Archive for category: Featured News

Permanent Jewelry Business Finds New Home in St. Petersburg

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Mariel McMurrey, a recent college graduate, has always had a passion for handmade jewelry and sustainability. Since she was a little girl, she’s been learning new ways to create unique jewelry pieces that would last. Thus, it was not a surprise that she would grow into an entrepreneur and one of the first businesses to make custom permanent jewelry in the St. Petersburg area.

“One of my biggest passions in life is sustainability – that’s actually what my major is in; environmental science,” she said. “So, permanent jewelry was a way, in my opinion, to slow down consumption by picking out quality pieces that are custom fit to you so you’re less likely to throw them away or get only a month wear out of it.”

Following her passions, McMurrey decided to start her own business, Sadie + Sky Permanent Jewelry.

Although McMurrey was passionate about making the personalized pieces of jewelry, she knew that she needed business guidance as she didn’t have any previous knowledge of how to run one. That was when she reached out to the Florida Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Pinellas County Economic Development (PCED), where she was paired with business consultant Debra Schweikowsky for business startup assistance.

“When I first started thinking about the idea of starting a business, I obviously had no idea what I was doing as a 22-year-old at the time,” McMurrey said. “And it quite literally could not be possible. I could not be where I am today without the help of Debra at the Florida SBDC at Pinellas County Economic Development.”

Schweikowsky helped McMurrey through business startup basics, such as setting up an Employer Identification Number (EIN), understanding quarterly sales tax, and thinking about the future of the business.

Now, she says that her Florida SBDC at PCED consultant is helping her grow her business further. “I had no idea what an EIN number was before, so we started with the basics and now we get to talk about franchising and helping with expansion and growth and focusing on adding other employees, independent contractor workers, to the business,” she said.

Since working with the Florida SBDC at PCED, McMurrey has moved her home-based business into a permanent location. “We were a home-based business that focused a lot on being mobile, doing pop ups, local markets, a lot of vendor things, private parties,” she said. “And while we still do a lot of those, we’ve now been able to actually branch out into our own space and have our own brick and mortar, which would not be possible again without the help of Debra.”

The small business owner also mentions how this has been her biggest success thus far as she is now able to accommodate her clients better and maintain more inventory.

Moving forward, the permanent jewelry entrepreneur says she will continue using the services offered by her business consultant and the Florida SBDC at PCED as her business continues to grow.

“There’s always something to learn,” she added. “I mean as a recent college graduate, that student mindset is very much there and this is such a new industry to be in that there is always something to learn and there is always something new that Debra can teach me and as I continue to expand and grow, I’m sure lovely, fantastic new obstacles will get in the way but I’ll be able to tackle them with confidence knowing I can just book my appointment with Debra at the Florida SBDC at Pinellas County Economic Development.”

McMurrey encourages other small business owners to make their dreams a reality by reaching out to their local Florida SBDC Network centers. “This [Florida SBDC at PCED] is such a safe space to go to whenever you’re so confused, you don’t know where to start, and you don’t think it’s possible,” she said. “It’s definitely a place to get your dreams from paper and then out into the real world and actually make them into reality.”

Flavorful Puerto Rican Food Truck Gets its Start in St. Petersburg

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Loco Mofongo of Pinellas County

After losing her job like many others during the pandemic, Lynette Domenech and her husband decided to invest in themselves and fulfill their dreams of owning a business, the Loco Mofongo food truck, where Domenech is happily cooking up Caribbean-based dishes for her clients.

“We started this business here in St. Pete because we moved from Puerto Rico to here like 10 years ago and we’ve been looking for a place like this that serves traditional Puerto Rican food, authentic Puerto Rican food, and we haven’t found that niche,” Domenech said. “Here in St. Pete, it’s so necessary to have Latino and Puerto Rican food and that’s why we decided to start with this new adventure.”

Knowing what to cook was never a problem for Domenech but starting an actual food truck business was something completely new to her. That was when she reached out to the Florida Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Pinellas County Economic Development (PCED), where business consultant, Debra Schweikowsky, gladly helped her learn about the various aspects of starting a business.

