Latest / Inside West Palm Beach / A Community of Opportunity for All: How The City is Helping Small Business Start in WPB

Transcript

A Community of Opportunity for All: How The City is Helping Small Business Start in WPB · Inside West Palm Beach

23:30:14
Welcome to the City Center Podcast. I'm
23:30:16
gerry Marcelo. West Palm Beach prides
23:30:19
itself as a community of opportunity for
23:30:21
all. Part of making that goal a reality
23:30:23
is a focus on offering programs to help
23:30:26
local entrepreneurs find success. So if
23:30:29
your dream is to start your own business,
23:30:32
West Palm Beach has a team that's ready
23:30:34
to talk to you. That's coming up next on
23:30:36
the City Center Podcast.
23:30:43
And joining me today is Frank Hayden,
23:30:45
director of the Office of Small and
23:30:48
Minority Women Business
23:30:48
Programs. Frank, welcome.
23:30:50
Well, thank you very much for having me.
23:30:53
Great to have you.
23:30:54
Thank you.
23:30:54
That is an awful long title for a
23:30:56
department. Tell me what it's all about.
23:30:58
How did it get started?
23:30:59
Well, back in 2019, I was the director of
23:31:04
procurement, and the mayor
23:31:06
summoned me to his office.
23:31:08
Okay, and just to stop you,
23:31:10
tell us what procurement is.
23:31:11
Okay. The Office of Procurement is the
23:31:14
department that buys items for the city
23:31:18
or contracts to have work done for the
23:31:22
city, whether it's engineering or
23:31:24
construction or
23:31:25
something along that line.
23:31:27
Okay.
23:31:27
So that's what I was doing. And so the
23:31:30
mayor asked that I take over the small
23:31:34
business group. And so in 2019, I mean,
23:31:38
you know, you don't tell the mayor no.
23:31:40
No.
23:31:40
I said, of course, I'll be more than
23:31:43
happy to do that. And so I took it over
23:31:45
in 2019. And we've been
23:31:48
rolling ever since then.
23:31:49
Okay, so and what is the basic idea
23:31:52
behind a department?
23:31:53
Well, it is to create opportunities for
23:31:57
small, minority and women-owned
23:32:01
businesses so that they can have a fair
23:32:04
opportunity to do work for
23:32:07
the city of West Palm Beach.
23:32:08
And so we've developed programs that has
23:32:11
enabled us to make that happen. And so
23:32:14
the ultimate goal is to provide or create
23:32:18
opportunities for small and minority and
23:32:21
women-owned businesses
23:32:22
to get work with the city.
23:32:24
That's a big signature for the mayor is
23:32:27
he coined the phrase, a community of
23:32:30
opportunity for all.
23:32:31
Yes. And I was very pleased that he asked
23:32:35
me to step into that role because I feel
23:32:40
very, very strongly about creating these
23:32:43
opportunities for small and minority and
23:32:47
women-owned businesses, not just here,
23:32:49
but in Palm Beach County as well.
23:32:52
So when you offered the opportunity, I
23:32:54
naturally accepted it. And we've been
23:32:57
doing quite well ever
23:32:59
since that day that I said yes.
23:33:02
Tell me a little bit about what the state
23:33:05
of minority and women-owned businesses
23:33:07
are both here in West Palm Beach and as
23:33:09
far as the entire county.
23:33:12
It's an interesting question that you
23:33:14
raised. As you know, there has been some
23:33:18
efforts to dismantle
23:33:21
these types of programs.
23:33:24
And so we have been working very closely
23:33:28
with our legal department to stay on the
23:33:32
right side of the law as
23:33:34
it relates to this program.
23:33:37
We're hopeful that we'll be able to
23:33:40
continue to provide these opportunities
23:33:42
because in our opinion, it doesn't really
23:33:46
take anything away from anybody else.
23:33:48
It just creates some opportunities for
23:33:51
people who normally wouldn't get
23:33:53
opportunities to participate.
23:33:55
Right. And it's important to provide that
23:33:57
because I could imagine that West Palm
23:33:59
Beach, especially West Palm Beach, is a
23:34:01
very up and coming, very attractive city for large businesses.
