MIA Jose Abreu

As a lone 13-year-old Cuban refugee seeking asylum in the U.S., Jose Abreu stepped off an Eastern Airlines flight at Miami International Airport 39 years ago. He never expected that one day he would run it.

Abreu feels grateful for his parents’ sacrifice to give him a better future. At 17, he was told by a teacher about the county’s Decade of Progress program. He passed the test, began working for the public works department and earned a civil engineering degree at the University of Miami.

The newly minted engineer joined a private firm in 1977, and seven years later went to work for the Florida Dept. of Transportation. Rising through the ranks, former Gov. Jeb Bush (R) in 2003 named him state transportation secretary.

“I had been involved with surface transportation all my life,” says Abreu, now director of the Miami-Dade Aviation Dept. “Aviation is fascinating.” He came to the aviation department in 2005.

MIA then was struggling with a $5.2-billion capital improvement program, now totalling $6.2 billion. Abreu notes that the airport began the expansion with 40% of plans in place. He ordered a constructibility review and hired a firm to secure accurate bids. He is making sure contractors get payments that they had complained were late.

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“You have to plan the work before working the plan,” he says. “I have a leadership philosophy to get folks to do what needs to be done without having to force them.”

“Jose Abreu is a uniquely capable administrator,” says Gilberto Neves, CEO of Odebrecht USA. “He is trustworthy, understands the big picture and has good intentions at heart.”

Miami International Airport is growing, having moved 32.5 million passengers in 2006. MIA also handled 2 million tons of cargo in 2006, 84% of it international. It has an annual economic impact of nearly $20 billion.

Abreu wants the airport to generate more nonaeronautical revenue. He closed the general aviation Opa-Locka West Airport for rock mining, which could garner net profits of up to $500 million over the next 20 years. He also wants to partner with private entities to convert idle real estate into profitable assets and has opened 18 new stores within the Miami airport.

“I don’t know if I will be as successful here as I was at DOT,” Abreu says. “I’ll  continue to give it everything I have.”