“When I started this business, I didn’t know anything about the business aspect of this adventure and she has helped me from financial information, with links and resources for permitting, licenses, all of the steps that I needed to follow to create my LLC and all of the business-related paperwork,” Domenech said.

Since working with her consultant and the Florida SBDC at PCED, the entrepreneur mentions how her business has grown as she constantly improves and interacts with her community. “My business has grown a lot since I started working with Debra,” she said. “She has helped me in learning how to come up with a new business, how to come up with financial information, how to hire people, how to go out there and find events.”

Domenech says that her biggest success so far is being able to start the food truck business and open her doors to the public. “This business has been a dream of mine, of me and my husband, for over 10 years now,” she said. “It has not been easy but certainly a lot of fun. We have learned a lot and we have grown a lot and I want to keep growing.”

Moving forward, she says she will continue to use the Florida SBDC at PCED and her consultant, Schweikowsky, as she works towards expanding and opening a brick-and-mortar store in the future.

“I will continue to use the Florida SBDC at Pinellas County Economic Development to grow my business and ask from them some more resources and more information so I can keep growing,” she said.

Ice Cream Truck Business Experiencing Sweet Success

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Pink Freesia Creamery of Pasco County

After spending time with her grandchild making homemade ice cream, Kenia Tolentino had an idea that would not only bring happiness to her grandson but also to the communities around her.

“The reason why I chose this business is because one day my grandson came to visit, and he wanted to go get some ice cream and it took us about 20 minutes to go and get some ice cream,” she said. “So, the next time he came, he wanted ice cream again and I said, ‘you know what, let’s make some ice cream’.”

From then on, Tolentino noticed that her homemade ice cream was becoming a fan favorite with her family and local community. Tolentino decided it was time to start her own ice cream truck business, now named Pink Freesia Creamery. The only issue was that this was her first time starting a business in a new state where she was unfamiliar with the local business practices.

Tolentino knew she needed guidance, so she reached out to the Florida Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at University of South Florida where she was introduced to business consultant, Christine Jaros for startup assistance.

“She was there with me from the beginning all the way until we opened,” Tolentino said. “The reason I contacted her was because I knew nothing about Florida. I knew nothing about the permits and the liability, and the things that I needed to get started. This is my first business that I own and so she guided me in the steps of building a business plan. From there we went to financing and she even introduced me to the online training where we did the profit and loss.”

Tolentino also added that Jaros was there to guide her every step of the way, whether it was for marketing strategies, social media, or even helping her connect with partners such as Spectrum Reach for advertising purposes.

Since working with the Florida SBDC at USF, Tolentino states that she has started to see revenue and she’s already thinking ahead for what the future may hold. “We are currently reaching our goal and our revenue is already increasing and at this time we are looking for a new person to hire because we have a lot of booked events and weddings. I need that extra help,” she said. In addition, she was a recipient of Spectrum Reach’s Pay It Forward program. She was awarded free advertising dollars through the program.

The Pink Freesia Creamery owner also expresses how seeing her idea come into fruition with the help of the Florida SBDC at USF is what she considers success at the moment. “My biggest success so far is starting the business,” she said. “That itself was an idea that popped into my head and then it just went from there and from opening the doors on grand opening day, it was just an amazing experience.”

Moving forward, Tolentino plans on reaching back out to the Florida SBDC at USF for financial guidance and business certification assistance.

Based on her positive experience, the business owner shares a piece of advice with fellow entrepreneurs, saying, “I would definitely recommend Florida SBDC at USF to any small business owners to reach out for any little ideas that they have in their head, even if they launched their business and they need assistance with anything.”

Tolentino also wanted to take a moment to personally thank her community and all the people that were closely involved in helping her start her ice cream business. “I want to thank the SBDC at USF, Christine Jaros for just being a great mentor, [and] Colleen Flood who has helped me with advertising my business. The community in Tampa, the community in Land O’ Lakes, in Pasco County, Hillsborough; you guys been great,” she said.