23:34:06
But there needs to be room for smaller
23:34:10
businesses and entrepreneurs.
23:34:12
Yes, that's very true. I've had numerous
23:34:15
conversations with the mayor that we
23:34:20
don't ever want to lose sight of the fact
23:34:22
that there are folks who have given their
23:34:25
heart and soul to this city.
23:34:28
And we don't want to have them pushed aside or left out.
23:34:29
And so these programs give us an
23:34:35
opportunity to make
23:34:36
sure that's not the case.
23:34:38
And the mayor is very committed in order
23:34:40
to assist in that
23:34:42
effort to make that happen.
23:34:44
So if we have someone who has a dream of
23:34:46
creating a business, a small business
23:34:48
gets started, and they are interested in
23:34:51
contacting and learning more about the
23:34:54
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
23:35:02
you have the ability to add one and one,
23:35:07
your possibility of you running a
23:35:09
business is pretty successful.
23:35:11
And I mentioned earlier about programs
23:35:13
that we've initiated here at the city.
23:35:15
One is how do you make people aware of
23:35:21
your business and how do you make sure
23:35:24
that they understand
23:35:25
what it is that you offer?
23:35:27
So we offer a marketing program here that
23:35:31
once again, the businesses don't have to
23:35:34
pay for. The city picks up the tab and
23:35:37
you just come and pick up pointers in
23:35:40
terms of how you market your business.
23:35:42
Because as I tell folks, you could be the
23:35:46
best business in the world, but unless we
23:35:49
know anything about you, it does you no
23:35:51
good and does us no good.
23:35:53
So it is important that you kind of beat
23:35:58
your drum, so to speak, so that we know
23:36:00
who you are, what kind
23:36:02
of business you offer.
23:36:02
And the interesting thing is we can
23:36:07
utilize just about any business in this
23:36:10
city to provide services for us.
23:36:14
And so it's not like we're going to shy
23:36:17
you away because you do
23:36:19
X and we'd rather have Y.
23:36:21
I think in the long run, we can figure
23:36:23
out a way to utilize the
23:36:25
services that you have.
23:36:27
Absolutely. So is there a specific sort
23:36:31
of business that is more attractive or
23:36:33
more successful that
23:36:34
you want to encourage?
23:36:36
Yeah, that's a good question. Most of the
23:36:41
work that's done by the city or for the
23:36:43
city is either
23:36:44
engineering or construction.
23:36:46
So if you have a construction business,
23:36:50
the likelihood of you being successful
23:36:52
with the city is a lot greater than if
23:36:56
you have a business that
23:36:58
does not provide that service.
23:37:01
Now, it's likewise with the engineering
23:37:05
services, construction. Those are fields
23:37:09
that we need here in the city because as
23:37:11
you can tell, this city is
23:37:12
growing by leaps and bounds.
23:37:13
And so it is important that those
23:37:17
businesses who can provide those skills
23:37:20
take advantage of the opportunities that
23:37:22
we'll make available to
23:37:24
them as part of the projects.
23:37:25
And one of the things that I'm really
23:37:27
happy about is the fact that the
23:37:30
businesses who do business with us have
23:37:32
reached out to extend that hand to small
23:37:37
and minority businesses to do work for
23:37:40
them because they think it's a good
23:37:42
program that we're doing.
23:37:43
And that's what we're doing to help
23:37:44
minority and small
23:37:45
businesses here in the city.
23:37:47
So not only are we talking about a small
23:37:50
business, say, an entrepreneur who wants
23:37:52
to make baked goods or create some sort
23:37:55
of an item and sell it to people, but
23:37:57
also folks who would be working hand in
23:37:59
hand with the city,
23:38:00
working on projects as well.
23:38:02
So that's also part of what you do.
23:38:03
Very much so. As you might remember, we
23:38:06
did the project over in Office 7 that we
23:38:17
took some old shotgun houses and
23:38:20
renovated them and sold
23:38:24
those to business owners.
