St. Petersburg City Council will now be giving loans to local startups in an effort to help them grow and stay in the city.
The city previously approved the Redevelopment Microloan Program in 2018, which was set to give forgivable loans to small businesses. However, after speaking with entrepreneurs, business owners and business officials throughout fiscal year 2019, the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area wanted to slightly revamp the program.
Amendments include changing the name to the Redevelopment MicroFund Program, changing the forgivable loans to $5,000 grants, including a "pre-venture business" track to include startups in the mix, and allowing those startups to receive a potential additional $5,000 loan after successfully completing the program.
The amendments were unanimously approved at Thursday afternoon's city council meeting.
"The idea is for them to graduate up and progress their business to private finance or take advantage of the Neighborhood Partnership Matching Grants," Rick Smith, the city's community redevelopment coordinator, said at the meeting.
Interested business owners do not have to live in St. Petersburg to be eligible for the funding, but do have to run their business within the city. Smith said the administration is setting aside $50,000 for the venture, which is 25 percent of the total budget. He said roughly five pre-venture businesses could go through the grant program.
The program will be accepting applications on a rolling basis, unlike many startup incubators and accelerators that work on a cohort schedule.
"The need to not enforce deadlines is important for small businesses as they face growth and opportunity," Jessica Eilerman, a manager at The Greenhouse, said at the meeting. "When you set deadlines they try and foresee the future and either apply too early, or miss the boat and have to apply the next round. [The choice to make it a rolling application] came from a lot of conversation with business owners and entrepreneurs."
Both pre-venture and small business participants will undergo an educational program through the St. Pete Greenhouse, which has a partnership with the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce and the city. The curriculum is customizable for each participant and includes "educational workshops, business counseling and mentorship and network building connections," according to city documents. Businesses that fail to complete the program will not receive the funding.
Program administrators believe the program can be done within 90 days. While councilman Ed Montanari initially had concerns about not reviewing the businesses' use for the loans, the council ultimately decided to put expenses on the monthly report, which can be reviewed further in-depth if needed to keep the quick 90-day pace of the program.
"When you're looking at 90 days to go through an entire mentorship process, look at our agendas — things don't come through for six months sometimes," councilwoman Gina Driscoll said. "I can't imagine the business owner waiting six months."
The city of St. Petersburg has taken several steps to help local startups. In November, the city held its first ever Pitch Night, where a 7-year-old who ran a nonprofit was crowned winner. The city also was deemed a US Ignite Smart City in January 2019, one of 27 in the country.