Firefighting Alert System Makes Waves Across the United States

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EaseAlert of Pinellas County

Blake Richardson and his business partner Elezar Tonev, owners of EaseAlert, both knew that they wanted to make a difference in the field of alert systems when they noticed a problem within their own circle of family and friends.

“We saw the stress and the toll that firefighting was taking on my dad who’s been in the fire service for the past 19 years and we wanted to do what we could to make a difference,” Richardson said. That was when then the business partners got to work and created EaseAlert, a firefighter alert system designed to reduce stress and improve efficiency for emergency responders.

Once moved to Pinellas County, the business partners decided to reach out to the Florida Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) at Pinellas County Economic Development (PCED) for help in strategically growing their business. The duo was then introduced to their procurement specialist, Yolanda Goodloe, for more in-depth guidance with government contracts and assistance in growth.

“We’ve used the information we’ve learned from the Florida PTAC at Pinellas County Economic Development consultant to help with my Bid Batch, capabilities briefings to government agencies, helping us build a capability statement, and networking with representatives across the government,” Richardson said.

Since working with Florida PTAC at PCED and Goodloe, Richardson states that the business has had the chance to flourish into something greater than they expected, “by taking EaseAlert’s offering and bringing it to the local governments.”

He explained further, saying, “The first opportunity was with a local federal entity where we installed our emergency alerting system on a phase three contract and they’re in the process of renewing that contract now and they’ve actually referred us out to several federal entities across the world. We’re in discussions now to expand our process and our services on phase three contracts and similar contracts to other federal entities to make sure we can continue to reduce stress and improve efficiency for emergency responders everywhere.”

Richardson also mentioned the business has grown in another way since working with the Florida PTAC at PCED, through the SBIR program. “We successfully earned the phase one clinical trial grant from the National Institutes of Health, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and we’re currently working with our coordinator from PTAC to expand that into a phase two application,” he said. Expanding to phase two will help EaseAlert improve their product and develop more emergency alerting services.

With the growth of the business, Richardson and his partner, Tonev, have also experienced success in seeing the amount of people who have been impacted by their business.

“Our biggest success so far has been implementing our system at the local federal entity and seeing how much it impacted their responders in both stress and efficiency and overall wellness and in doing so, we’ve been able to expand our capabilities and improve our product offerings by adding system monitoring, more robust alerting, and other features and functions that we didn’t initially have,” Richardson said.

Moving forward, he and his partner plan to keep in contact with his consultant, Goodloe, and the team at the Florida PTAC at PCED in order to positively impact the lives of more responders.

“We plan to utilize Florida PTAC to help us broaden our reach to emergency responders everywhere including helicopter EMS, firefighters, private EMS, DoD emergency responders; really anyone who uses an alarm to respond to an emergency. In doing so we plan to share our mission with emergency responders everywhere,” Richardson said.

Richardson encourages other businesses owners to reach out to the Florida PTAC at PCED because, “those resources and networking opportunities and coaching skills that they provide you really level the playing field and there’s enough disadvantages against you as a small business, it only makes sense to use everything in your favor and Florida PTAC is a great resource and a great coach to have in your corner.”

Since the interview, EaseAlert has been successfully awarded a phase three contract to outfit an Air Force base fire department with their firefighter alerting system.

IT Company Finds Success in St. Petersburg Technological Hub

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PVM, Inc. of Pinellas County

Since a young age, Pat Mack, Founder and CEO of PVM, has had an interest in computers and technology so when the Navy offered him the opportunity to attend graduate school to study information technology (IT), he jumped at the opportunity, leading him to eventually start his own IT business.

During his time in graduate school, Mack fell in love with the tech space all over again, especially since there are so many problems to solve within the field. “I’m a junkie when it comes to technology and it really allows me to satisfy a lot of my personal desires to work on relevant problems but also to help in areas where there is tremendous need for the services we provide,” he said.