23:38:25
There is a floor shop over there. There's
23:38:29
a bakery over there. And these folks have
23:38:33
now put in this community a service that
23:38:37
the folks in that community can utilize
23:38:40
and need because, you know, most of those
23:38:42
folks who are in the Northwest
23:38:43
transportation is a problem.
23:38:45
And so it's good if there's something
23:38:48
close by that they can walk to or take a
23:38:53
taxi to to be able to take advantage of
23:38:55
what it is that we're
23:38:57
providing them and offering them.
23:38:59
And so, yes, it is an excellent
23:39:01
opportunity for folks to put themselves
23:39:05
in a position so that they can provide
23:39:08
these services to a community that is in
23:39:10
desperate need of the
23:39:13
types of services that we do.
23:39:15
And I think I said we have a florist over
23:39:17
there. We have a bakery over there.
23:39:19
There's a restaurant over there as well.
23:39:21
And so we try to put services close to
23:39:25
the people so that they don't have to
23:39:27
travel too far to get to it.
23:39:29
That's fantastic. That's great. Rolling
23:39:31
time back, looking back to the very
23:39:33
beginning of the tooth of this decade
23:39:36
when the pandemic started, wasn't there a
23:39:38
profound impact on what we were doing and
23:39:41
what you were doing within the program?
23:39:43
Yes, you're absolutely right that during
23:39:46
2020, when the pandemic hit, we had a
23:39:51
loan program going because most small
23:39:55
businesses were not in a position to be
23:39:58
able to get capital to do their projects.
23:40:02
And so we had worked out some things with
23:40:06
a couple of financial institutions here
23:40:08
in the city to work with these folks. And
23:40:12
the city was making grants available to
23:40:15
these individuals so that they could get
23:40:19
some capital in their hands to be able to
23:40:21
perform what it was.
23:40:22
And I like to say, and once again, I have
23:40:25
to give credit to the mayor and to the
23:40:28
commission that we were the only
23:40:29
municipalities that I'm aware of that was
23:40:32
taking money out of our coffers and
23:40:35
providing it to the businesses so that
23:40:37
they could be successful during this
23:40:39
period of time that COVID was going on.
23:40:42
And I think we were, I remember when we
23:40:45
first indicated that we were going to be
23:40:48
doing this, we had about $500,000, I
23:40:50
think, to make this happen.
23:40:53
So we made it available that we had this
23:40:55
capital and so forth and so on. And we
23:40:59
received requests that far exceeded the
23:41:03
dollar amounts that we had, which was the
23:41:05
indication that the service was needed.
23:41:08
And it just wasn't people here in West
23:41:11
Palm Beach. We had people from Delray and
23:41:14
Boynton who were wanting to participate.
23:41:18
So I think it proved to be a very
23:41:20
successful program. We were able to help
23:41:23
those businesses in Palm Beach County and
23:41:27
especially in the city of West Palm Beach
23:41:29
through the program that we were running
23:41:31
to help our businesses.
23:41:32
I would say that it was a moment that was
23:41:36
defining for the entire character of the
23:41:39
city. Not only were we interested in the
23:41:42
big developers and the large dollars, we
23:41:45
were really interested in the small
23:41:47
businesses, the tiny local businesses
23:41:50
that really needed help and you guys delivered.
23:41:51
Yes, and you're absolutely right about
23:41:55
that. We made a point that those
23:41:59
businesses that we helped fit a certain
23:42:03
economic criteria in order for us to
23:42:08
provide that funding to them because the
23:42:11
other businesses could take advantage of
23:42:15
this situation and the people we really
23:42:17
wanted to help would not have an
23:42:20
opportunity to be successful.
23:42:21
I think it worked out real well. I think
23:42:25
if my memory serves me correct, we ended
23:42:28
up letting close to about 40 grants to
23:42:34
people that ranged anywhere from 50 down
23:42:38
to as little as $5,000,
23:42:40
which was a tremendous help.
23:42:43
A tremendous help to help businesses.
23:42:45
Okay, so let's get down to some brass
23:42:46
tacks. We have a local entrepreneur or
23:42:50
small business here that is appropriate
23:42:53
to become involved in one of your
23:42:55
programs. Let's talk about the type of
23:42:57
things that are available now.
