July 9, 2025 • 25 mins
West Palm Beach prides itself as a community of opportunity for all. Part of making that goal a reality is a focus on offering programs to help local entrepreneurs find success. So if your dream is to start your own business, West Palm Beach has a team that’s ready to talk to you! With Frank Hayden.
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(23:30:14):
Welcome to the City Center Podcast. I'm
gerry Marcelo. West Palm Beach prides
itself as a community of opportunity for
all. Part of making that goal a reality
is a focus on offering programs to help
local entrepreneurs find success. So if
your dream is to start your own business,
West Palm Beach has a team that's ready
to talk to you. That's coming up next on
(23:30:36):
the City Center Podcast.
And joining me today is Frank Hayden,
director of the Office of Small and
Minority Women Business
Programs. Frank, welcome.
Well, thank you very much for having me.
Great to have you.
Thank you.
That is an awful long title for a
department. Tell me what it's all about.
(23:30:58):
How did it get started?
Well, back in 2019, I was the director of
procurement, and the mayor
summoned me to his office.
Okay, and just to stop you,
tell us what procurement is.
Okay. The Office of Procurement is the
department that buys items for the city
(23:31:18):
or contracts to have work done for the
city, whether it's engineering or
construction or
something along that line.
Okay.
So that's what I was doing. And so the
mayor asked that I take over the small
business group. And so in 2019, I mean,
you know, you don't tell the mayor no.
(23:31:40):
No.
I said, of course, I'll be more than
happy to do that. And so I took it over
in 2019. And we've been
rolling ever since then.
Okay, so and what is the basic idea
behind a department?
Well, it is to create opportunities for
small, minority and women-owned
(23:32:01):
businesses so that they can have a fair
opportunity to do work for
the city of West Palm Beach.
And so we've developed programs that has
enabled us to make that happen. And so
the ultimate goal is to provide or create
opportunities for small and minority and
(23:32:21):
women-owned businesses
to get work with the city.
That's a big signature for the mayor is
he coined the phrase, a community of
opportunity for all.
Yes. And I was very pleased that he asked
me to step into that role because I feel
very, very strongly about creating these
(23:32:43):
opportunities for small and minority and
women-owned businesses, not just here,
but in Palm Beach County as well.
So when you offered the opportunity, I
naturally accepted it. And we've been
doing quite well ever
since that day that I said yes.
Tell me a little bit about what the state
(23:33:05):
of minority and women-owned businesses
are both here in West Palm Beach and as
far as the entire county.
It's an interesting question that you
raised. As you know, there has been some
efforts to dismantle
these types of programs.
And so we have been working very closely
(23:33:28):
with our legal department to stay on the
right side of the law as
it relates to this program.
We're hopeful that we'll be able to
continue to provide these opportunities
because in our opinion, it doesn't really
take anything away from anybody else.
(23:33:48):
It just creates some opportunities for
people who normally wouldn't get
opportunities to participate.
Right. And it's important to provide that
because I could imagine that West Palm
Beach, especially West Palm Beach, is a
very up and coming, very attractive city for large businesses.
But there needs to be room for smaller
(23:34:10):
businesses and entrepreneurs.
Yes, that's very true. I've had numerous
conversations with the mayor that we
don't ever want to lose sight of the fact
that there are folks who have given their
heart and soul to this city.
And we don't want to have them pushed aside or left out.
And so these programs give us an
(23:34:35):
opportunity to make
sure that's not the case.
And the mayor is very committed in order
to assist in that
effort to make that happen.
So if we have someone who has a dream of
creating a business, a small business
gets started, and they are interested in
contacting and learning more about the
programs, what sort of qualifications are you looking for as far as getting someone involved?
(23:34:56):
Well, and that's interesting because if
you have the ability to add one and one,
your possibility of you running a
business is pretty successful.
And I mentioned earlier about programs
that we've initiated here at the city.
One is how do you make people aware of
(23:35:21):
your business and how do you make sure
that they understand
what it is that you offer?
So we offer a marketing program here that
once again, the businesses don't have to
pay for. The city picks up the tab and
you just come and pick up pointers in
terms of how you market your business.
(23:35:42):
Because as I tell folks, you could be the
best business in the world, but unless we
know anything about you, it does you no
good and does us no good.
So it is important that you kind of beat
your drum, so to speak, so that we know
who you are, what kind
of business you offer.