Since starting PVM in California, Mack and his team have been successfully helping businesses analyze their data effectively. When he decided to move the business from the Golden state to the Sunshine state, he knew he would need some guidance to keep the momentum going.  

Once moved to St. Peterburg, Mack said, “one of the first calls I made was to PTAC and one of the first persons I spoke with was Yolanda at PTAC and to be brutally honest, I had no idea of the breadth and depth of the services they provided.” Once connected with the Florida Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) at Pinellas County Economic Development (PCED), Mack was paired with procurement specialist, Yolanda Goodloe, for help with business growth strategies, 8(a) certification assistance, and government contracting services.

Since working with the Florida PTAC at PCED and Goodloe, Mack says that he has seen growth within the business as well as in the number of opportunities that continue landing at their doorstep. “Our business has increased 30 percent in the last twelve months,” he said. “I’m a member of probably one of the most innovative tech spaces within the region, in the St. Petersburg Maritime Technology and Defense Hub. All of that was enabled by my relationship with PTAC.”

He also credits Cowart for her help in finding PVM’s new home at the Maritime Technology and Defense Hub, where the business has been able to flourish and gain partnerships. “I’ve been able to participate in opportunities in our business area that we would have not been able to engage in – work that we do with the Foundation for Health of St. Petersburg, Pinellas County Schools, the mayor’s office. All of that local impact came out of that relationship,” Mack added.

He also says that with the help received from Cowart and the team at Pinellas County, his business was able to receive their 8(a) certification in March 2023, although it was not an easy task.

“To be brutally honest, we applied earlier in our process and weren’t ready and it took the consultants at the PTAC to really advise us, like, hey, it’s a 9-year window, you only get to do it once in life so make sure you are absolutely prepared to do that, and I think we are,” Mack said.

When asked about the company’s biggest success, Mack didn’t hesitate to point out that their biggest success is the fact that they can positively affect their community. “What we measure success by is the impact we make on the economics of the people in the community that we serve. We’ve been here, as part of The Hub, for about 12 months, and in that time, we’ve hired nearly a dozen folks in and around the area. As a small business owner, you’re only as good as the talent and the community and the culture that you’re able to create,” he said.

Moving forward, he says his relationship with the Florida PTAC at PCED will continue to grow just as much as his company continues to grow. “Our journey is a continuum, and my plan is to continue to engage with the Florida PTAC, Pinellas County Economic Development, along that journey. It’s not a one and done for us. It is an enduring relationship where we will continue to grow as the opportunities in the region grow and we’ll continue to participate in all of the programs that are not just available to our company, but to other companies,” he added.

His advice to other small business owners encourages entrepreneurs to reach out to the Florida PTAC at PCED for help. “Embrace it, put your ego aside,” he said. “Every day that you’re a business owner you have the opportunity to learn, enhance your capabilities, and grow. You don’t have to do this alone. Folks are there and they are willing to help you achieve all of your business goals. It is not easy, but you are not alone.”

Wanda Barton, Xtremely Clean Janitorial Services Named 2022 SBA State of Florida Woman Business Owner of the Year

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Wanda Barton, Xtremely Clean Janitorial Services Named 2022 SBA State of Florida Woman Business Owner of the Year

Wanda Barton

TAMPA, Fl. – The Florida SBDC at University of South Florida, in cooperation with the U.S. Small Business Administration, recognized local business owner, Wanda Barton, on May 5, as the 2022 U.S. SBA South Florida District and State of Florida Woman Business Owner of the Year.

Barton is the owner of Xtremely Clean Janitorial Services, LLC, and a client of Florida SBDC at Hillsborough County. Her business consultant is Janette Blanco. The award was presented at The Power of Creative: A Small Business Week Lunch and Learn, sponsored by Spectrum Reach.

National Small Business Week Awards celebrate the sacrifices and achievements of small business owners and their significant contributions to our economy and our communities. The 30th Annual National Small Business Week was celebrated May 1-7.

