ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The city of St. Petersburg reached a new milestone with its new accessible funding opportunity for businesses located in the South St. Pete Community Redevelopment Area.
After the South St. Petersburg CRA Microfund Program was first announced back in May, the city has now officially selected 56 small businesses in the first cohort.
The selected small business owners met Monday at St. Pete Greenhouse for the program's official "Launch Night" event. They were able to receive program details along with meeting with their business mentors and navigators and joining their first cohort networking event.
"For the next few months, business owners will work to develop a personalized capacity-building plan, a business and spending plan, and complete several surveys and a final report," St. Pete leaders explain in a news release. "Upon completion of the program, each cohort participant will be eligible to receive up to $10,000 to be used at their discretion based on their planning with their Greenhouse Navigator."
The next cohort and application period is set for fall 2023. Anyone interested in learning more about the South St. Pete CRA Microfund Program can attend the next information session at 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 22, or visit stpete.org/microfund.
Back when the program was first introduced, St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch explained it will distribute a $1.35 million "boost" to local small businesses.
Welch says the program is an investment that will bolster the city's small business capacity along with supporting equitable economic development.
"In the city of St. Petersburg, we put small businesses first because when they're competing and thriving, they're the heart of a healthy, vibrant and diverse community that we all love," the mayor previously explained.
The funding will be distributed over four application rounds, with the first round already started in May of this year.
The CRA Microfund Program allows business owners to make "targeted improvements without providing any upfront capital or matching."
According to the city of St. Pete, the funding levels include:
- Existing Brick and Mortar - $10,000
- Existing Family Childcare - $10,000
- Existing Home-Based Business - $5,000
- Existing Shared Commercial Space - $5,000
- Early-Stage Startup - $2,500
City leaders say some highlights of the Microfund Program for anyone interested in the program.
- The Microfund is a no-match program.
- The Program offers personalized capacity building through increased education, mentoring, and networking in exchange for CRA funding so business owners can make targeted and planful improvements without having to provide upfront capital.
- Cohort will be given up to 45 business days to complete the assigned capacity-building curriculum which may require up to 15 hours of attendance and/or engagement.
- Program periods are expected to recur upon the completion of each cohort, approximately every four months.
- Following the completion of the first Cohort, the program will be reviewed for effectiveness, and modifications will be implemented as needed.
"We believe this could be a game changer for South St. Pete businesses as they work to compete, survive and thrive," Welch previously said. "This is what Inclusive Progress looks like."
