- Mom and Pop Grant now available for Miami Dade District 12 Businesses
- Qualified businesses can receive up to $2,500 for eligible expenses
- 44 District 12 businesses received a total of $93,775 in 2016
Miami, FL – Businesses located in Miami Dade County’s District 12 may now obtain applications to receive the Mom and Pop Small Business Grant, a program which uses county government funds to award qualified small businesses thousands of dollars in financial help in hopes of helping small businesses grow, thereby creating more jobs and strengthening the local economy. Qualified small businesses in District 12 can receive awards up to $2,500 to purchase inventory, supplies, equipment, pay for marketing expenses and nearly any other business expense, with several limitations.
Out of the more than 100 businesses that applied for funding in 2016, 44 businesses received a grant award, totaling $93,775 in grant funds handed out across District 12. Other county districts hand out a bigger grant amount to a small number of grantees, with District 11 (West Kendall) handing out up to $15,000 per business to only a dozen businesses in 2016 (the biggest award amount out of any of the 13 county districts).
Who Qualifies?
To qualify for a District 12 Mom and Pop Grant, businesses must meet the following criteria:
- Be located in District 12
- Must be a for-profit business
- Cannot have more than 10 employees (2 part-time employees equal 1 full time employee)
- A physical address is required
- Home-based businesses may apply
Don’t know which county district your business is located in? Use this map tool to verify your county commissioner.
Disqualification can include national chains, non-profit organizations, not attending the two mandatory meetings, and an incomplete application. Businesses that have received the application for two years in a row must sit out for one year.
Eligible Purchases
Eligible purchases include inventory/supplies, business equipment, marketing/advertising, liability insurance, minor interior/exterior renovations, security systems, work vehicle, professional services and lease or mortgage for commercial space.
Neighbors and Neighbors Association
District 12 Mom and Pop Grants are administered and handed out by Neighbors and Neighbors Association (NANA), a non-profit organization headed by Leroy Jones, a former staffer to a county commissioner. According to the District 12 Mom and Pop Grant application, the Mom and Pop Grant was created by NANA in 1999. All county districts, except for District 11, trust NANA as the sole entity responsible for reviewing, selecting and awarding the grant funds. Since 2014, the Mom and Pop Grant program for District 11 is managed by Florida International University School of Law Clinical Program.
Jose “Pepe” Diaz, longtime County Commissioner for District 12, praised the Mom and Pop Program as a system of support for small businesses in an official quote. “This is a great program and I’m proud to be part of any effort to encourage entrepreneurship and support our small businesses, which are the backbone of our economy,” Commissioner Diaz said.
While the Mom and Pop Grant Program has had its critics over the years, with a local news blog pointing out the program’s lack of accountability and transparency, very little official information has been published online by the county government. The county website offers no record of recipients or historical data. Absolutely no public data has been made available online to verify the effectiveness of the corporate assistance program.
Download the district-12-mom-pop-application.
