West Palm Beach doles out $500K in grants to local firms owned by women and minorities

Wayne Washington, Palm Beach Post
·3 min read

West Palm Beach has awarded a total of $500,000 to small firms and others owned by women and minorities as part of a new grant program aimed at helping businesses that often struggle to get funding and land contracts.

The city's First Steps program, created by Mayor Keith James and approved by the City Commission in February, provided grants to 43 firms doing business in a broad range of areas, including media, bookkeeping, floral, bakery and vacation rentals.

Demand for the grant funding was fierce, with more than 230 businesses applying for a combined $9.4 million to help them with inventory and equipment, marketing, new businesses and property improvement.

West Palm Beach's First Steps program, created by Mayor Keith James and approved by the City Commission in February, provides grants to 43 firms doing business in a broad range of areas, including media, bookkeeping, floral, bakery and vacation rentals.
West Palm Beach's First Steps program, created by Mayor Keith James and approved by the City Commission in February, provides grants to 43 firms doing business in a broad range of areas, including media, bookkeeping, floral, bakery and vacation rentals.

"The city is pleased with the response to this new program, which exceeded our expectations,” James said. "We are dedicated to helping our small business community recover from the lasting economic impact of the pandemic.”

West Palm Beach had established a COVID-19 recovery assistance loan program to help firms hurt by the coronavirus pandemic. Those loans were converted to grants, and the program was discontinued with the creation of First Steps.

The First Steps grants announced by the city on Monday ranged from $20,000 to $50,000.

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That's not a lot of money for large firms with the experience to attract traditional bank funding and the connections to learn about and land lucrative government contracts. Small firms and those owned by women and minorities often lack the experience and contacts of their larger brethren, making them more vulnerable to even small changes in a business climate currently marked by higher-than-usual interest rates, supply chain disruptions and stiff competition for labor.

James has said a priority of his administration is to help small, women- and minority-owned firms, seeing them as a critical part of a vibrant business community.

The city's Office of Small and Minority Business Programs oversees the First Steps program. Grant applications were evaluated by a committee made up of local business owners.

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Applicants had to be certified by the city, a process that would make them eligible for government contracts.

"The grant selection process was aided by the collaboration of local business owners,” said Frank Hayden, director of the Office of Small & Minority Business Programs. "Sincere thanks to our selection committee, which included Veronica Cooper of Cooper Construction, Bruce Lewis of LB Limited and Thais Sullivan of Valley Bank. And congratulations to all of the grant recipients."

Inventory/equipment grant recipients

  • A P Electronics LLC

  • Achieve CPR LLC

  • Aubry Art & Design Inc.

  • BCMB Enterprises Inc. dba A Better Way Home Care

  • BK Naturals Inc - dba - Kushae

  • Blue Mountain Coffee House LLC

  • Buddy Baton LLC

  • Camiles Flowers & Gifts

  • Cityside Suites Business Café Inc.

  • Dynamic Duo PT LLC

  • Eat 'n' Cake LLC

  • Familee First Pest Control Svcs LLC

  • Fantasy Oasis Inc dba Fantasy Island Restaurant

  • Fat Boy Sauceless Ribs & More

  • M. Nicolas Enterprise, LLC dba World Health Services

  • Panty Promise LLC

  • Passionate Care Services LLC

  • Patillo Enterprises LLC dba FL Maintenance Solutions

  • Poco P's Cosmetics LLC

  • Rose Trolley LLC

  • Serene Beauty LLC

  • Street Art Revolution LLC

  • The Blind Monk LLC

  • Vibrations Kava Bar

  • Vital Vita Wellness LLC

Marketing grant recipients

  • Creative Solutions Companion Care Services

  • Designed by BM, Inc., dba Brittani M. Design

  • HACA Property Investment LLC

  • Journey C&D Group Inc.

  • Search Appeal LLC

  • Studio B Media Group

  • Thompson Creative Collective Inc

New business grant recipients

  • 561 Custom LLC

  • All About Us LLC

  • HD Vacation Rentals LLC

  • SCCA LLC

  • The Kookie Box LLC

  • Travnetwork

  • The TJ Spot LLC

Property improvement grant recipients

  • 1st Source Construction, Inc.

  • JES Bookkeeping Services LLC

  • Moving Forward Again Enterprises LLC

  • P & L Corporates Solutions LLC

Wayne Washington is a journalist covering West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach and race relations at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at wwashington@pbpost.com. Help support our work; subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: West Palm Beach awards $500K in grants to small local businesses