23:42:58
Yes, and I mentioned to you a
23:43:03
couple of things, marketing.
23:43:06
Yeah, it's a great idea.
23:43:07
Yeah, financial assistance. And so those
23:43:12
programs exist. We even have one to teach
23:43:16
people how to respond to RPs, those are
23:43:20
requests for proposals, which is how we
23:43:22
put something out on the street for
23:43:24
people to get work for us.
23:43:25
And so the people go through that class,
23:43:28
and they understand what information they
23:43:30
must provide to us in order for us to
23:43:33
consider them in the solicitation that we
23:43:36
have out on the street.
23:43:37
And so those types of programs are
23:43:41
helpful for businesses because most small
23:43:45
businesses do business via a handshake.
23:43:50
You know somebody who can put a window
23:43:52
in, you know a person who needs a window
23:43:55
put in, and you put the two together.
23:43:58
And so our thing is that works, but
23:44:01
you're not going to find a whole lot of
23:44:03
people that need windows put in. You need
23:44:05
to expand your business. And so through
23:44:08
our efforts to try and make that happen,
23:44:11
enlarge is your opportunity, create some
23:44:14
value by what you provide to the city.
23:44:18
And to your business as well. So we think
23:44:23
it's a win-win situation for everybody.
23:44:25
How does a business become attached to
23:44:28
the program? Is there some sort of
23:44:29
certification that
23:44:30
they have to go through?
23:44:31
Well, we do have a certification program
23:44:34
for small or minority owned or women
23:44:37
owned businesses. Mostly it is word of
23:44:44
mouth that we spread
23:44:46
the word that we are.
23:44:47
That we are providing X, Y, and Z. And
23:44:52
people come to us. We've gotten to the
23:44:55
point now where people submit unsolicited
23:44:58
proposals to us to offer a service.
23:45:01
And so we have to review those proposals,
23:45:04
see if they're going to be beneficial to
23:45:07
the city, and whether or not it's going
23:45:10
to be economically
23:45:11
feasible for the city as well.
23:45:12
So I think we have done a good job of
23:45:17
promoting what it is that we do here. And
23:45:21
people are stepping up to take advantage
23:45:23
of these opportunities that
23:45:25
we're making available for them.
23:45:28
So what types of things are going on
23:45:30
right now? Here we are
23:45:31
mid-year 2025. What's going on?
23:45:33
You know, it never seems to stop. We get
23:45:39
requests from vendors out there every day
23:45:43
about wanting to propose
23:45:45
to do this and to do that.
23:45:47
And so I think that's because we've done
23:45:49
such a good job of sharing what it is
23:45:52
that we do. A lot of times we have to
23:45:54
turn people down, primarily because
23:45:57
they're requesting more
23:45:58
than we have available.
23:46:00
But I think that's a good thing, that we
23:46:02
have that opportunity to say no. But we
23:46:05
tell them, don't go away. Start preparing
23:46:11
for next year, because we've been blessed
23:46:15
that the city has allowed us to run this
23:46:18
program, I think now
23:46:19
for close to four years.
23:46:21
And hopefully we'll be able to run it for
23:46:23
another year. And so people know that.
23:46:26
People begin to prepare for it. And it
23:46:29
gives us a chance to help and develop
23:46:31
more businesses in this city to take
23:46:34
advantage of opportunities.
23:46:35
Not only just with us, but with the
23:46:38
county, with the solid waste, with the
23:46:40
school system as well. Because they take
23:46:42
the tools that we share with them and
23:46:45
move on to the next step to be able to do
23:46:47
some things to help them and help the
23:46:50
entities or cities that
23:46:53
they find themselves in.
23:46:55
Gotcha. So is there any specific dates
23:46:58
that are coming up? Any landmarks that
23:47:00
you're really interested?
23:47:02
I'm sorry. Yes, we have a couple of
23:47:05
things that are coming up. One is we're
23:47:08
doing a disparity study.
23:47:11
Every four or five years, you have to do
23:47:15
a disparity study in order to create a
23:47:18
program that is beneficial to minority
23:47:20
and women on business.
