Miami-Fort Lauderdale has 14,429 businesses with 20 or more people on site across the categories commercial trades sell to, and it leans toward commercial property managers and nonresidential building owners more than the U.S. as a whole. Here is how each trade's market looks, where the buildings are and when to call.
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Ranked by larger buildings per contractor against up to 100 markets (only markets with 10 or more contractors in a trade are ranked; n/r means not ranked). A higher rank means more buildings worth calling for every competitor working them.
| Trade | Contractors | 1-yr change | Larger buildings | Per contractor | Rank | Eligible targets | Push months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial Flooring Largest buyer group: apartment and multifamily management companies | 65 | +1 | 6,910 | 106.3 | #9 | · | Year-round |
| Commercial Electrical Largest buyer group: retail stores | 543 | -3 | 7,076 | 13.0 | #28 | · | Year-round |
| Paving & Asphalt Largest buyer group: retail stores | 199 | +1 | 10,085 | 50.7 | #29 | · | Year-round |
| Commercial Landscaping Largest buyer group: retail stores | 2,381 | -19 | 10,118 | 4.2 | #32 | · | Year-round |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings Largest buyer group: retail stores | 115 | +1 | 9,504 | 82.6 | #30 | · | Year-round |
| Commercial Roofing Largest buyer group: retail stores | 124 | +1 | 9,312 | 75.1 | #37 | 14,580 | Year-round |
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical Largest buyer group: medical and dental office buildings | 491 | +9 | 4,643 | 9.5 | #53 | 5,968 | Feb–Apr |
| Commercial Construction Largest buyer group: commercial building owners and developers | 1,332 | +52 | 4,639 | 3.5 | #73 | 14,580 | Year-round |
| Fire Protection Largest buyer group: restaurants | 358 | -20 | 8,941 | 25.0 | #86 | · | Year-round |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial Largest buyer group: ambulatory health care: physician, dental, outpatient and urgent care | 2,371 | -6 | 5,975 | 2.5 | #90 | 3,562 | Year-round |
Every trade has its own target list. Here are the five largest target industries for each program in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metro, with local location counts; each guide lists all ten and who your SDR asks for.
Locations with 20 or more employees, U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023. Property management and similar categories count every company, whatever its size.
Named, sourced projects current as of 2026-09, and the trades each one puts to work.
A three-level expansion of Miami International Airport's South Terminal east of Concourse J, adding six domestic gates, more post-security concessions, a ground support equipment maintenance facility, and new baggage make-up areas in Miami-Dade County.
Notice to proceed was issued in August 2025 and work runs to April 2029. Terminal work includes HVAC, electrical, fire protection, and apron paving, and new concession space brings flooring and painting fit-outs.
Miami-Dade Aviation Department, Capital Improvement Program monthly report, 2026-07 →A seven-story hospital with 100 inpatient beds, a 30-bed emergency department, and a 25,000-square-foot medical office building at 12401 W. Oakland Park Blvd. in Sunrise, Broward County.
Ground broke in January 2026 for a 2029 opening. Expect hospital mechanical, electrical, and fire protection scopes through 2028, then flooring and finish work, with landscaping tied to a 15-acre conservation easement on site.
Baptist Health South Florida (press release), 2026-01-28 →A three-building Class A industrial park on the 25-acre former Festival Flea Market site at 2900 W. Sample Road in Pompano Beach, Broward County.
Ground broke in February 2026 with delivery planned for the fourth quarter of 2026. Roofing, truck court paving, and electrical work are active now, and tenant buildouts in 2027 will add HVAC, sprinkler, and cleaning contracts.
Stream Realty Partners (press release), 2026-02-10 →A 17-story residence hall with 1,174 beds on Florida International University's main campus in western Miami-Dade County, one of five FIU buildings under construction.
Sunblazer Hall is due in fall 2028, and FIU has six more projects in design behind it. Residence halls need HVAC and electrical work during construction and steady flooring, painting, and cleaning work once students move in.
FIU News, 2026-03-31 →Health systems, campuses, large employers and industrial parks hold the biggest concentrations of commercial buildings here. Each fact links to its source, checked 2026-10.
Baptist Health describes itself as the largest healthcare organization in the region, with 12 hospitals, more than 29,000 employees and 200 outpatient centers, urgent care facilities and physician practices across Miami-Dade, Monroe, Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Hospitals plus about 200 outpatient and urgent care sites give one owner a long list of buildings needing HVAC, life-safety, cleaning and flooring work.
South Florida Hospital News →WLRN reports Jackson Memorial Hospital has more than 1,500 beds and is part of Jackson Health System, the largest public hospital system in the country.
A large public hospital campus in the Civic Center district, plus newer hospitals such as Jackson West in Doral, runs constant mechanical, electrical, life-safety and cleaning work.
WLRN →Miami Dade College says more than 100,000 students are currently enrolled across eight campuses: Hialeah, Homestead, Kendall, Medical, North, Padrón, West and Wolfson.
Eight campuses and outreach centers spread across the county carry classroom, lab and parking-lot upkeep: cleaning, HVAC, roofing and paving.
Miami Dade College →HOK says Royal Caribbean broke ground at PortMiami in February 2024 on a 10-story, 380,000-sq.-ft. headquarters building for its workforce of 3,000 South Florida-based employees.