(23:36:02):
And the interesting thing is we can
utilize just about any business in this
city to provide services for us.
And so it's not like we're going to shy
you away because you do
X and we'd rather have Y.
I think in the long run, we can figure
(23:36:23):
out a way to utilize the
services that you have.
Absolutely. So is there a specific sort
of business that is more attractive or
more successful that
you want to encourage?
Yeah, that's a good question. Most of the
work that's done by the city or for the
city is either
(23:36:44):
engineering or construction.
So if you have a construction business,
the likelihood of you being successful
with the city is a lot greater than if
you have a business that
does not provide that service.
Now, it's likewise with the engineering
(23:37:05):
services, construction. Those are fields
that we need here in the city because as
you can tell, this city is
growing by leaps and bounds.
And so it is important that those
businesses who can provide those skills
take advantage of the opportunities that
we'll make available to
them as part of the projects.
(23:37:25):
And one of the things that I'm really
happy about is the fact that the
businesses who do business with us have
reached out to extend that hand to small
and minority businesses to do work for
them because they think it's a good
program that we're doing.
And that's what we're doing to help
minority and small
(23:37:45):
businesses here in the city.
So not only are we talking about a small
business, say, an entrepreneur who wants
to make baked goods or create some sort
of an item and sell it to people, but
also folks who would be working hand in
hand with the city,
working on projects as well.
So that's also part of what you do.
Very much so. As you might remember, we
(23:38:06):
did the project over in Office 7 that we
took some old shotgun houses and
renovated them and sold
those to business owners.
There is a floor shop over there. There's
(23:38:29):
a bakery over there. And these folks have
now put in this community a service that
the folks in that community can utilize
and need because, you know, most of those
folks who are in the Northwest
transportation is a problem.
And so it's good if there's something
close by that they can walk to or take a
(23:38:53):
taxi to to be able to take advantage of
what it is that we're
providing them and offering them.
And so, yes, it is an excellent
opportunity for folks to put themselves
in a position so that they can provide
these services to a community that is in
desperate need of the
types of services that we do.
(23:39:15):
And I think I said we have a florist over
there. We have a bakery over there.
There's a restaurant over there as well.
And so we try to put services close to
the people so that they don't have to
travel too far to get to it.
That's fantastic. That's great. Rolling
time back, looking back to the very
beginning of the tooth of this decade
(23:39:36):
when the pandemic started, wasn't there a
profound impact on what we were doing and
what you were doing within the program?
Yes, you're absolutely right that during
2020, when the pandemic hit, we had a
loan program going because most small
businesses were not in a position to be
(23:39:58):
able to get capital to do their projects.
And so we had worked out some things with
a couple of financial institutions here
in the city to work with these folks. And
the city was making grants available to
these individuals so that they could get
(23:40:19):
some capital in their hands to be able to
perform what it was.
And I like to say, and once again, I have
to give credit to the mayor and to the
commission that we were the only
municipalities that I'm aware of that was
taking money out of our coffers and
providing it to the businesses so that
they could be successful during this
(23:40:39):
period of time that COVID was going on.
And I think we were, I remember when we
first indicated that we were going to be
doing this, we had about $500,000, I
think, to make this happen.
So we made it available that we had this
capital and so forth and so on. And we
received requests that far exceeded the
(23:41:03):
dollar amounts that we had, which was the
indication that the service was needed.
And it just wasn't people here in West
Palm Beach. We had people from Delray and
Boynton who were wanting to participate.
So I think it proved to be a very
successful program. We were able to help
those businesses in Palm Beach County and
(23:41:27):
especially in the city of West Palm Beach
through the program that we were running
to help our businesses.
I would say that it was a moment that was
defining for the entire character of the
city. Not only were we interested in the
big developers and the large dollars, we
were really interested in the small
(23:41:47):
businesses, the tiny local businesses
that really needed help and you guys delivered.
Yes, and you're absolutely right about
that. We made a point that those
businesses that we helped fit a certain
economic criteria in order for us to
(23:42:08):
provide that funding to them because the
other businesses could take advantage of
this situation and the people we really
wanted to help would not have an
opportunity to be successful.
I think it worked out real well. I think
if my memory serves me correct, we ended
(23:42:28):
up letting close to about 40 grants to
people that ranged anywhere from 50 down
to as little as $5,000,
which was a tremendous help.
A tremendous help to help businesses.
