event in the world is happening in 2026 with the World Cup. How do we ensure that our members are participating in the many opportunities that are taking place? For me, it starts with engaging our board members and partners to help open doors, because I can’t be everywhere. We have major organizations on our board, and each one of them has tentacles out in the community. It’s about leveraging those partnerships to help connect the dots.

As Miami-Dade’s economy continues to evolve, what skills gaps does the chamber see most often, and how is it addressing those gaps?

AI obviously is the conversation of the day everywhere we’re going, so it’s making sure our members are connecting to those opportunities and connecting to universities and colleges so they can continue to upgrade and upskill their workforce and their leadership.

I don’t know if I would look at it as what’s missing, because you have to stay in touch every day with the changes. It’s really about staying connected and helping businesses stay informed as things evolve.

The chamber has initiatives aimed at students and young professionals. How important is early exposure to entrepreneurship and leadership for the business ecosystem?

It’s important. We just moved into Liberty Square, and we’re in walking distance to several local high schools. Another initiative I want to focus on is building stronger relationships with these schools.

Not everybody’s going to go to college, and not everybody is going to get a degree, so getting a skill is important. You can be a plumber, you can run your own business, you can be an electrician. There are a lot of opportunities in different arenas that young folks can go into.

And even for those who are going to college, we always talk about brain drain. How do we connect our businesses to these young people so they can start doing internships while they’re in high school, build relationships, and when they go away to college, they come back? How do you begin building those relationships early so there’s a desire to return and work here in Miami?

Beyond membership growth or event attendance, how does the chamber measure success in terms of long-term economic impact on businesses and communities?

It comes back to participation in opportunities. If you go downtown, on almost every block there are buildings going up. Are our contractors and small subcontractors participating? Are our businesses being plugged into the opportunity to open storefronts within those developments?

One of the biggest challenges for small businesses is affordability. Many can’t afford rent in new developments. So how do we create platforms and synergies that allow small businesses to participate at an affordable position?

How does the chamber collaborate with other business organizations, municipalities, and educational institutions to drive collective economic progress?

There is a coalition of chambers that includes Coral Gables, Greater Miami, Miami Beach, and others, along with the Beacon Council. We work closely with the school board as well.

The Miami-Dade Chamber really is a blue-collar chamber. We have a lot of small businesses: mom-and-pop shops, beauty salons, barbershops, catering companies, marketing firms, public relations firms, and event businesses. It’s all about opportunities, and how we connect these small businesses to larger organizations and projects.

Access to funding remains a major barrier for some entrepreneurs. How is the chamber helping businesses navigate financing and capital access?

We work with the Bayside Foundation, BAC Funding Corporation, the SBA, and a number of CDFIs, including Lendistry. There are also initiatives like Strive 305 that work alongside the Beacon Council.

We provide technical assistance every day to small businesses. I always talk about having the back of your house together. Many businesses don’t realize they’ve missed renewing licenses or haven’t stayed compliant, which limits their ability to access funding.

There are also grant opportunities through municipalities, including Miami-Dade Economic Advocacy Trust. As we grow as a chamber, we’re able to support more small businesses. We host small events where we can provide direct grants. Recently, during our holiday gala, we awarded $5,000 to a small business through a scavenger hunt. That kind of support can help businesses buy equipment, invest in marketing, or prepare for the year ahead.

And the support we receive from partners like Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and TD Bank allows us to continue providing technical assistance and resources to the small business community.

What opportunities and challenges do you see for Miami-Dade’s business community, and how is the chamber positioning itself to address them?

Miami’s opportunity is that everybody wants to be here. You see it in infrastructure projects, roadways, and new developments. You’re still talking about roughly a thousand people moving into Miami every day, and communities are growing.

The challenge is making sure small businesses can access those opportunities. Tariffs are hurting small businesses. I spoke with a developer recently who said they couldn’t move forward on a project because pricing had become too high. The cost of doing business is increasing, and that gets passed on to consumers.

Housing is another challenge. Education is also a concern, especially with companies relocating from other regions. These are issues we’re facing, but they’re also being addressed through collaboration and long-term planning.