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"The Airport West Chamber of Commerce is the only
business organization in the Doral community and we take that
responsibility very seriously," said Andre Abbate. "We don't
like to take positions on issues just to take a position."
Andre Abbate, VP Airport West Chamber of Commerce
Abbate, 47, is vice president of the Chamber and very
active in the issues confronting Doral as the fledgling community
strives to find a balance between breakneck commercial growth and
mushrooming residential development.
"We believe that we always have to be good
partners with each other residents and the businesses and grow
together," Abbate said. "You don't want to wake up and find
you're overwhelmed by business. At the same time, you don't want to
lose the businesses because they're very important to the community.
And, there's no denying that this community is very dependent on what
happens over at Miami International Airport."
Abbate says the infrastructure of Doral is a big issue
for residents and business owners alike and that the issues overlap,
with roads and transportation two of the most important issues for
both sides.
"We have terrible transit service in Doral,"
he said. "And the roads just can't accommodate the number of
people who live here, let alone handle the crowd that comes in when
it's time to go to work. It's almost as if the roads were an ancillary
thought to the development of the community."
Abbate believes there are too many large trucks
clogging the roadways of Doral, yet he concedes that the trucks are an
important part of the valuable commerce so vital to the area.
"If you live here, you need a certain type of
roadway and if you work here, you need another type of roadway,"
he said. "So, we definitely need to improve upon the way our
roads are today and find a solution to these monumental traffic
jams."
Abbate, 47, originally from East Meadow, New York,
moved to Miami 16 years ago, "in search of a change of life and a
place to live where I didn't have snowstorms and transit strikes to
deal with." He met his wife, Iliana, on a blind date three years
later and settled in the Costa del Sol area.
Abbate, who has served on the Airport West Chamber board of directors
for the last three years, says there are many other important issues
facing Doral, including the prospect of incorporation.
"We asked our members how they felt about the incorporation of
Doral and the businesses said, 'we don't know how it's going to affect
us and unless we live in the community we can't vote for or against
the issue. We don't know how the services will change for us,'"
Abbate related.
"It turned out that the Industrial Association of
Dade County was getting the same feedback from its members," he
continued. "So, we really need to learn more about what
incorporation would mean from the business point of view. There are
still a lot of questions in business peoples' minds regarding the type
of services to look for under incorporation."
Regardless of the outcome of the incorporation
movement, Abbate believes Doral must work to establish its identity.
"We need to improve the way Doral looks," he
said, "make sure there's a look and a feel that lets you know
that you've entered the Doral community when you get off the Turnpike
or the Palmetto at NW 41 Street. Whether we ever become a city, we're
known as Doral, we have a name and we should utilize that name for the
benefit of the businesses and the residents."
Abbate said the Chamber is targeting the New Year for
an extensive growth program aimed at bringing more of Doral's bigger
businesses into the fold.
"We have a lot of small and medium-sized
businesses involved with the Chamber," he said. "We don't
have too many of the larger ones. We need to educate the larger
businesses to the fact that it's great to be a member of the Greater
Miami Chamber of Commerce, but they also have a need to be active in
the local chamber where their offices are based.
"At the same time, we want to get the word out to
the many new businesses that have come into the area that we are here
and welcome them as new members, too."
For more information on the Airport West Chamber of
Commerce, please call 305 592 5141.
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