Xtremely Clean Janitorial Services is an African American, woman-owned, certified business started in 2013. The business initially focused on cleaning foreclosed homes, but when the market turned, Barton looked for alternatives to sustain her business.

CJ Castro, Senior Area Director for the U.S. SBA South Florida District, was on hand to present the award.

“Wanda Barton’s vision for Xtremely Clean was built on a solid foundation,” Castro said during his presentation. “She is a person who has built a successful company and excelled along the way.”

He mentioned Barton’s multiple business certifications that have helped her to grow Xtremely Clean Janitorial Services into the business it is today. Her certifications include:

  • Woman & Minority Business Certification by the City of Tampa – March 27, 2021, through March 27, 2023
  • Small Business Enterprise Certification by Port Tampa Bay – November 1, 2021, through October 31, 2022
  • Minority/Woman Business Certification by Hillsborough County – January 19,2021 through January 19, 2023
  • Woman Business Enterprise (WBE) by the City of Tampa – April 12, 2017, through March 6, 2019
  • Woman & Minority Business Certification by the State of Florida – 5/15/2020 through 5/15/2022
  • Green Seal Certified since October 2013

Xtremely Clean Janitorial Services provides services throughout Tampa Bay. When Barton started as a Florida SBDC at Hillsborough County client in 2013, she had six employees and annual sales of less than $2,500. Now, the business is approaching $2 million in annual sales and 80 employees. Local, city, and state government contracting has been a large part of Barton’s growth strategy.

Barton has secured contracts with the City of Tampa, Hillsborough County, Port Tampa Bay, Florida Department of Transportation, Florida Department of Management Services, Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, and other agencies.

“Everybody knows that cleaning is not for everybody, but I will say that it is my passion,” Barton said. “I love what I do. I started my company very small. Of course, it wasn’t fun, but I knew I had to start somewhere. Today I stand here to say I am grateful that I put a lot of things aside to make sure I took my company to the next level. It was not easy, but I did it. I’m going to keep doing it as I should to take my company even further.”

While she continues to grow her business, Barton also serves as a mentor for other cleaning business owners, sharing her knowledge, passion and lessons learned, in hopes that they too can reach the success that she has.

During her acceptance speech, she credited the Florida SBDC Network, the City of Tampa, and the State of Florida with her success.

“I want to thank the City of Tampa and SBDC,” she said. “I must give special recognition to Ms. Janette because she stood alongside me and believed in me when times were hard. She was there. I could call her up at any time and just vent because it’s not easy. We run into a whole lot of challenges. There were doors that closed and I just kept knocking on them. I just kept knocking.

“I really appreciate the City of Tampa for giving me the opportunity to service them, because without the State of Florida and the City of Tampa, I would not be standing here.”

Wanda Barton, Xtremely Clean Janitorial Services Named 2022 SBA State of Florida Woman Business Owner of the Year

Pictured: CJ Castro, Senior Area Manager, U.S. SBA South Florida District; Wanda Barton, Xtremely Clean Janitorial Services LLC owner; Carl Hadden, Interim Regional Director, Florida SBDC at USF; Elizabeth Gaustad, Field Marketing Specialist, Spectrum Reach

Wanda Barton, Xtremely Clean Janitorial Services Named 2022 SBA State of Florida Woman Business Owner of the Year

Pictured: Janette Blanco, Business Consultant, Florida SBDC at Hillsborough County; Wanda Barton, Xtremely Clean Janitorial Services LLC owner; Carol Minor, Center Director, Florida SBDC at Hillsborough County; Carl Hadden, Interim Regional Director, Florida SBDC at USF

   About the Florida SBDC Network: 

