Four groups seek a piece of Lakeland's COVID relief funds to help businesses, arts
LAKELAND — With the majority of Lakeland's $22.7 million in COVID relief aid already parceled out for city projects, four groups have asked for a chunk of the remaining funds to assist local arts and business organizations.
Three groups have sought grants to help local minority-owned and operated businesses: Lakeland Chamber of Commerce, The African American Chamber of Commerce of Polk County, and The Well.
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Lakeland Chamber of Commerce has requested $800,000 in funds from the city, up from their original ask of $500,000 made in July 2021.
Gow Fields, a former Lakeland mayor, said the chamber is looking to bring in representatives from Tampa Bay Black Business Investment Corp., or BBIC, and Prospera, an Orlando-based nonprofit helping Hispanic entrepreneurs, into the Lakeland community.
"This is investment in our citizens who are in business now, aspire to be in business and can be done in a way to support other business resources in the community," Fields said.
The BBIC and Prospera both aim at helping minority-owned or operated small business from providing technical assistance and training in business skill to networking to provide financial assistance needed to launch or expand an existing business.
Doris Moore-Bailey, president of The African American Chamber of Commerce - Polk County, said her organization has been in Lakeland providing these services to business owners since May 2019. She has requested $450,000 of the city's American Rescue Plan Act funding.
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"I am here requesting a hand up, not a hand out," she said. "What is the city's vision for inclusion of the African American Chamber of Commerce?"
Moore-Bailey said her organization would use the funds to do micro-enterprise training, coding, robots and other technical experiences to be shared among chamber members.
Mayor Bill Mutz asked for the African American chamber to provide a detailed budget breakdown of how the $450,000 would be spent to be later reviewed by the commission.
Sallie Brisbane-Stone, founder of The Well, made a more informal request from city officials asking for financial support for the fledging collaborative workspace that opened earlier this year. She did not name a specified dollar amount when asking for relief funding.
"The ask is simply this: We need support, we need help," Stone said. "It's all about what we could do to make Lakeland a great place to live, to work and to play."
The goal of The Well is provide training, business development support and networking opportunities to under-represented business owners: women, minorities, veterans or individuals with disabilities.
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The Well already has an established partnership with the BBIC, according to both parties.
Fields said the Lakeland chamber's request differs from the other two in that it plans to offer access to the BBIC and Prospera's resources to all, not just its membership.
"Our number one issue is access," he said. "There's no way to easily access the services of either organization."
If the Lakeland chamber receives all or a portion of the requested funding from the city, Fields said it will allow a partnership to begin where BBIC and Prospera can begin meeting with business owners using the chamber's existing offices off Lake Morton.
Florida Children's Museum Director Kerry Falwell, who chairs the Mayor's Council of the Arts, came forward with a downsized request from $250,000 to $200,000 to help the city's arts and cultural nonprofits which are struggling with post-COVID impacts.
"All small businesses had a hard time during the pandemic," she said. "These small businesses on the arts council are no different. As they are finally coming off recovery and able to have audiences, they are also dealt a hand of rising costs like everyone else."
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Falwell said if a $200,000 grant was given to the Mayor's Council, she proposed it be subdivided into smaller competitive grant application process for organizations whose annual operating budget of less than $1 million. She noted this would exclude her own group, the Florida Children's Museum, formerly Exploration's V, as well as larger organizations who have the support of full-time staff, possibly grant writers.
"What it does is allow a targeted amount of money to help smallest organizations making huge impacts," she said.
Falwell said the council's competitive grant application to divvy up relief funds would look similar to the annual process already in place, with some minor changes to make sure it meets required federal guidelines.
Of the $22.7 million the city received, commissioners had originally designated $500,000 for the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce, $500,000 to help small businesses and $250,000 to assist cultural nonprofits for a total of $1.25 million.
The four groups are requesting total more than $1.5 million.
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Mutz said in August it may be possible for the city to find funds to help the chamber, maybe others, not from the city's post of pandemic relief funds.
Lakeland officials have until December 2024 to earmark a purpose for the total $22.7 million in federal pandemic funds. The money must be spent by Dec. 31, 2026.
The commission is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. Thursday for the first hearing on its fiscal year 2023 budget at City Hall, 228. S. Massachusetts Ave.
Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on Twitter @SaraWalshFl.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Local groups seek a piece of Lakeland's COVID relief funds
