Florida and S. Florida in particular were well represented on May 16 at the European Railway Clusters Initiative’s (ERCI) final event of the S-ACCESS project.
“S-ACCESS – Smes ACCESS to international public procurements” is a European pilot-project co–funded by the European Union. It aims to develop innovative approaches to support the internationalization of SMEs of the Rail supply industry with a focus on international public procurement. The project is coordinated by Brussels-based ERCI (a Member of EACC Florida).
The online event brought together experts from the EU Institutions, USA, Canada, Norway and representatives of the European railway industry and represented an opportunity for Railway Industries – especially SMEs – and Cluster Managers in Europe to learn about challenges and opportunities concerning participation in public tenders in the US, Canada and Norway.
EACC Florida Executive Director Christina Sleszynska participated remotely as panelist. Aileen Bouclé, Executive Director of the Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Organization, who happened to be in Brussels that day for the Metrex Conference, participated in person and offered insights into transportation plans and investments in Miami-Dade County. Fellow panelist CEO of Italian cement company Blend Plants, explained why and how the company, active globally, decided to establish its US headquarters in Miami.
As part of her comments on what to consider when establishing operations in the US and to illustrate that the US and indeed South Florida were open for business, Christina Sleszynska referenced a recent report titled Miami 2035 – A Miami that works for All and one of its key recommendations of particular interest to the audience: to create a world-class multimodal public and private transportation system deeply integrated with housing.
The recording of the event will be made available by the organizers in the near future.
