Miami-Dade agency putting $7 million to work enhancing Black business community
With financial support from Miami-Dade County, the Miami-Dade Economic Advocacy Trust announced plans to use a little more than $7 million for programs to give stronger support to Miami’s Black business community.
In a fireside chat Tuesday night with WHQT Hot 105 radio host Rodney Baltimore, William Diggs, the trust’s executive director, spoke at length about his organization’s mission supporting Black businesses in Miami and emphasized this is the first time the group has gotten this much money at one time to use for a wide range of programs.
“Our whole role is to create areas in our community that are sustainable so that from a long-term perspective, we can make sure that Black commerce lives,” Diggs said. “It’s not just about housing. You don’t want to always have to go to a Ross. Maybe you want a Nordstrom down the street and we want to develop that.”
Through the small business capitalization program, the trust will provide 25 small businesses with grants of $10,000. The grants will allow the small companies to do things such as upgrading equipment, expanding operations or refining marketing and advertising strategies.
Making the procurement process that much easier for Black Miami business owners is a top priority for Diggs’ group. The agency has plans to distribute the bulk of the $7 million-plus through three programs.
Responding to the need for the county to make better use of vacant land, it will use $1.5 million for a rehab loan program for Black contractors who work in select Miami-Dade urban areas to rehabilitate communities.
Secondly, Black developers will be prioritized via equity or joint ventures to tap a $2.75 million construction program. The funding will assist developers to build homes and it will be managed in combination with the agency’s first-time homebuyer program that offers financial aid to qualified residents buying their first home.
Also, contractors certified by the county’s internal services department will have access to $2.75 million allocated through the land acquisition program. Contractors will be able to use the money to buy property to build homes for people participating in the agency’s first-time homebuyer program.
In addition to providing local Black business owners with financial support, the county advocacy trust has two business expos planned for the coming year, one in North Dade and the other in South Dade. Youth outreach will continue and include career days, financial literacy training, mental health guidance and a teen court program focused on helping young people develop healthy conflict resolution skills.
Diggs is hopeful these efforts collectively will allow Miami’s Black neighborhoods to thrive as business districts that can attract more Black entrepreneurs to the city and ultimately enable Black Miami to thrive. Some of his specific goals are eliminating food deserts in the city’s Black communities and striving to make these urban areas as attractive to visitors as Coral Gables’ Miracle Mile shopping and entertainment section.
This story was originally published October 27, 2022 at 5:30 AM.
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