Miami Beach’s extreme weather during the summer months lend results in fewer tourists and very difficult months for small businesses. Because the Convention Center Hotel has yet to be built, and several large oceanfront hotels are closed or under construction, during these hot summer months, small restaurant businesses because they must reduce staff to make ends meet. 

I would like my colleagues to consider establishing a small business grant fund for restaurants--with some of the funding coming from our allocation to the GMCVB, and the city matching these funds. The idea is to foster employee retention by offering a one-time subsidy of $10K per year to restaurants in Miami Beach, during the months of August and September when business is very slow.

Miami-Dade County has a similar small-business grant program offering $5K that is highly successful. This program would be a pilot program until the Convention Center Hotel is opened and construction of the larger oceanfront hotels finished.