Shawn and Kate Boyer own a high-end women’s travel wear company, Anatomie. Like a lot of small- business owners, they find they need help in certain areas of running the business, but not always at a full-time level. At the same time, there are plenty of out-of-work professionals who could provide the expertise to the Boyers’ company.
Enter Primed to Grow (P2G), a new program that seeks to match Miami-Dade small businesses in need of short- or long-term expertise with unemployed professionals. SCORE Miami-Dade is teaming up with the Miami-Dade Small Business Development division to launch the new program.
“The initiative grew out of the need to think out of the box to create business growth that is tied to employment opportunities. Many of the businesses are currently mentored by SCORE volunteers, as well as over 2,000 small businesses currently certified in Miami-Dade small-business programs that are provided resource assistance in various areas by SBD,” said Sheri L. McGriff, division director of Business Opportunity Support Services, Small Business Development.
P2G is designed to help small businesses strengthen specific operational areas while giving out-of-work professionals access to work and potential clients, added Marjorie Weber, chairwoman of SCORE Miami-Dade, which offers one-on-one counseling and low-cost workshops to thousands of small businesses and has an ongoing partnership with the county’s SBD division.
Under P2G, “the business and the professional agree upon either a stipend, partial salary or full-time for the engagement period. … The important issue is giving the small businesses the assistance they need while at the same time giving the unemployed professional an opportunity to get back into a business environment,” Weber said. "This is also an opportunity for students and recent graduates to step into a growing company as an intern. We are working with both FIU and MDC students and graduates."
Shawn Boyer said Anatomie has already started using Prime to Grow for several temporary or part-time positions. He has hired someone to help with his bookkeeping and is now looking for supply and logistics expertise for his Miami-based business, which has seven employees and 40 independent salespeople and sells its designs at the Mandarin Oriental, Exhale Spa in the Epic and Equinox in Merrick Park, among other places.
Boyer said P2G allows him to see whether the relationship is a good fit before making a full-time hire. If it is, he’s committed to making it permanent, he said. “If someone is an asset to our business, we want to work it out.”
A website for the P2G program where interested parties can register is being developed, McGriff said. Interested companies or workers can also call SCORE at 786-425-9119, McGriff said.
SCORE Miami-Dade and Constant Contact are hosting a free business seminar on Primed to Grow on Wednesday. The half-day event will feature an informational P2G session where professionals and business owners can sign up for the program, workshops on email marketing and social media, and a keynote address by marketing expert John Jantsch, author of "Duct Tape Marketing."
Event details:
Event: Small Business Week Celebration on Primed To Grow (P2G): Small Businesses Creating
Jobs for South Florida
Benefits: Small businesses in South Florida and unemployed professionals
When: Wednesday, May 23, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: Villa 221, 221 NE 17th Street, Miami, FL 33132, Free parking
Cost: FREE