Okay, so let's get down to some brass
tacks. We have a local entrepreneur or
(23:42:50):
small business here that is appropriate
to become involved in one of your
programs. Let's talk about the type of
things that are available now.
Yes, and I mentioned to you a
couple of things, marketing.
Yeah, it's a great idea.
Yeah, financial assistance. And so those
(23:43:12):
programs exist. We even have one to teach
people how to respond to RPs, those are
requests for proposals, which is how we
put something out on the street for
people to get work for us.
And so the people go through that class,
and they understand what information they
must provide to us in order for us to
(23:43:33):
consider them in the solicitation that we
have out on the street.
And so those types of programs are
helpful for businesses because most small
businesses do business via a handshake.
You know somebody who can put a window
in, you know a person who needs a window
(23:43:55):
put in, and you put the two together.
And so our thing is that works, but
you're not going to find a whole lot of
people that need windows put in. You need
to expand your business. And so through
our efforts to try and make that happen,
enlarge is your opportunity, create some
value by what you provide to the city.
(23:44:18):
And to your business as well. So we think
it's a win-win situation for everybody.
How does a business become attached to
the program? Is there some sort of
certification that
they have to go through?
Well, we do have a certification program
for small or minority owned or women
owned businesses. Mostly it is word of
(23:44:44):
mouth that we spread
the word that we are.
That we are providing X, Y, and Z. And
people come to us. We've gotten to the
point now where people submit unsolicited
proposals to us to offer a service.
And so we have to review those proposals,
(23:45:04):
see if they're going to be beneficial to
the city, and whether or not it's going
to be economically
feasible for the city as well.
So I think we have done a good job of
promoting what it is that we do here. And
people are stepping up to take advantage
of these opportunities that
(23:45:25):
we're making available for them.
So what types of things are going on
right now? Here we are
mid-year 2025. What's going on?
You know, it never seems to stop. We get
requests from vendors out there every day
about wanting to propose
(23:45:45):
to do this and to do that.
And so I think that's because we've done
such a good job of sharing what it is
that we do. A lot of times we have to
turn people down, primarily because
they're requesting more
than we have available.
But I think that's a good thing, that we
have that opportunity to say no. But we
(23:46:05):
tell them, don't go away. Start preparing
for next year, because we've been blessed
that the city has allowed us to run this
program, I think now
for close to four years.
And hopefully we'll be able to run it for
another year. And so people know that.
(23:46:26):
People begin to prepare for it. And it
gives us a chance to help and develop
more businesses in this city to take
advantage of opportunities.
Not only just with us, but with the
county, with the solid waste, with the
school system as well. Because they take
the tools that we share with them and
move on to the next step to be able to do
(23:46:47):
some things to help them and help the
entities or cities that
they find themselves in.
Gotcha. So is there any specific dates
that are coming up? Any landmarks that
you're really interested?
I'm sorry. Yes, we have a couple of
things that are coming up. One is we're
(23:47:08):
doing a disparity study.
Every four or five years, you have to do
a disparity study in order to create a
program that is beneficial to minority
and women on business.
And so on July 23, there is going to be a
public engagement meeting that we're
(23:47:30):
going to invite the public to. We've sent
out information to it as well.
One of the others is a thing about
prompting to profit. That's September 3
through September 16. It's going to be
held right here at our library.
And then we've got one that's a health of
your business that's going to be run also
(23:47:52):
at our library. The prompt to profit is
September 3 through the 10th, 6th day.
And then the health of your business is
October 14 through
the 16th at the library.
All these items are really very
interesting, but I'm curious. Tell me a
little bit more about what a disparity
(23:48:13):
study is. I'm not familiar with that.
Well, according to federal law, in order
for you to have a program that will
assist a certain minority group, you have
to do a disparity study.
And the disparity study basically
determines whether or not there has been
(23:48:34):
or there is a disparity out there in the
community of opportunities for minorities
or women on business.
And so if we can determine that that is
the case, then we can run a program that
can benefit businesses who happen to be
minority or women-owned so that they can
(23:48:55):
take advantage of some
opportunities that we have out there.
We currently have such a program in
place, but it's only good for five years.
And then we have to go out and do another
study before we can implement it for an
additional period of time.
So we're looking forward to getting the
word out, getting feedback from
(23:49:16):
individuals so that we can
move ahead with that program.
So the study helps you know
where the need is greatest.