For over forty years, the Florida SBDC Network, the state’s principal provider of business assistance [Fl. Stat. 288.001], has nourished a statewide partnership between higher education and economic development to provide existing and emerging small and medium-sized business owners with management and knowledge resources that enable overall growth, increased profitability, and economic prosperity for Florida’s economy. Since 2011, Florida SBDCs have provided 624,331 hours of professional business consulting to 58,975 client businesses, resulting in 281,831 jobs impacted; $36.7 billion in sales generated; $2.7 billion in government contracts acquired; $1.6 billion in capital accessed; and 4,520 new businesses started. A statewide network of over 40 offices, the Florida SBDC is funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, Defense Logistics Agency, State of Florida and other private and public partners. The Florida SBDC Network, headquartered at the University of West Florida, is nationally accredited by the Association of SBDCs and is a 2016 recipient of the President’s E Award for Export Service. Florida SBDC services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Language assistance services are available for individuals with limited English proficiency. For more information, please visit www.FloridaSBDC.org.

Employee Retention Becomes Top Priority for Businesses

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Employee Retention Becomes Top Priority for Businesses

by Jenee Skipper, SHRM-CP | March 28, 2022

While recruiting the best talent has been a priority for most organizations; one often overlooked task has been retention efforts, at least until now.  Since 2021, workforce shortages are of growing concern for most organizations and a recent report by Paige McAllister of Affinity HR Group revealed that, “recruitment and retention has been a top priority since the “Great Resignation.” More than three percent of the United States workforce voluntarily left their jobs.”

While many variables may account for workforce shortages, the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly exasperated the issue.

But wait, you don’t have to fret. There are many things an organization can do to remain competitive in today’s business climate.  Get ahead of the issues by ensuring the following things are in place:

  • A competitive compensation model
  • A robust training program that will allow the upskilling of your current workforce
  • Get back to the basics with “old-fashioned” communication to reestablish people skills

We are keenly aware that compensation is an important part of the hiring and retention process and getting it right on the front end offers extreme benefits.

Organizational benefits can be found through a decreased attrition rate, a decrease in mass exits for those seeking higher pay, and a decrease in your organizations’ overall recruiting cost.

To attract the right candidates, having a competitive compensation plan to include benefits, bonuses and or commission will not only drive increased performance but overall value.  Valued employees often display higher morale and a greater sense of loyalty and in most instances, add to your bottom-line in terms of profitability and a continuum of services.

To remain competitive in an increasingly tight labor market, employers must have more than a great onboarding process.  Committing to the learning and development of your staff is one simple solution.

Studies have shown that employees who get regular opportunities to learn, develop, and advance are more likely to stay with a company. In fact, Bob Nelson, author of 1,001 Ways to Engage Employees, reports that learning and development are among the top factors in employee engagement.

Taking it one step further; meaningful training that leads to upward mobility and the upskilling of employees not only benefits the individual, but it will also demonstrate an organizations’ commitment to employee development by strengthening both personal growth and professional growth.

Training is a specific event that teaches new information or skills and is most often provided to new and/or promoted employees.

However, ongoing employee development is the continuous effort to strengthen the overall work performance.  There are many ways to accomplish this with little financial burden to an organization.  Peer-to peer-mentoring, coaching, cross training, web-based training sessions, and train the trainer workshops are just a few training exercises to internally strengthen your workforce.

While the need to explore creative work arrangements have grown excessively, organizations can add tremendous value to retention efforts by establishing modified work schedules, male maternity leave and non-traditional shifts, to name a few, which may support a more balanced work and family life.

Another key to learning is understanding what’s important to your employees by expanding your organizations diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts. The greatest return on your investment (ROI) is the investment into your staff.  Not only does it build morale, it will also build loyalty and the confidence that you are as equally concerned about their personal growth and development as you are your bottom line.  While you are enhancing your retention efforts, be sure to retain your intellectual property, which is knowledge.  Ask yourself, how much knowledge is lost when we lose an employee?

Employee engagement is one of the most effective tools in organizational improvement. Mitigating retention efforts by engaging your staff can be key to a successful process. Getting back to the basics with “old-fashioned” communication that will help your organization establish or reestablish people skills is paramount.  Gathering valuable input is not only cost effective, but also transformative thinking.

