Good News From Florida’s CRAs

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt and change the lives of countless residents throughout Boynton Beach, we have seen the rise of hometown heroes who have chosen to help the community with various acts of kindness and generosity. Some of our local businesses, despite having to shut their dining rooms to customers, have gone…

Since its inception in 1982, the Boynton Beach CRA (BBCRA) has been redeveloping and revitalizing Boynton Beach’s east-west commercial corridors along US1/Federal Highway, from Gulfstream Boulevard to NE 26th Avenue. To spur economic development, the BBCRA has utilized incentive funding to recruit new businesses and assist in the expansion of existing businesses through its various grant…

DUNEDIN — Though the streets in town are quiet, there’s no shortage of activities behind the scenes underway in the community to support local businesses and the economy. At a City Commission work session April 14, city officials discussed efforts by staff to provide assistance to help the 1,300 businesses in town navigate through the…

POMPANO BEACH, Fla., Apr 20, 2020 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — For over a decade, RMA (www.rma.us.com) has been guiding city and county leaders through the “reinvention” process using a strategic multistep approach to help communities overcome economic obstacles. Now, as cities struggle to address the economic impacts of COVID-19, the firm has created a Recovery Playbook…

The Riviera Beach CRA is Hosting an Online Webinar to Present Various Financial Assistance Options to District-Area Businesses in Need. The Presentation with Q&A Takes Place on Thursday, April 23, 2020, from 2-3pm, and can be Accessed via Zoom. Register here

Hallandale Beach, FL – April 16, 2020 – The Hallandale Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (HBCRA) has created an innovated $500,000 stimulus program to assist local small businesses in response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.  The Coronavirus Small Business Sustainability and Recovery Loan Program was created to address the extremely challenging times associated with the Coronavirus, including the closure of local businesses and…

Tampa, Florida (April 14, 2020)–As our community faces unprecedented challenges, the City of Tampa is offering critical financial support to those hit hardest by the COVID-19 crisis. Today, Mayor Jane Castor announced details of the City’s new One Tampa: Relief Now, Rise Together fund in partnership with the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay and The…

With Florida’s tourism industry paralyzed during the coronavirus pandemic, Miami-Dade is securing hundreds of hotel rooms to ease crowding at homeless shelters and also give healthcare workers a place to sleep between shifts. Ronald Book, chairman of the board that oversees Miami-Dade’s homeless agency, said the county may move more than 150 older residents from…

How do you comply with a “stay at home” order if you don’t have a home? That’s a question a growing number of city leaders are grappling with as they ramp up responses to the Covid-19 crisis. And many mayors are taking action with breakneck speed, turning hotels and city-owned buildings into temporary homeless shelters.…

As the global outbreak of coronavirus continues to evolve, companies of all shapes and sizes face a crisis unlike any they have faced before. Yet in spite of the differences between coronavirus and other challenges, many of the fundamental principles of crisis communications still apply. Keep these key principles in mind as you develop communications…

School closures and stay-at-home orders to combat the coronavirus outbreak have made internet access even more of a necessity for Americans, whether they need to log into virtual classrooms, just talk to family members or attend Zoom meetings. But not everyone has reliable access to the internet. To help connect residents, one Delaware county is…

As the COVID-19 pandemic wears on, agencies at all levels of government continue to launch online resources for their constituents to find resources, help and new information. New York City is perhaps the jurisdiction hardest hit by the crisis in the world right now, and, as such, earlier this month technologists there launched the NYC…

NORTH MIAMI – To assist businesses during the threat of COVID-19 (coronavirus), the North Miami Community Redevelopment Agency (NMCRA) is creating two emergency relief grant programs for North Miami businesses within the CRA boundaries that have been severely impacted and are facing challenging times during this ongoing crisis. Consisting of two separate programs, the Emergency Relief for…

The Jacksonville City Council on Monday unanimously approved a relief package for small businesses, which will pay a $1,000 grant and cover the fees, interest and principal of loans for qualifying businesses that borrow from Vystar Credit Union. Vystar is preparing to loan up to $50 million to Jacksonville businesses, and the city’s contribution to…

The city of West Palm Beach held a meeting Friday morning to discuss the last developments in the fight against the coronavirus. “I believe that this will likely get worse before it gets better,” said Mayor Keith James. “We all must do our part. Together we can save lives.” James said the new coronavirus testing…

We’re approximately one month in to taking Coronavirus seriously as a society. As more and more states and localities issue stay-at-home orders to keep us safe and healthy, businesses are shuttering, and unemployment is skyrocketing. Although protecting the U.S. from even graver and more rampant cases is priority number one, cities are also trying to…

The St. Petersburg City Council is set to resume regular Council meetings virtually, via Zoom, beginning April 16. On the agenda for the Council’s first meeting back will be the first reading of three ordinances related to Covid-19 emergency relief funding. Through the ordinances, Mayor Rick Kriseman’s administration seeks to mobilize three tax increment financing…

On Thursday, April 2, 2020, Becker and the Greater Hollywood Chamber of Commerce presented an interactive live webinar on Small Business Disaster Resources and COVID-19. Moderated by Jennifer Bales Drake, Shareholder and Vice Chair of Public, Private Partnerships (P3) practice group, Becker, the live webinar featured panelists: Victoria Guerrero, U.S. Small Business Administration. Mike DiNapoli,…

Today, the City of St. Petersburg announced the creation of the Fighting Chance Fund. This emergency grant will be available to St. Pete residents who own and independently operate small businesses which have been negatively impacted by COVID-19 orders. The fund is expected to provide critical support to about 1,000 restaurant, bar, retail, and service-based…

Program Provides Immediate Relief with Deferment Option One day after City Commissioners participated in an intergovernmental agency board decision approving a $1 million emergency disaster relief package for local businesses, the City of Tallahassee is launching a program to help further ease the financial burden that businesses and individuals may be experiencing as a result of…