23:47:21
And so on July 23, there is going to be a
23:47:26
public engagement meeting that we're
23:47:30
going to invite the public to. We've sent
23:47:31
out information to it as well.
23:47:35
One of the others is a thing about
23:47:37
prompting to profit. That's September 3
23:47:40
through September 16. It's going to be
23:47:43
held right here at our library.
23:47:44
And then we've got one that's a health of
23:47:49
your business that's going to be run also
23:47:52
at our library. The prompt to profit is
23:47:56
September 3 through the 10th, 6th day.
23:48:01
And then the health of your business is
23:48:03
October 14 through
23:48:05
the 16th at the library.
23:48:06
All these items are really very
23:48:09
interesting, but I'm curious. Tell me a
23:48:11
little bit more about what a disparity
23:48:13
study is. I'm not familiar with that.
23:48:15
Well, according to federal law, in order
23:48:19
for you to have a program that will
23:48:23
assist a certain minority group, you have
23:48:28
to do a disparity study.
23:48:28
And the disparity study basically
23:48:31
determines whether or not there has been
23:48:34
or there is a disparity out there in the
23:48:38
community of opportunities for minorities
23:48:41
or women on business.
23:48:42
And so if we can determine that that is
23:48:46
the case, then we can run a program that
23:48:48
can benefit businesses who happen to be
23:48:52
minority or women-owned so that they can
23:48:55
take advantage of some
23:48:57
opportunities that we have out there.
23:48:59
We currently have such a program in
23:49:01
place, but it's only good for five years.
23:49:04
And then we have to go out and do another
23:49:06
study before we can implement it for an
23:49:09
additional period of time.
23:49:10
So we're looking forward to getting the
23:49:14
word out, getting feedback from
23:49:16
individuals so that we can
23:49:18
move ahead with that program.
23:49:19
So the study helps you know
23:49:21
where the need is greatest.
23:49:23
Right. And not only where the need is, it
23:49:26
is what kind of need is out there. We've
23:49:29
been running this program
23:49:30
for about five years now.
23:49:33
And so time and situations change. And so
23:49:38
if we were able to impact area A, so to
23:49:42
speak, but area B and C is not being
23:49:46
helped as much, then we can shift some of
23:49:49
the things that we're doing to area B
23:49:52
that this study indicates that is well
23:49:55
needed in those particular areas.
23:49:57
And so the disparity studies help us
23:50:00
determine where we need to put our
23:50:03
emphasis to help businesses have an
23:50:06
opportunity here in this city.
23:50:07
Okay. And that meeting is
23:50:08
taking place during July 23rd?
23:50:11
Yeah, July 23rd. There's flyers which
23:50:13
have been sent out and we'll continue to
23:50:15
send those out so that people are aware
23:50:17
of it and they can take
23:50:18
advantage of it as well.
23:50:20
Okay. And then moving on, as you just
23:50:21
mentioned, September 3rd through
23:50:23
September 10th, you're
23:50:24
looking for the prompt to profit.
23:50:25
Give me a little bit more about what the
23:50:28
idea behind that is.
23:50:29
Well, this is an AI program. And that's
23:50:34
way above my pay grade. But it is to help
23:50:38
people develop programs through AI to
23:50:42
help them and benefit them.
23:50:44
And so we have this young lady who
23:50:45
teaches that program. And so she'll be
23:50:48
offering that to people.
23:50:49
And then the health of your business is
23:50:53
another one, which is
23:50:54
October 14th through the 16th.
23:50:57
This is one where we'll have an
23:50:59
individual take a look at your business,
23:51:01
what you're proposing, what you're asking
23:51:03
for, and the like to help you be able to
23:51:07
do a better job of advertising who you
23:51:10
are, what your business is, and what
23:51:12
you're offering out there for the people.
23:51:13
So we're really excited about what this
23:51:18
year is coming to be, because I think it
23:51:21
is a continuation of what we've been able
23:51:23
to do for a number of years. And it just
23:51:26
continuously gets better.
23:51:28
That's fantastic. Well, obviously, you
23:51:30
have spent years working to improve the
23:51:33
situation for small business and minority
23:51:35
business here in West Palm Beach. The
23:51:37
proof's in the pudding.
