Longtime Doral businessman and resident Max Salvador was recently appointed to fill a vacated seat the Doral Community Council (DCC), beating out three competitors for the spot.

Max Salvador

As a part of its ongoing effort to keep the residents of Doral informed about their community leaders, the Doral Tribune recently met with Doral's newest community council member.

Doral the Commercial Center
How and when did you choose to locate your business in Doral?

Well, to be conservative, I've been working in the Doral area for eighteen years now.

My company handles international shipping and customs work, or more specifically we are an international freight forwarder and customs house broker and from 1983 until July of 1999 I kept the company independent.

Last year I sold the company to Union Transport and I stayed on as the director of business development and in charge of oversees marketing; currently we have a 75,000 square foot warehouse and office space at the International Commerce Center.

Like many other similar Doral-based businesses there were several main reasons for choosing this area.

First and foremost is obviously the proximity to the airport. We deliver cargo there daily and obviously the closer you can be the more efficient you can be in that regard.

Secondly, the Airport West area in general and the Doral area in particular is a lot more lucrative, a lot more attractive than comparable areas. To handle the type of clientele that we do demands new, state-of-the-art warehouse facilities.

We handle clients like Bristol-Myers, Dow corning, Wrigley's, and the list goes on and on; they expect a certain quality of facility and in Doral we can provide that.

Finally, Doral, given the nature of the neighborhood and the strong police presence, is as secure as any place could possibly be in such a heavily commercial environment.

In what way did your profession prepare you for the Doral Community Council?
I am on the Board of Directors for the Florida Customs Brokers and Forwarders association (FCBFA) and may experience with them has really opened my eyes to some of the concerns facing the area.
I feel like I have my fingers on the pulse of what's going on here commercially: the international business, the shipping and forwarding. In other words, I am a very familiar with the things that are truly the beating heart that drives Doral's commerce.

And that's not even addressing the concerns I've had as a Doral resident.

A Proud Doral Resident Are you a Miami native?
Actually I'm a Cuban-American--when I was five years old we arrived in this country.

My father is an Episcopalian minister and when we came here I went to Comstock Elementary School, Shenandoah Junior High, and Miami Senior High.

How and why did you end up living in Doral?
Well firstly my home is only five minutes from my office, and that was extremely attractive to me. And not only that I'm near my Dad, the Reverend max I. Salvador, and he lives here also.

In terms of recreation, I do love to play golf, although I don't do it particularly well. And the area itself is beautiful, although we desperately need parks, but I'll talk more about that later.

I also own a warehouse/office building here and along with my house itself they are both great investments given the appreciation of land values out here.

By living here I not only can closely monitor my commercial property investment, but also the ownership of my home itself is a kind of investment.

How long have you actually lived in Doral?
I've lived here for nine years now, in Costa (Del Mar) for two years and since then in the house I purchased in Doral Glen.

I live with my wife of 25 years, Carmen, and I have four children, Jackie, Lourdes, Christy, and Max, Jr.

Taking Responsibility/Prioritizing Doral's Future Needs
What inspired you to get involved with the community council?
After my company's acquisition I found that I didn't have to do nearly the amount of travelling that I did previously. All of sudden I had the time I'd always hoped for so that I could get involved and I decided to go after it full-press.

I've known Jerry (Howie, DCC Chairman) for 20 years and I knew how much satisfaction he got from being involved with it, so I decided to give it a shot. It was a responsibility that I was very willing to assume.

What was your initial reaction to the political procedures that the DCC must follow?
The pace of the process is obviously very frustrating; I've already seen how consistently everything lags and falls behind when we try and work with the county.

It's clear that the key here is that while we're unincorporated we have to figure out how to streamline the current process so that we can have as much in place as we possibly can when it (incorporation) takes place. We need to make a real effort to get things moving quicker.

Prioritize, if you would, the needs of Doral as you see them.

We need to alleviate the overcrowding in our schools. Period. Case closed.

As for parks, there are none. It is ridiculous, amazing, stunning that I have to take my children miles and miles away for Khoury League.

I can't understand how an area with so many young people doesn't yet have a single park for them to enjoy.

And the lack of churches is very alarming. I can't believe that there are so few areas of worship in the community.

Why, in general, do you feel like this is a job you could excel at?
My professional life has consisted of working in a service-oriented business.

All my life I've loved making people happy, and this will give me an opportunity to serve my neighbors, my community, and that prospect is very exciting to me.

I am so grateful for the chance that I've been given by the community council and the residents of this area to do something like this.