The administration recommends moving forward with capacity building workshops.

City Staff has been working with the Department of Public Affairs at WeWork to better understand their government partnership model and how the City can partner with WeWork services to support our local small business community. The City is working with Work to develop a similar discount program that was launched in the City of Miami at the two South Beach coworking locations. The idea is to create a unique message and program to help diversify the Miami Beach partnership from other municipalities. 

Staff is working to launch this partnership in  January 2019. The focus would be to help better support and expand our small business community and promote a culture of entrepreneurship. In addition to the discounted membership fees, the City is currently developing a capacity building program with Work that would be offered at no charge to Miami Beach small businesses.  These Capacity Building Workshops will mirror the similar series that is currently run out of the TCED Cultural Affairs division, offering capacity building workshops to cultural and non-profit organizations. Additionally, staff feels there is synergy between the two Capacity Building Workshop series, and may invite cultural organizations to attend the business workshops, and vice versa; hopefully, an added value would be a synergistic collaboration between the arts and business communities. 

These two opportunities -- discounted space and the capacity building series -- would be bundled together for a public announcement and launch in the January 2019. Below is a list of potential course topics that staff has created: 

Capacity Building Series: Small Business Focus

• Financial Literacy 

• Storytelling and Branding: How to build a brand that matters? What is your competitive advantage?
• Technology and Innovation: How to use emerging technologies to your benefit)
• Social Media: How to use social media to reach new audiences and customers
• Understanding the Process: How to navigate your local government

During the November 30, 2018 Finance and Citywide Projects Committee, the committee recommended moving forward with the Capacity Building Workshops to be held at WeWorks Miami Beach accompanied by WeWorks membership discounts for Miami Beach businesses and non-profit organizations.

Capacity Building Workshops can begin in January and continue through the first quarter of 2019 as we build a better understanding of the small business community needs, subject to Commission acceptance of the recommendation.