Economic Development Department Launches Miami Beach Business Academy

The City of Miami Beach Economic Development Department kicked off International Economic Development Week (May 9-13) with the unveiling of the Miami Beach Business Academy, a program designed to provide business assistance to new, aspiring and seasoned entrepreneurs.

The purpose of the program is to equip new businesses with the tools to succeed during the early stages of development and strengthen the operations of more established businesses through a combination of online instruction, one-on-one counseling, peer support groups, mentoring, thought leadership and other techniques. The program is funded through the Community Development Block Grant — Coronavirus.

In October 2020, the Miami Beach City Commission approved a resolution providing $600,000 to fund small business grants via the Community Development Block Grant — Coronavirus. Throughout the process of administering the Emergency Small Business Reimbursement Grant program, the Economic Development Department encountered numerous small businesses and microenterprises in need of training and technical assistance resources.

The Miami Beach Business Academy program is offered in partnership with South Florida not-for-profit Prospera, which specializes in bilingual assistance for entrepreneurs and small businesses. The academy will offer in-person and virtual technical assistance training as well as free consulting to the city’s small business community.

Technical assistance services will be available to aspiring and established entrepreneurs from small businesses for up to eight months from now until December. The Prospera curriculum is designed to support at least 12 virtual training sessions, including topics on growth strategy analysis, best business practices, business continuity, access capital, digital presence and payroll management.

Six of the virtual training sessions will be conducted in English and six will be conducted in Spanish. The monthly programming schedule will be posted in the MBBiz electronic newsletter.

The Miami Beach Business Academy is an extension of the city’s efforts to assist the local business community as entrepreneurs and workers navigate life after the pandemic. Similarly, the City of Miami Beach Emergency Small Business Reimbursement Grant Program, supports and promotes business viability for eligible businesses, by providing up to $20,000 in expense reimbursement for expenses incurred, during the pandemic at their principal place of business.

The grant is administered and awarded on a first-come, first-qualified, first-served basis through an online application. Interested applicants should visit miamibeachfl.gosmart.org to review program guidelines and login or create a new profile to preview the application. The program will remain open until all funds are exhausted.

For additional information on the Miami Beach Business Academy, please contact Michael Rivera via email at MichaelRivera@miamibeachfl.gov or MBBiz@miamibeachfl.gov. Alternatively, visit the MBBiz.com website.