A corporate campus with a new office tower, parking facility and landscaped courtyard needs janitorial, HVAC, landscape and electrical work once occupied.
HOK →MIA says passenger traffic reached 55.3 million in 2025 and freight shipments rose to nearly 3.5 million tons, the most of any U.S. cargo airport.
Terminals, cargo warehouses, garages and airfield support buildings need cleaning, HVAC, electrical, roofing and pavement work.
Miami International Airport →PortMiami reported 8,564,225 cruise passengers and 1,115,058 TEUs for Fiscal Year 2025 (October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025).
Cruise terminals, cargo yards, garages and office buildings on Dodge Island need cleaning, HVAC, paving and electrical work.
American Journal of Transportation →Terreno Realty says its Phase III and IV buildings at Countyline will total 17 industrial distribution buildings and 3.5 million square feet, with Phase IV a 121-acre project expected to be complete in 2027.
A cluster of new dock-high distribution buildings with large truck courts and car parking needs roofing, paving, electrical and fire sprinkler work.
Terreno Realty Corporation release (citybiz) →Compared with the national mix, Miami-Fort Lauderdale over-indexes on commercial property managers, nonresidential building owners and private K-12 schools. The fastest-growing categories over the past year: medical, dental and outpatient offices (+644), apartment and residential property managers (+58) and commercial property managers (+43).
| Category | Sites with 20+ | All establishments | vs. U.S. mix | 1-yr change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurants | 4,189 | 13,561 | 0.85x | -477 |
| Retail stores | 3,238 | 23,737 | 1.07x | -1126 |
| Medical, dental and outpatient offices | 1,695 | 21,336 | 1.32x | +644 |
| Wholesale distributors | 1,314 | 15,088 | 1.12x | -674 |
| Manufacturing plants | 752 | 4,683 | 0.82x | -39 |
| Grocery stores | 645 | 3,488 | 1.01x | -36 |
| Hotels | 410 | 945 | 0.81x | -6 |
| Senior living and nursing | 408 | 1,379 | 0.64x | -11 |
| Private K-12 schools | 325 | 634 | 1.57x | -10 |
| Bank and credit union offices | 267 | 3,835 | 0.89x | -97 |
| Auto dealerships | 253 | 987 | 1.04x | -55 |
| Churches and religious organizations | 216 | 1,806 | 0.78x | +5 |
| Trucking companies | 155 | 3,050 | 0.66x | -205 |
| Apartment and residential property managers | 128 | 1,848 | 1.27x | +58 |
| Warehousing and distribution | 106 | 402 | 0.80x | +18 |
| Golf courses and country clubs | 98 | 125 | 0.78x | +10 |
| Hospitals | 70 | 93 | 1.02x | +31 |
| Hosting and data processing companies | 44 | 508 | 0.70x | -30 |
| Colleges and universities | 41 | 110 | 0.60x | -3 |
| Commercial property managers | 41 | 792 | 1.93x | +43 |
| Nonresidential building owners | 34 | 1,372 | 1.72x | -8 |
Miami-Dade County holds 43% of the metro's larger business sites, so most programs start there and cover the rest of the metro for larger accounts.
| County | Larger business sites |
|---|---|
| Miami-Dade County | 6,133 |
| Broward County | 4,514 |
| Palm Beach County | 3,713 |
Outdoor trades (roofing, paving, landscaping, exterior painting) work the months with lows of 40°F or above and sell in the months before. HVAC sells ahead of its heating and cooling peaks. Each trade page has its own calendar.
Florida licenses contractors statewide (certified) or locally (registered), through the Construction Industry Licensing Board for building and specialty trades and a separate board for electrical. Only casual or minor jobs under $2,500 that are not part of a larger project are exempt.
Trade-by-trade rules are on each trade page. Confirm with Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Construction Industry Licensing Board. Checked 2026-09-30.
Before you hire a sales development rep in Miami, price the whole job, not just the salary. Here is the local pay for sales representatives, and what a first year really costs once you add commission, payroll taxes and benefits, tools, recruiting and the manager time it takes to coach them.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services and travel (SOC 41-3091).
In-house adds $15,000 commission, 25% payroll taxes and benefits, $500/month tools, $5,000 recruiting and 4 manager hours a week at $75/hour, before ramp time or turnover. Abstrakt includes the SDR, management, tools and data.
Abstrakt's U.S.-based business development reps build a Miami target list around your trade, service area and ideal buildings, work it by phone, email, LinkedIn and direct mail, and book meetings with the people who sign. We will not run the same program for a direct competitor in your territory.
Selling into Florida? See the Florida outbound calling rules: do-not-call lists, calling hours and registration, so you know what a program here has to handle.
Yes. Abstrakt runs outsourced appointment setting for commercial trades across the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL metro: our U.S.-based business development reps call the buildings, qualify the opportunity and book meetings with the person who signs. We run one program per trade per market.
Measured by larger buildings per contractor against the 100 markets we track (where a trade has at least 10 local contractors), commercial Flooring (#9), commercial Electrical (#28) and paving & Asphalt (#29) rank best in Miami.
Compared with the national mix, Miami-Fort Lauderdale has more commercial property managers (1.93x), nonresidential building owners (1.72x) and private K-12 schools (1.57x). Those industries are the best-represented buyers for trades that serve them.
The metro covers Miami-Dade County, Broward County and Palm Beach County. Miami-Dade County holds 43% of the larger business sites.
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