Fort Lauderdale Community Redevelopment Agency To Launch Annual Small Business Week, May 4-10
Fort Lauderdale -The Fort Lauderdale Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) will celebrate small businesses that are making a big impact during National Small Business Week 2015 which kicks off May 4-10. National Small Business Week is a program designed by the U.S. Small Business Administration to celebrate small business accomplishments throughout the United States. During this week, the many accomplishments of small business owners are recognized and entrepreneurs are encouraged to succeed through workshops that help with strategic planning, best practices, mentorship and networking.
The natural synergy between Small Business Week and the CRA’s mission and goals isa match made in heaven. Therefore, the CRA is launching Small Business Week – Fort Lauderdale | Small Business. Big Impact. Small Business Week – Fort Lauderdale is a week-long series of events focused on empowering and creating awareness for existing businesses within the Northwest-Progresso-Flagler Heights CRA district, attracting new business interest to the area, and encouraging aspiring entrepreneurs to launch new ventures. This exciting week of activities will include Restaurant Week, a Small Business Conference, and Small Business Saturday, StartUp Weekend, Business Pop-Up Showcases and more. Small Business Week – Fort Lauderdale is a collaborative effort between the City of Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale CRA,The Mosaic Group, and Upstart Global.
“Cities are most powerful when they are small business incubators. Fostering an environment where established businesses thrive and new businesses are cultivated is a core mission of the Fort Lauderdale CRA and the City of Fort Lauderdale. We look forward to Small Business Week – Fort Lauderdale having a positive impact to the local business environment during the week of May 4th, and a continued and lasting impact for the entire community moving forward.” Jenni Morejon, Director, Fort Lauderdale Department of Sustainable Development.
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SMALL BUSINESS WEEK – FORT LAUDERDALE SCHEDULE AT-A-GLANCE:
SMALL BUSINESS WEEK KICK-OFF PARTY │ MAY 4 │ 5:30PM │ FAT VILLAGE │ 529 NW 1st Ave, Fort Lauderdale Join us as we kick-off Small Business Week – Fort Lauderdale with live entertainment, wine tastings and our Eat & Go Seek Restaurant Week Stroll (Guests can visit each participating restaurant for samplings and a chance to win prizes)
RESTAURANT WEEK │ MAY 4-10
This seven-day celebration of Fort Lauderdale CRA’s restaurant scene pays homage to the culinary heritage that makes this region of Fort Lauderdale unique. More than 20 restaurants will offer specially selected three-course, fixed price dinner menus and lunch time specials at discounted prices (not including tax and gratuity). Restaurant Week spans three areas of the CRA -Historic Sistrunk, Progresso Village, and Flagler Village. This will give diners more opportunities to share in a unique culinary experience. A listing of participating restaurants are available online at www.smallbusinessweekftl.com
SMALL BUSINESS CONFERENCE │ MAY 5 │ 9:00AM-2:00PM │ HAMPTON INN │250 N. Andrews Avenue – FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA 33301 │ COST: FREE ADMISSION – LIMITED SPACE, MUST REGISTER ONLINE IN ADVANCE The Small Business Conference is a one-day event that includes a series of workshops geared towards the development, capacity building and enhancement of local small businesses. Topics will include but are not limited to: Basics of Starting a Business, Sales Models that Work, Technology for Capacity Building and Financing for Small Business. Register at www.smallbusinessweekftl.com
POP-UP BUSINESS SHOWCASE │ MAY 7-9
The Pop-up Business Showcase will host eight retail stores that will open for threedays. The participants are local small business who have expressed direct interest in establishing their retail businesses in the Fort Lauderdale CRA and have gone through rigorous planning and preparation to that effort.
PARTICIPATING POP-UPS
Van Charles,Inc. (1033 NW 6th St)
Fashion OLG (1021 NW 6th St.)
Ethlynn’s (1021 NW 6th St.)
Creative Treats (1033 NW 6th St)
Stepping Out Shoes (914 NW 6th St)
Amuse Bouche (915 NW 6th St)
Jambalaya N’Jerk (914 NW 6th St)
Delta Boutique (2219 Sistrunk Blvd.)
Art Showcase (405 N. Avenue of the Arts)
HAPPY HOUR STROLL │ MAY 8 │ 5:30pm-7:30pm │ VariousLocations Stroll restaurants and some of the hottest venues throughout Historic Sistrunk, Flagler Village,and Progresso Village while enjoying beverage sampling, drink specials, art,and entertainment. A listing of participating restaurants and venues are available online at www.smallbusinessweekftl.com.
SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY │ MAY 9 │ 9am-4pm │ Various Locations Shop Small,Shop Local, Make a Big Impact at the Small Business Saturday Expo Small Business Saturday is an indoor-outdoor business expo that will showcase restaurants, pop-up businesses, retailers, professional services,activated art spaces, and Small Business Week event sponsors. Event-goers will have the opportunity to shop small, local and have their dollar make a big impact on the local economy. In addition, attendees can experience The Great Sistrunk Bar-B-Que Off presented by Catch This Gourmet BBQ Sauce at Sistrunk Park.
STARTUP WEEKEND │ MAY 8-10 │ URBAN LEAGUE OF BROWARD COUNTY│ 560 NW 27TH AVE, FORT LAUDERDALE No Talk, All Action! Launch a Startup in 54 hours! Early bird: $75 │ Full-price: $99 │Student: $50
StartUp Weekend is a weekend-long, global initiative that the Urban League of Broward County will host giving hands-on experience to entrepreneurs while aspiring entrepreneurs can find out if their startup ideas are viable. On average, half of Startup Weekend’s attendees have technical or design backgrounds, the other half have business backgrounds. Beginning with open mic pitches on Friday, attendees bring their best ideas and inspire others to join their team. Over Saturday and Sunday,teams will focus on customer development, validating their ideas, practicing LEAN Startup Methodologies and building a minimal viable product. On Sunday evening, teams demo their prototypes and receive valuable feedback from a panel of experts. Register at www.smallbusinessweekftl.com
MOTHER’S DAY SUNDAY BRUNCH │ MAY 10 │ 10:00AM-3:00PM │ LIVE ENTERTAINMENT
Restaurant week will commence with a special Mother’s Day Brunch at four locations. Each location will feature a special menu,live entertainment including jazz, gospel, and rock/pop music and roses for any mothers that attend.
Participating restaurants include:
M&C Soul Food (1447 NW 6th St)
Betty’s Soul Food (601 NW 22nd Rd)
Refresh Live Café (1033 NW 6th St)
Maguires Hill 16 (535 N Andrews Ave)
All events are free and open to the public (StartUp Weekend has a registration fee,however the event is open to the public). For more information about Small Business Week and sponsorship opportunities, call 754-300-8959, email [email protected] or visit www.smallbusinessweekftl.com.