Two examples which come to mind are employee surveys which lead to actionable outcomes and exit interviews that spark change.  While artificial intelligence (AI) and automation has replaced many job functions, they can never replace the internal customer service experience that an employee’s engagement and team building experience can provide.  Just as mentoring and being coachable are not assessable through processes but more so by human interaction and feedback.

Employees are talking. The question becomes are organizations listening? If you want to know what employees are thinking, ask. The answers may provide dividends for years to come.

Corporations Make Historic Commitments To Black-Owned Brands and Businesses

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Corporations Make Historic Commitments To Black-Owned Businesses

by Yolanda Goodloe | January 25, 2022

If you’ve ever tried to start a Black-owned business, you’ll know that one of the most challenging aspects of starting or running it is access to capital or the lack thereof.  According to an article by McKinsey & Company titled, “Building supporting ecosystems for Black-owned US businesses,” black entrepreneurs are three times more likely than their white counterparts to state a lack of access to capital as negatively affecting their business profitability.

A study published in the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing in 2019 called, Shaping Small Business Lending Policy Through Matched-Pair Mystery Shopping, showed that African-American testers (or test subjects) were more frequently asked to provide information from their business financial statements, personal financial statements, amount of their accounts receivable, and personal W-2 forms when compared to Caucasian testers.  Some loan officers even asked about their marital status and the employment status of their spouse, which is dangerously close to directly violating fair lending laws.

The issue at hand is not about Black people not being creditworthy.  Reports show that Black business owners and other marginalized entrepreneurs are about half as likely as their white counterparts to receive full financing, even with strong personal credit.  The issue is about the racial biases that are so ingrained into lending practices that there’s no way for Black entrepreneurs to win against a system that is set up for them to fail.

The recent focus on racial inequalities within the nation has awakened a reflective review of many practices that have been taken for granted.  These practices include the ability of minority-owned businesses to access funding.  As a result, the following businesses have made commitments to help build up Black-owned brands and businesses.

Amazon

The Black Business Accelerator aims to help Black entrepreneurs build sustainable equity and growth to enable their success on Amazon.  The program provides access to financial support, strategic business guidance and mentorship, and marketing and promotional support.  Black-owned U.S. businesses stand to gain access to services and grants that are geared towards helping them jump-start business growth and customer acquisition.  They also have access to a network of business mentors and coaches, including Amazon experts and small business thought leaders.

In addition, the Black Business Accelerator creates marketing and promotional support. Black-owned business can also receive opportunities to be featured in the Black-owned business storefronts for Amazon retail customers and Amazon Business customers and promotions featuring Black-owned businesses.

Walmart

The Walmart.org Center for Racial Equity gave Winrock International a grant of $900,000 to support the Readying Small Business for Access to Capital program.  This program helps small Black-owned businesses to seek, prepare for and tap into alternative sources of capital to sustain and expand their businesses.

This grant aims to help provide business development support for Black-owned e-commerce and wholesale-retail enterprises in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.  According to Linsley Kinkade, Winrock’s Senior Director of U.S. Programs, “many businesses have experienced hardship during the pandemic, but Black-owned small businesses in the South’s retail sector have been hit especially hard,” To buttress her point, studies have shown that the impact of COVID-19 and the subsequent economic downturn has had a bigger impact on minority-owned businesses largely because of their inaccessibility to bank financing, funding, and poor cash flow.

With this grant, Winrock can help Black-owned businesses find alternative sources of capital to keep their businesses afloat and expand their enterprises.  The Readying Small Business for Access to Capital program will also help connect entrepreneurs to potential loan, grant, and investment opportunities through programs such as Calvert Impact Capitals’ Southern Opportunity and Resilience (SOAR) fund.

Target Corporation

The Target Corporation has committed to spending $2 billion with Black-owned businesses by 2025.  The organization intends to accomplish this laudable goal through various means, that includes hiring more Black-owned companies. Target will seek Black-owned advertising firms, suppliers, construction companies, and other related businesses. They also plan on launching a program to identify and support promising minority entrepreneurs.

