Mayor’s Strive305 Library Small Business Expo
Miami-Dade Public Library System
Innovation Synopsis
The Miami-Dade Public Library System (Library) collaborated with the Miami-Dade County Mayor’s Office to produce the Mayor’s Strive305 Small Business Expo (SBE) to support entrepreneurs throughout South Florida. In May 2021, the Miami-Dade County Mayor launched the Strive305 initiative to connect Miami Dade County's small business community to educational tools for growth, access to capital, and resources to build generational wealth. In April 2022, the Library created the SBE to amplify the goals of the Strive305 initiative. The SBE highlights the unique ways that libraries utilize its resources to help entrepreneurs realize their dreams of launching, maintaining, and expanding their businesses, through curated library programming. It provides a forum for local business, business associations, funders and other business resources to interact one-on-one in support of small business success.
Challenge/Opportunity
Challenges: attracting entrepreneurs into the library spaces for business pursuits; encouraging networking and collaboration amongst entrepreneurs and organizations; coordinating the Expo events with entrepreneurs, vendors, and library staff.
Opportunities: creating a sense of community for entrepreneurs, presenting impactful events for entrepreneurs in the libraries, stimulating collaborations amongst county departments and community organizations, helping provide a sense of encouragement for small business owners, encouraging entrepreneurs to start, enhance and expand their businesses.
Key Elements of Innovation
The Mayor’s Strive305 Small Business Expo events are quarterly, library-centered programs that provide entrepreneurs with the resources they need to research, launch, and grow their businesses. Entrepreneurs engage with a community of like-minded business owners, library staff, community organizations and county departments, all of which provide them with access to funding, training, coaching, marketing, and business development, as well exposure to business concepts such as leadership, management, branding, financial literacy, business ethics, licensing and taxes, attracting investors, becoming a government vendor, e-commerce and international trade. In addition to offering information, the library has supplied more than 200 free professional photography headshots for participating attendees at the Expo events, so that entrepreneurs can improve their professional branding. The headshots were taken by the library’s makerspace staff, using the library multimedia equipment.
Achieved Outcomes
Since February 2022, the library has presented eight Mayor’s Strive305 Small Business Expo events in libraries throughout the county, providing entrepreneurs with access to information, advisors, and the tools necessary to start and expand their businesses, while increasing the likelihood for long-term success. During the past three years the Small Business Expos have reached over 1,200 entrepreneurs, providing direct access to national, state, and local business associations, finance, and marketing professionals as well as networking opportunities with other business owners. Miami-Dade Public Library System resources were highlighted at each event, such as online databases and workshops available through the Library, providing further resources to aid in the development of entrepreneurs and highlighting the importance of the library and the resources available.
