The Florida Small Business Development Center (FSBDC) at FIU Business has been honored with the 2024 FIU Community Award for its pivotal role in spearheading the $2.5 million U.S. Small Business Administration Miami-Dade Business Navigator program (MDBN).
Recognizing local and global collaboration, the annual award celebrates the work of FIU faculty members, administrators and staff who demonstrate excellence in teaching, research or community engagement. The FSBDC received this accolade during the 2024 FIU Service and Recognition Awards ceremony on April 12, 2024.
"FSBDC was proud to lead community efforts to secure the SBA grant for Miami-Dade County,” said Brian van Hook, FSBDC regional director. “And to partner with our six spokes, plus 35 community partners, from 2022 to 2023 on consulting, training and outreach activities to local small businesses."
The MDBN, funded under the SBA Community Navigator Pilot Program, engaged with six established organizations to address community needs - Ascendus, Branches, the Economic Development Council of South Miami-Dade, the Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce, Prospera and StartUP FIU Local.
Together they orchestrated in-person workshops, webinars and monthly resource fairs held across Miami-Dade County libraries and community centers.
The MDBN program provided personalized consulting to Miami-Dade businesses, with a particular emphasis on small businesses, including microbusinesses with fewer than 10 employees, as well as those owned by women, veterans, and socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.
"The Miami-Dade Business Navigator program’s success stemmed from deep collaboration among MDBN team members to achieve our collective goals,” said Van Hook. “The best part is that these relationships and collaborations have continued even though the program concluded in late 2023."
Through the end of the program in November 2023, the six MDBN partners had:
- helped launch 31 new businesses
- provided 11,613 hours of one-on-one consulting to 1,738 small businesses
- hosted 235 training events for 7,262 attendees
- assisted businesses with securing $8,692,999 in capital
- helped small businesses secure $822,550 in government contracts