Blog

Growth Stages, Success Stories

For the love of key lime pie, Fookem’s Fabulous creates the recipe for business success, with help from SBDC at FIU

Fresh and delicious key lime pie delivered in a convenient vending machine? Yes, please. It’s the latest expansion of Coconut Grove small business Fookem’s Fabulous, which popped up during the pandemic’s early days as a home business and has since served thousands of Miamians and visitors the oh-so-Florida dessert. Hungry for more? […]

Education, Resources, Success Stories

Florida SBDC at FIU helped launch more than 250 businesses in the last two years. Here’s how they did it.

The Florida Small Business Development Center at FIU, which was recently named the National SBDC of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration for its work supporting small businesses in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, may be best known for its work helping established businesses grow larger, creating more jobs […]

Government contracting, Operations, Success Stories

Engineering minds, founder chemistry and SBDC at FIU’s assistance help catapult Air Changes to win big HVAC contracts

Sebastian Munera and Ricardo Ardila have known each other since their college days at Florida International University, both earning undergraduate and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering. They worked in the HVAC industry for many years, including industry giant Carrier. As they were contemplating leaving their leadership roles at their companies […]

Economy

Report: 30% of microbusinesses created since pandemic started and more data

In 2022, GoDaddy’s Venture Forward research initiative conducted its fifth nationwide survey of more than 3,300 microbusiness entrepreneurs across the U.S. regarding their motivations, demographics and needs. The results of the survey illuminate several key trends and areas of opportunity, including: Almost one-third of microbusinesses were created after the pandemic started. Two-thirds of entrepreneurs started with less […]