The company also launched a program called Forward Founders for start-ups led by Black entrepreneurs to help them develop, test, and scale products to sell to mass retailers. It will also be adding products from more than 500 Black-owned brands to its shelves or website.

Already Target is working with 50 Black-owned beauty brands, but they want to expand. According to the company, by 2025, Target will exceed its goals and will have spent more than the committed amount.

Microsoft

In January 2022 Microsoft launched a three-month program called The Black Partner Growth Initiative. This program aims to create pathways for Black-owned partners to engage with the Microsoft Partner Network successfully. The program provides access to information, financial management, tech solutions, and go-to-market readiness training all to help Black partners accelerate their business growth.

Additional benefits to this program include strategic partnerships. Partners are paired with a dedicated specialist through the Cloud Enablement Desk (CED) that will help them grow their cloud business. Partners can also connect to the Solution Workspace to build solutions.

Published solutions and services in the Commercial Marketplace are showcased in the business directory, receive go-to-market benefits and access to readiness training.  The Accelerator program provides the additional support needed for Black-owned partners to take their business to the next level through personalized, 1:1 engagement.

Various companies such as Nike, Ulta Beauty, and even Walmart and Microsoft (besides their above-mentioned commitments) have committed to addressing racial inequality by promising to devote more shelf space to Black-owned products, evaluate how they hire and promote employees, feature more Black people in their ads and reduce the number of police or security in stores to prevent racial profiling.

Retailers such as Macy’s, Sephora, and Gap, have signed the 15 Percent Pledge, started by Brooklyn-based entrepreneur Aurora James. The 15 Percent Pledge is a promise to commit 15 percent of shelf-space to Black-owned businesses, which is in proportion to the population of Black people in the U.S.

The fight for racial equality is nowhere near completion.  However, the progress made gives us hope for a more equitable future.  With support from big corporations, as mentioned above, the future we dream of is closer to being a reality.

Author

Yolanda Cowart

Yolanda Goodloe

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Florida PTAC at Pinellas County Economic Development
Specialty: Procurement

Yolanda Goodloe has more than 20 years of experience in public service at the local and municipal levels. Early in her career, she worked as a human resources and relations professional while serving as a liaison to the business community and advocacy groups. Her prior experience includes being a human relations specialist for Lee County Government, and an equal opportunity director for the City of Fort Lauderdale. Her background combines public service and human relations experience with hands on leadership in equal opportunity, supplier diversity, business certifications programs, organizational training and development, and managing workforce diversity principles. Goodloe is the procurement specialist for the Florida PTAC at Pinellas County Economic Development. She connects businesses to resources and tools for state, local, and federal contracting opportunities. She is a Certified Procurement Professional (CPP), a Supply Chain Management Professional (SCMP), and a Certified Verification Counselor. She graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor of arts in political science and history.

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Black Women In Business Embracing Entrepreneurship At Historic Rates

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by Yolanda Goodloe | January 25, 2022 Struggli​​ng and fighting against racial inequality and oppression is part and parcel of the minority experience in the U.S.  Perhaps no other group knows this better than Black-American women.  Despite the overwhelming obstacles before them, Black-American women still make their impact known.  In the political arena, for example, […]

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Celebrating the Legacy of Black Business Owners and the African American Entrepreneurial Experience

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by Yolanda Goodloe | January 19, 2022 Do you ever look at the African American experience and feel pride in all that we’ve managed to accomplish?  Blacks are faced with constant change and challenges in the business arena. While managing and operating any business is tough, people of color face many unique obstacles. Black business owners are often marginalized and hindered from […]

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The Florida SBDC at the University of South Florida is a member of the Florida SBDC Network, a statewide partnership program nationally accredited by the Association of America’s SBDCs and funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, Defense Logistics Agency, State of Florida, and other private and public partners, with the University of West Florida serving as the network’s lead host institution. Florida SBDC services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Language assistance services are available for limited English proficient individuals.

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