Right. And not only where the need is, it
is what kind of need is out there. We've
been running this program
for about five years now.
And so time and situations change. And so
(23:49:38):
if we were able to impact area A, so to
speak, but area B and C is not being
helped as much, then we can shift some of
the things that we're doing to area B
that this study indicates that is well
needed in those particular areas.
And so the disparity studies help us
(23:50:00):
determine where we need to put our
emphasis to help businesses have an
opportunity here in this city.
Okay. And that meeting is
taking place during July 23rd?
Yeah, July 23rd. There's flyers which
have been sent out and we'll continue to
send those out so that people are aware
of it and they can take
advantage of it as well.
Okay. And then moving on, as you just
(23:50:21):
mentioned, September 3rd through
September 10th, you're
looking for the prompt to profit.
Give me a little bit more about what the
idea behind that is.
Well, this is an AI program. And that's
way above my pay grade. But it is to help
people develop programs through AI to
(23:50:42):
help them and benefit them.
And so we have this young lady who
teaches that program. And so she'll be
offering that to people.
And then the health of your business is
another one, which is
October 14th through the 16th.
This is one where we'll have an
individual take a look at your business,
what you're proposing, what you're asking
(23:51:03):
for, and the like to help you be able to
do a better job of advertising who you
are, what your business is, and what
you're offering out there for the people.
So we're really excited about what this
year is coming to be, because I think it
is a continuation of what we've been able
(23:51:23):
to do for a number of years. And it just
continuously gets better.
That's fantastic. Well, obviously, you
have spent years working to improve the
situation for small business and minority
business here in West Palm Beach. The
proof's in the pudding.
There's a lot of activity. There's a very
there's a thriving community here. And a
lot of it has to do with your efforts and
(23:51:44):
the efforts of the city to help small
businesses take part.
Thank you. I truly do appreciate that
because when I talked to the mayor about
taking over the spot, I indicated to him
that this is a passion of mine.
And I need to know that I can operate at
a level and a point that is going to be
(23:52:06):
helpful to the city and not harmful to
the city. And so it has
worked out well. We've done well.
We started out saying that 15 percent of
contracts would be set aside for small
businesses. We're up to now 18 percent.
And most of the time we come in at about
(23:52:28):
20 percent in that regard.
So I think we're doing a great job in
terms of making that happen. That's
fantastic. So if someone wants to find
out more information, to learn more about
programs and to find a way to get in
contact with you, I guess the city would be able to do that.
So the website's a good place to start.
W.P.B. dot org. Yes. It's an excellent
place to start and look up the Office of
(23:52:52):
Minority and Women on Business on the
website. It has our names and phone
numbers there. And you're more
than happy to reach out to us.
It's amazing the number of calls we get
during the day, whether it's to get
certified to be a small business or it's
to find out about what opportunities are
(23:53:13):
out there that
companies can take advantage of.
What is your message to the dreamer who
wants to start a new business and wants
to do it here in West Palm Beach?
I'm going to say that, Sam. And I've said
this a number of times when I'm out
campaigning or talking to people. That
(23:53:33):
you can be the best at what you do. But
if I know nothing about you, there's
nothing I can do to assist you.
So you need to toot your own horn. You
need to let us know that you're out
there. I've said to people you need to
make yourself a pest. Because if you blow
up my phone enough, I'm going to give you
some work so you'll stop calling.
(23:53:54):
And I'm going to have to change that
because now everybody is taking advantage
of that. But that's the effort. You can't
just sit back and wait for us to come to
you because there's hundreds and
thousands of businesses out there.
And so you can't wait on us to come to
you. You've got to come to us. You've got
to convince us that you're the best at
(23:54:16):
what you do. And we can really utilize
the services that you offer.
And so with that, we'll be more than
happy to give you an opportunity to be
successful. But I will say this. There's
a lot of people out there
who want this opportunity.
And so we can't have folks who are not
(23:54:38):
ready and prepared because that messes it
up for the people that are coming behind.
So I want you to be ready. I want you to
be prepared to take
advantage of these opportunities.
And if you need some training to make
sure you're ready, we're willing to do
that. But the long and the short of it is
our doors are open. We want you to come
on down and take advantage of these
(23:55:01):
opportunities that we have here for you.
Frank Hedden, thank you for
being a part of our podcast.
Thank you so very much
for having me. Thank you.
