St. Pete Standard

St. Petersburg, FL  - The application period opens Thursday, December 14, for the City of St. Petersburg's South St. Petersburg CRA Microfund Program. The program provides businesses located in the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) with funding as well as personalized capacity building through education, mentoring, and networking. This support allows businesses to make targeted improvements without having to provide upfront capital.

This marks the second application period for the South St. Petersburg CRA Microfund Program. Earlier this year, the City awarded $440,000 to more than 50 diverse, small businesses and startups. More than $1.35 million will be distributed over multiple cohort periods in the coming months.

"I think that it's a great way for anyone with a small business to become part of the business community," said Craig Latimer of Lat & Sons Family Hair Care, a past recipient of the Microfund, "If you grow your business, it grows our business and then it grows St. Pete. It gets no better than that."

APPLICATION INFORMATION

1. The application period opens on Thursday, December 14, 2023 at 10 a.m. and closes on Monday, January 15, 2024

2. Applicants who applied for the previous cohort, but weren't awarded funding will need to apply again during the upcoming application period

3. Applicants must attend a Microfund 101 Workshop or Webinar to fulfill a mandatory prerequisite. Applications will only be considered finished upon successful completion of this requirement. The Microfund 101 Webinar can be found at www.stpete.org/Microfund. 

4. Interested applicants can find resources, FAQ's, toolkits on the website: www.stpete.org/Microfund. 

HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS

1. Eligible applicants in this application period will be placed into three upcoming cohorts in 2024. Each cohort will hold 45 businesses, for a total of 135 businesses over the three cohorts.

2. Businesses will be placed in cohorts on a first-come, first-placed basis until all spots are filled.

3. Once the maximum number of participants is reached, any remaining applicants may apply for a future funding round. 

4. A wait list will be utilized to fill spots that may become available.

ELIGIBILITY

1. Applicants must own a business located within the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) for at least six months. The South St. Petersburg CRA boundary map can be found at www.stpete.org/cra. 

2. Microfund Program graduates may be eligible to submit an application for a different business three years after the date of their original program participation. 

3. Spending plans will be developed to ensure funding deployed meets program eligibility standards.

About the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area:

The South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) was established to promote reinvestment in housing and neighborhoods, commercial corridors, business development, and education and workforce development. The 7.4 square-mile CRA is the largest in St. Pete and one of the largest in Florida. The CRA is comprised of Greater Childs Park, more than 20 neighborhood and business associations, and two Florida Main Street Districts. The South St. Petersburg CRA is generally bounded by 2nd Avenue North, Interstate 275, Interstate 175, and Booker Creek on the north; 4th Street South on the east; 30th Avenue South on the south; and 49th Street on the west. For more information, visit www.stpete.org/cra

Original source can be found here.