Getting Down to Business in St. Cloud, Kissimmee

The cities of St. Cloud and Kissimmee hosted well-attended onestop business resource expos last week, and in the case of the one hosted Friday by the city’s Economic Development Department, it won’t be the last.

Over 20 agencies, including St. Cloud government departments, were on hand at the city’s Community Center to provide information to residents on how to start a business or expand their business.

“St. Cloud is committed to assisting our current business to grow and thrive and for future businesses to get started on their journeys,” said Antranette Forbes, Economic Development Director for the City of St. Cloud.

In addition to government agencies and area Chambers Of Commerce, regional agencies were also on hand to provide resources to new and existing businesses. The National Entrepreneur Center (NEC), based in Orlando but prominent in Osceola County, was on hand to showcase its business support and education programs and resources for entrepreneurs and small businesses. GrowFL is dedicated to assisting businesses that have achieved the critical second stage of growth after initial success and are poised to accelerate their growth even further.

The St. Cloud branch of Regions Bank participated in the expo specifically to highlight their targeted programs for small businesses, especially in the area of expedited financing and loans for business equipment.

“When a small business owner or entrepreneur comes to our branch, instead of trying to list what we can do for them, we want to know first what their needs and goals are, and then determine how we can help them,” said Deborah Perkins Allaham, Regions’ Branch Manager and Assistant Vice President.

Veterans were a focus of several agencies. The Veterans Entrepreneur Initiative, a nonprofit organization closely aligned with the NEC and the University of Central Florida, provides business guidance, education, and mentorship to military veterans who want to start or grow a business. The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, the successor to the Disney area Reddy Creek Improvement District, participated in the expo to highlight their outreach to small businesses in the Osceola community, including preference programs for small and veteran-owned businesses.

The NEC was also at the Kissimmee event on April 10, sharing help on attracting key partners and resources, improving businesses’ value propositions and customer relations, and identifying market channels for solutions. Participating businesses had the chance to “self-scout” their operations in real time during the event, which Kissimmee Economic Development Director Tom Tomerlin said was a plus.

“Sometimes, these business owners don’t leave with the information they need,” he said. Something like this makes them take what might be a difficult look at their business operations.”