And thank you for joining us. The City
Center podcast is a production of the
City of West Palm Beach Communications
Department. I'm Jerry
Marcello. We'll see you next time.
Welcome to the City Center Podcast. I'm
gerry Marcelo. West Palm Beach prides
itself as a community of opportunity for
all. Part of making that goal a reality
is a focus on offering programs to help
local entrepreneurs find success. So if
your dream is to start your own business,
West Palm Beach has a team that's ready
to talk to you. That's coming up next on
(23:30:36):
the City Center Podcast.
And joining me today is Frank Hayden,
director of the Office of Small and
Minority Women Business
Programs. Frank, welcome.
Well, thank you very much for having me.
Great to have you.
Thank you.
That is an awful long title for a
department. Tell me what it's all about.
(23:30:58):
How did it get started?
Well, back in 2019, I was the director of
procurement, and the mayor
summoned me to his office.
Okay, and just to stop you,
tell us what procurement is.
Okay. The Office of Procurement is the
department that buys items for the city
(23:31:18):
or contracts to have work done for the
city, whether it's engineering or
construction or
something along that line.
Okay.
So that's what I was doing. And so the
mayor asked that I take over the small
business group. And so in 2019, I mean,
you know, you don't tell the mayor no.
(23:31:40):
No.
I said, of course, I'll be more than
happy to do that. And so I took it over
in 2019. And we've been
rolling ever since then.
Okay, so and what is the basic idea
behind a department?
Well, it is to create opportunities for
small, minority and women-owned
(23:32:01):
businesses so that they can have a fair
opportunity to do work for
the city of West Palm Beach.
And so we've developed programs that has
enabled us to make that happen. And so
the ultimate goal is to provide or create
opportunities for small and minority and
(23:32:21):
women-owned businesses
to get work with the city.
That's a big signature for the mayor is
he coined the phrase, a community of
opportunity for all.
Yes. And I was very pleased that he asked
me to step into that role because I feel
very, very strongly about creating these
(23:32:43):
opportunities for small and minority and
women-owned businesses, not just here,
but in Palm Beach County as well.
So when you offered the opportunity, I
naturally accepted it. And we've been
doing quite well ever
since that day that I said yes.
Tell me a little bit about what the state
(23:33:05):
of minority and women-owned businesses
are both here in West Palm Beach and as
far as the entire county.
It's an interesting question that you
raised. As you know, there has been some
efforts to dismantle
these types of programs.
And so we have been working very closely
(23:33:28):
with our legal department to stay on the
right side of the law as
it relates to this program.
We're hopeful that we'll be able to
continue to provide these opportunities
because in our opinion, it doesn't really
take anything away from anybody else.
(23:33:48):
It just creates some opportunities for
people who normally wouldn't get
opportunities to participate.
Right. And it's important to provide that
because I could imagine that West Palm
Beach, especially West Palm Beach, is a
very up and coming, very attractive city for large businesses.
But there needs to be room for smaller
(23:34:10):
businesses and entrepreneurs.
Yes, that's very true. I've had numerous
conversations with the mayor that we
don't ever want to lose sight of the fact
that there are folks who have given their
heart and soul to this city.
And we don't want to have them pushed aside or left out.
And so these programs give us an
(23:34:35):
opportunity to make
sure that's not the case.
And the mayor is very committed in order
to assist in that
effort to make that happen.
So if we have someone who has a dream of
creating a business, a small business
gets started, and they are interested in
contacting and learning more about the
programs, what sort of qualifications are you looking for as far as getting someone involved?
(23:34:56):
Well, and that's interesting because if
you have the ability to add one and one,
your possibility of you running a
business is pretty successful.
And I mentioned earlier about programs
that we've initiated here at the city.
One is how do you make people aware of
(23:35:21):
your business and how do you make sure
that they understand
what it is that you offer?
So we offer a marketing program here that
once again, the businesses don't have to
pay for. The city picks up the tab and
you just come and pick up pointers in
terms of how you market your business.
(23:35:42):
Because as I tell folks, you could be the
best business in the world, but unless we
know anything about you, it does you no
good and does us no good.
So it is important that you kind of beat
your drum, so to speak, so that we know
who you are, what kind
of business you offer.
(23:36:02):
And the interesting thing is we can
utilize just about any business in this
city to provide services for us.
And so it's not like we're going to shy
you away because you do
X and we'd rather have Y.
