The Urban League of Broward County is making strides toward helping underserved minority-owned businesses obtain financial stability in South Florida and beyond.
The Fort Lauderdale-based nonprofit, dedicated to furthering the economic success of Broward’s Black residents, created a training program to teach minority small business owners how to bid for government contracts. Eight local companies participated in the first iteration of Gov-ConTRACK over four weeks this past spring.
Companies that graduated from the program:
- Design Pavers Inc., led by Melanie Pistiner
- H84 Exports, led by John Hendriks
- Cizmic Consulting Inc., led by Ethnie Ferguson
- Couture Mobile Spa, led by Terri Grimsley
- Fresh Prints Miami LLC, led by Jarrod Urrely
- CommsurvIT, led by Cheriann Calhoun
- Alimayu Lawns LLC, led by Brent Ellis
- Business Briefing LLC, led by Bryan Cunningham
Courtnee Biscardi, executive VP of the Urban League, said the program is part of the organization’s ongoing work as a partner of the South Florida Anchor Alliance — a collaboration of regional institutions working together to offer greater business opportunities to local small businesses.
“The end goal is to increase wealth building and procurement opportunities for small businesses to ensure that they can thrive and continue to be successful,” she said.
To facilitate the program, Biscardi said the Urban League partnered with a variety of regional institutions and organizations — including Broward College and the Small Business Development Center — to leverage resources that would prepare small businesses for government contracts.
Sharna Barnes; CEO of South Florida- and Augusta, Georgia-based Complete Contract Consulting; led the training portion for participants and assisted in marketing efforts of the program. Barnes’ consulting firm helps businesses acquire government contracts.
During the first week of the program, participants learned about government contracting, including how to go about locating bids online. Barnes said program leaders also spoke about various certifications that can impact the likelihood that a small business is awarded a federal contract — including applying to be designated as a woman-owned small business or a socioeconomically disadvantaged small business.
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, the federal government aims to award at least 5% of all federal contracting dollars annually to woman-owned, minority-owned, and economically disadvantaged small businesses.
But Anthea Pennant, district director of supplier relations and diversity at Broward College, said that advocating for minority businesses to obtain relevant certifications in this space can only do so much.
“So many people have been certified, and they’ve been registered,” she said. “They just need a little bit of hand holding to help them move to the next level.”
Barnes said the most difficult part about the proposal process for businesses is often understanding the bid in the first place.
“Unfortunately, the bid isn’t written in laymen terms,” Barnes said. “And when you see a bid, normally a bid can be hundreds of pages long. And it’s just having the time to sit down and read through and understanding what you’re reading.”
The training, Barnes said, forced minority business owners to designate time to dissect bids and understand what it means for their businesses.
Starting in the second week of the program, participants were tasked with drafting a response to a government bid within their respective industries and submitting a proposal to the appropriate government agency.
“That’s what that program is about,” Broward College’s Pennant said. “It’s about making sure that when they submit a bid, it’s a winning bid or has great potential to win.”
For the participants, submitting the proposal was a feat in it of itself. Barnes said many were visibly emotional upon submission.
“And for me, that was very emotional because it meant that we did have an impact,” she said. “We truly impacted their business and impacted their lives.”
The proposals submitted by the participants were in response to bids that ranged in award value from $150,000 to $4 million. Though the participants are still awaiting responses on their respective proposals, Barnes said the proposal process is still a great opportunity for these businesses to grow and, in turn,for the South Florida economy to grow as well.
“The more money that business is making inside of South Florida is the more they’ll spend inside of South Florida,” she said. “And it’s a cycle you know, the more taxes you’ll be able to collect, the more money the county will have.”
Biscardi said that her greatest hope would be for this program to continue and be offered again by the end of the calendar year because she recognizes the need for it in the community.
“If we find something that’s a mission match, it’s something that we surely desire to continue with,” she said. “It’s really about the when.”
By Evely Forte – Staff Writer,
South Florida Business Journal
Jun 9, 2021