23:51:38
There's a lot of activity. There's a very
23:51:40
there's a thriving community here. And a
23:51:43
lot of it has to do with your efforts and
23:51:44
the efforts of the city to help small
23:51:46
businesses take part.
23:51:47
Thank you. I truly do appreciate that
23:51:49
because when I talked to the mayor about
23:51:53
taking over the spot, I indicated to him
23:51:56
that this is a passion of mine.
23:51:59
And I need to know that I can operate at
23:52:03
a level and a point that is going to be
23:52:06
helpful to the city and not harmful to
23:52:10
the city. And so it has
23:52:12
worked out well. We've done well.
23:52:13
We started out saying that 15 percent of
23:52:17
contracts would be set aside for small
23:52:22
businesses. We're up to now 18 percent.
23:52:26
And most of the time we come in at about
23:52:28
20 percent in that regard.
23:52:30
So I think we're doing a great job in
23:52:32
terms of making that happen. That's
23:52:34
fantastic. So if someone wants to find
23:52:36
out more information, to learn more about
23:52:38
programs and to find a way to get in
23:52:40
contact with you, I guess the city would be able to do that.
23:52:43
So the website's a good place to start.
23:52:45
W.P.B. dot org. Yes. It's an excellent
23:52:47
place to start and look up the Office of
23:52:52
Minority and Women on Business on the
23:52:54
website. It has our names and phone
23:52:56
numbers there. And you're more
23:52:58
than happy to reach out to us.
23:53:01
It's amazing the number of calls we get
23:53:04
during the day, whether it's to get
23:53:07
certified to be a small business or it's
23:53:11
to find out about what opportunities are
23:53:13
out there that
23:53:14
companies can take advantage of.
23:53:17
What is your message to the dreamer who
23:53:20
wants to start a new business and wants
23:53:23
to do it here in West Palm Beach?
23:53:25
I'm going to say that, Sam. And I've said
23:53:27
this a number of times when I'm out
23:53:29
campaigning or talking to people. That
23:53:33
you can be the best at what you do. But
23:53:37
if I know nothing about you, there's
23:53:38
nothing I can do to assist you.
23:53:39
So you need to toot your own horn. You
23:53:42
need to let us know that you're out
23:53:44
there. I've said to people you need to
23:53:46
make yourself a pest. Because if you blow
23:53:50
up my phone enough, I'm going to give you
23:53:52
some work so you'll stop calling.
23:53:54
And I'm going to have to change that
23:53:56
because now everybody is taking advantage
23:53:58
of that. But that's the effort. You can't
23:54:02
just sit back and wait for us to come to
23:54:05
you because there's hundreds and
23:54:07
thousands of businesses out there.
23:54:08
And so you can't wait on us to come to
23:54:12
you. You've got to come to us. You've got
23:54:14
to convince us that you're the best at
23:54:16
what you do. And we can really utilize
23:54:19
the services that you offer.
23:54:21
And so with that, we'll be more than
23:54:23
happy to give you an opportunity to be
23:54:26
successful. But I will say this. There's
23:54:30
a lot of people out there
23:54:31
who want this opportunity.
23:54:33
And so we can't have folks who are not
23:54:38
ready and prepared because that messes it
23:54:42
up for the people that are coming behind.
23:54:44
So I want you to be ready. I want you to
23:54:46
be prepared to take
23:54:47
advantage of these opportunities.
23:54:48
And if you need some training to make
23:54:51
sure you're ready, we're willing to do
23:54:52
that. But the long and the short of it is
23:54:54
our doors are open. We want you to come
23:54:58
on down and take advantage of these
23:55:01
opportunities that we have here for you.
23:55:03
Frank Hedden, thank you for
23:55:04
being a part of our podcast.
23:55:06
Thank you so very much
23:55:07
for having me. Thank you.
23:55:08
And thank you for joining us. The City
23:55:11
Center podcast is a production of the
23:55:13
City of West Palm Beach Communications
23:55:15
Department. I'm Jerry
23:55:17
Marcello. We'll see you next time.