I think in the long run, we can figure
(23:36:23):
out a way to utilize the
services that you have.
Absolutely. So is there a specific sort
of business that is more attractive or
more successful that
you want to encourage?
Yeah, that's a good question. Most of the
work that's done by the city or for the
city is either
(23:36:44):
engineering or construction.
So if you have a construction business,
the likelihood of you being successful
with the city is a lot greater than if
you have a business that
does not provide that service.
Now, it's likewise with the engineering
(23:37:05):
services, construction. Those are fields
that we need here in the city because as
you can tell, this city is
growing by leaps and bounds.
And so it is important that those
businesses who can provide those skills
take advantage of the opportunities that
we'll make available to
them as part of the projects.
(23:37:25):
And one of the things that I'm really
happy about is the fact that the
businesses who do business with us have
reached out to extend that hand to small
and minority businesses to do work for
them because they think it's a good
program that we're doing.
And that's what we're doing to help
minority and small
(23:37:45):
businesses here in the city.
So not only are we talking about a small
business, say, an entrepreneur who wants
to make baked goods or create some sort
of an item and sell it to people, but
also folks who would be working hand in
hand with the city,
working on projects as well.
So that's also part of what you do.
Very much so. As you might remember, we
(23:38:06):
did the project over in Office 7 that we
took some old shotgun houses and
renovated them and sold
those to business owners.
There is a floor shop over there. There's
(23:38:29):
a bakery over there. And these folks have
now put in this community a service that
the folks in that community can utilize
and need because, you know, most of those
folks who are in the Northwest
transportation is a problem.
And so it's good if there's something
close by that they can walk to or take a
(23:38:53):
taxi to to be able to take advantage of
what it is that we're
providing them and offering them.
And so, yes, it is an excellent
opportunity for folks to put themselves
in a position so that they can provide
these services to a community that is in
desperate need of the
types of services that we do.
(23:39:15):
And I think I said we have a florist over
there. We have a bakery over there.
There's a restaurant over there as well.
And so we try to put services close to
the people so that they don't have to
travel too far to get to it.
That's fantastic. That's great. Rolling
time back, looking back to the very
beginning of the tooth of this decade
(23:39:36):
when the pandemic started, wasn't there a
profound impact on what we were doing and
what you were doing within the program?
Yes, you're absolutely right that during
2020, when the pandemic hit, we had a
loan program going because most small
businesses were not in a position to be
(23:39:58):
able to get capital to do their projects.
And so we had worked out some things with
a couple of financial institutions here
in the city to work with these folks. And
the city was making grants available to
these individuals so that they could get
(23:40:19):
some capital in their hands to be able to
perform what it was.
And I like to say, and once again, I have
to give credit to the mayor and to the
commission that we were the only
municipalities that I'm aware of that was
taking money out of our coffers and
providing it to the businesses so that
they could be successful during this
(23:40:39):
period of time that COVID was going on.
And I think we were, I remember when we
first indicated that we were going to be
doing this, we had about $500,000, I
think, to make this happen.
So we made it available that we had this
capital and so forth and so on. And we
received requests that far exceeded the
(23:41:03):
dollar amounts that we had, which was the
indication that the service was needed.
And it just wasn't people here in West
Palm Beach. We had people from Delray and
Boynton who were wanting to participate.
So I think it proved to be a very
successful program. We were able to help
those businesses in Palm Beach County and
(23:41:27):
especially in the city of West Palm Beach
through the program that we were running
to help our businesses.
I would say that it was a moment that was
defining for the entire character of the
city. Not only were we interested in the
big developers and the large dollars, we
were really interested in the small
(23:41:47):
businesses, the tiny local businesses
that really needed help and you guys delivered.
Yes, and you're absolutely right about
that. We made a point that those
businesses that we helped fit a certain
economic criteria in order for us to
(23:42:08):
provide that funding to them because the
other businesses could take advantage of
this situation and the people we really
wanted to help would not have an
opportunity to be successful.
I think it worked out real well. I think
if my memory serves me correct, we ended
(23:42:28):
up letting close to about 40 grants to
people that ranged anywhere from 50 down
to as little as $5,000,
which was a tremendous help.
A tremendous help to help businesses.
Okay, so let's get down to some brass
tacks. We have a local entrepreneur or
(23:42:50):
small business here that is appropriate
to become involved in one of your
programs. Let's talk about the type of
things that are available now.
