SPOTLIGHT
Small business owners who work in or near South Florida’s economically underserved areas can learn key business skills to help grow their companies next month during a daylong program underwritten by Regions Bank. Inner City Capital Connections, part of a Boston-based nonprofit founded by a Harvard business professor, already offers the instruction in 14 North American markets, including one all-Spanish program, says director Diego Portillo Mazal. Oct. 8 marks the first time it will be held in Florida during a 10-hour program at Miami-Dade College’s Padrón campus that organizers call a “mini-MBA in a day.” The rest of the 40-hour program is virtual, along with one-on-one counseling, often by Regions staffers.
The ICCC says it has worked with 5,800 businesses since the program started in 2005. Those businesses went on to raise more than $2.4 billion in capital and create 26,000 jobs. Regions-sponsored programs have served 800 businesses, producing 3,000 jobs and helping the businesses to more than triple revenue growth, says Chris Cruzpino, the bank’s Miami- Dade market executive.
Applications are being accepted through Sept. 13, but slots are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. To qualify, a business must be operating for at least three years, averaging $150,000 or more in annual revenue.
Access to capital and how it works often are among their biggest concerns, says Mazal.
And many who moved online during the COVID-19 pandemic need help developing strategies to thrive in the new environment.
“Many of the businesses grew organically,” Mazal says, started by people to put themselves to work. Some have been in business for years and have hired employees, “but still think of themselves as a baker or a hair stylist or a carpenter, versus thinking of themselves as a business owner who has to make strategic decisions every day.”
EDUCATION
- The University of Miami is looking for a new president after Julio Frenk announced he’ll become UCLA’s next chancellor in January. Frenk led UM for nine years. UM alumnus and CEO Joe Echevarria is serving as acting president.
- “The U” is launching a 30-credit, online Master of Legal Studies degree program for non-lawyers. The program promises to teach participants how to analyze and communicate about laws and regulations governing various industries including health care, finance, human resources and more.
BANKRUPTCY
- Miami-based Cano Health says it has successfully emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It cut $270 million in costs, made productivity improvements, left underperforming markets, and converted more than $1 billion in debt into common stock and warrants. It says it can spend $200 million to support a new business plan.
EXPANSION
- Health care-focused private equity firm Martis Capital Management opened a Coral Gables office to join operations in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. It hired Beth Dresdale and David Muckey to staff the Miami office. Martis describes itself as “a founder-friendly capital partner for growth-oriented health care companies” that has raised more than $2.2 billion since 2011 “to invest in the middle-market North American health care sector.”
- JP Morgan Chase is adding 400 employees at its Brickell office and is doubling the office’s size from 80,000 square feet to 160,000 square feet. The firm is expanding operations throughout the state.
DEVELOPMENT
- Touted as the first groundbreaking in North Bay Village in more than a decade, construction is underway on Shoma Bay, a 333-unit waterfront condominium. Units start at $750,000 and range from studios to three-bedrooms and 10 penthouses. Shoma Group President Masoud Shojaee and his wife plan to live in the building when it is completed in 2026. The property also will house a Publix and 15,000 square feet of retail space.
CHARITY
- The Boys & Girls Clubs of Miami-Dade will host its 16th annual black-tie “Wild About Kids” Disco Ball on Oct. 26 at the Loews Coral Gables Hotel. Proceeds will help fund programs and services — including after-school programs, tutoring and homework assistance, dance, arts and crafts, mentoring and athletic programs — at six Boys & Girls Clubs sites in Miami-Dade.