Yes, and I mentioned to you a
couple of things, marketing.
Yeah, it's a great idea.
Yeah, financial assistance. And so those
(23:43:12):
programs exist. We even have one to teach
people how to respond to RPs, those are
requests for proposals, which is how we
put something out on the street for
people to get work for us.
And so the people go through that class,
and they understand what information they
must provide to us in order for us to
(23:43:33):
consider them in the solicitation that we
have out on the street.
And so those types of programs are
helpful for businesses because most small
businesses do business via a handshake.
You know somebody who can put a window
in, you know a person who needs a window
(23:43:55):
put in, and you put the two together.
And so our thing is that works, but
you're not going to find a whole lot of
people that need windows put in. You need
to expand your business. And so through
our efforts to try and make that happen,
enlarge is your opportunity, create some
value by what you provide to the city.
(23:44:18):
And to your business as well. So we think
it's a win-win situation for everybody.
How does a business become attached to
the program? Is there some sort of
certification that
they have to go through?
Well, we do have a certification program
for small or minority owned or women
owned businesses. Mostly it is word of
(23:44:44):
mouth that we spread
the word that we are.
That we are providing X, Y, and Z. And
people come to us. We've gotten to the
point now where people submit unsolicited
proposals to us to offer a service.
And so we have to review those proposals,
(23:45:04):
see if they're going to be beneficial to
the city, and whether or not it's going
to be economically
feasible for the city as well.
So I think we have done a good job of
promoting what it is that we do here. And
people are stepping up to take advantage
of these opportunities that
(23:45:25):
we're making available for them.
So what types of things are going on
right now? Here we are
mid-year 2025. What's going on?
You know, it never seems to stop. We get
requests from vendors out there every day
about wanting to propose
(23:45:45):
to do this and to do that.
And so I think that's because we've done
such a good job of sharing what it is
that we do. A lot of times we have to
turn people down, primarily because
they're requesting more
than we have available.
But I think that's a good thing, that we
have that opportunity to say no. But we
(23:46:05):
tell them, don't go away. Start preparing
for next year, because we've been blessed
that the city has allowed us to run this
program, I think now
for close to four years.
And hopefully we'll be able to run it for
another year. And so people know that.
(23:46:26):
People begin to prepare for it. And it
gives us a chance to help and develop
more businesses in this city to take
advantage of opportunities.
Not only just with us, but with the
county, with the solid waste, with the
school system as well. Because they take
the tools that we share with them and
move on to the next step to be able to do
(23:46:47):
some things to help them and help the
entities or cities that
they find themselves in.
Gotcha. So is there any specific dates
that are coming up? Any landmarks that
you're really interested?
I'm sorry. Yes, we have a couple of
things that are coming up. One is we're
(23:47:08):
doing a disparity study.
Every four or five years, you have to do
a disparity study in order to create a
program that is beneficial to minority
and women on business.
And so on July 23, there is going to be a
public engagement meeting that we're
(23:47:30):
going to invite the public to. We've sent
out information to it as well.
One of the others is a thing about
prompting to profit. That's September 3
through September 16. It's going to be
held right here at our library.
And then we've got one that's a health of
your business that's going to be run also
(23:47:52):
at our library. The prompt to profit is
September 3 through the 10th, 6th day.
And then the health of your business is
October 14 through
the 16th at the library.
All these items are really very
interesting, but I'm curious. Tell me a
little bit more about what a disparity
(23:48:13):
study is. I'm not familiar with that.
Well, according to federal law, in order
for you to have a program that will
assist a certain minority group, you have
to do a disparity study.
And the disparity study basically
determines whether or not there has been
(23:48:34):
or there is a disparity out there in the
community of opportunities for minorities
or women on business.
And so if we can determine that that is
the case, then we can run a program that
can benefit businesses who happen to be
minority or women-owned so that they can
(23:48:55):
take advantage of some
opportunities that we have out there.
We currently have such a program in
place, but it's only good for five years.
And then we have to go out and do another
study before we can implement it for an
additional period of time.
So we're looking forward to getting the
word out, getting feedback from
(23:49:16):
individuals so that we can
move ahead with that program.
So the study helps you know
where the need is greatest.
Right. And not only where the need is, it
is what kind of need is out there. We've
been running this program
for about five years now.
And so time and situations change. And so
(23:49:38):
if we were able to impact area A, so to
speak, but area B and C is not being
helped as much, then we can shift some of
the things that we're doing to area B
that this study indicates that is well
needed in those particular areas.
And so the disparity studies help us
(23:50:00):
determine where we need to put our
emphasis to help businesses have an
opportunity here in this city.
Okay. And that meeting is
taking place during July 23rd?
Yeah, July 23rd. There's flyers which
have been sent out and we'll continue to
send those out so that people are aware
of it and they can take
advantage of it as well.
Okay. And then moving on, as you just
(23:50:21):
mentioned, September 3rd through
September 10th, you're
looking for the prompt to profit.
Give me a little bit more about what the
idea behind that is.
Well, this is an AI program. And that's
way above my pay grade. But it is to help
people develop programs through AI to
(23:50:42):
help them and benefit them.
And so we have this young lady who
teaches that program. And so she'll be
offering that to people.
And then the health of your business is
another one, which is
October 14th through the 16th.
This is one where we'll have an
individual take a look at your business,
what you're proposing, what you're asking
(23:51:03):
for, and the like to help you be able to
do a better job of advertising who you
are, what your business is, and what
you're offering out there for the people.
So we're really excited about what this
year is coming to be, because I think it
is a continuation of what we've been able
(23:51:23):
to do for a number of years. And it just
continuously gets better.
That's fantastic. Well, obviously, you
have spent years working to improve the
situation for small business and minority
business here in West Palm Beach. The
proof's in the pudding.
There's a lot of activity. There's a very
there's a thriving community here. And a
lot of it has to do with your efforts and
(23:51:44):
the efforts of the city to help small
businesses take part.
Thank you. I truly do appreciate that
because when I talked to the mayor about
taking over the spot, I indicated to him
that this is a passion of mine.
And I need to know that I can operate at
a level and a point that is going to be
(23:52:06):
helpful to the city and not harmful to
the city. And so it has
worked out well. We've done well.
We started out saying that 15 percent of
contracts would be set aside for small
businesses. We're up to now 18 percent.
And most of the time we come in at about
(23:52:28):
20 percent in that regard.
So I think we're doing a great job in
terms of making that happen. That's
fantastic. So if someone wants to find
out more information, to learn more about
programs and to find a way to get in
contact with you, I guess the city would be able to do that.
So the website's a good place to start.
W.P.B. dot org. Yes. It's an excellent
place to start and look up the Office of
(23:52:52):
Minority and Women on Business on the
website. It has our names and phone
numbers there. And you're more
than happy to reach out to us.
It's amazing the number of calls we get
during the day, whether it's to get
certified to be a small business or it's
to find out about what opportunities are
(23:53:13):
out there that
companies can take advantage of.
What is your message to the dreamer who
wants to start a new business and wants
to do it here in West Palm Beach?
I'm going to say that, Sam. And I've said
this a number of times when I'm out
campaigning or talking to people. That
(23:53:33):
you can be the best at what you do. But
if I know nothing about you, there's
nothing I can do to assist you.
So you need to toot your own horn. You
need to let us know that you're out
there. I've said to people you need to
make yourself a pest. Because if you blow
up my phone enough, I'm going to give you
some work so you'll stop calling.
(23:53:54):
And I'm going to have to change that
because now everybody is taking advantage
of that. But that's the effort. You can't
just sit back and wait for us to come to
you because there's hundreds and
thousands of businesses out there.
And so you can't wait on us to come to
you. You've got to come to us. You've got
to convince us that you're the best at
(23:54:16):
what you do. And we can really utilize
the services that you offer.
And so with that, we'll be more than
happy to give you an opportunity to be
successful. But I will say this. There's
a lot of people out there
who want this opportunity.
And so we can't have folks who are not
(23:54:38):
ready and prepared because that messes it
up for the people that are coming behind.
So I want you to be ready. I want you to
be prepared to take
advantage of these opportunities.
And if you need some training to make
sure you're ready, we're willing to do
that. But the long and the short of it is
our doors are open. We want you to come
on down and take advantage of these
(23:55:01):
opportunities that we have here for you.
Frank Hedden, thank you for
being a part of our podcast.
Thank you so very much
for having me. Thank you.
And thank you for joining us. The City
Center podcast is a production of the
City of West Palm Beach Communications
Department. I'm Jerry
Marcello. We'll see you next time.
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