Left to right: Managing Director Brian Caper, Chief Equity Officer George Smith, program participant LaQuanda Walton, Mayor Kenneth T. Welch, City Council Member Corey Givens Jr., District 7. Photos by Debra Conrad
Eckerd College and the City of St. Petersburg have for the last three years brought together a pair of unique programs designed to help small-business owners in South St. Petersburg. The City’s Community Redevelopment Area Microfund Program offers fully funded grants of up to $10,000, as well as mentors, workshops, consulting and other assistance. To date, more than $1.4 million has been awarded to small businesses in South St. Petersburg.
Folded into the Microfund Program is Eckerd’s contribution: the Entrepreneurial Mindset Profile®—an online assessment that examines the skills and capabilities small-business owners need to compete in today’s economic environment.
Since the pilot Microfund Program began in 2023, four cohorts, each containing between 45 and 55 small-business owners, have taken the EMP and completed the program. And on April 8, with the mayor of St. Petersburg looking on, participants in all four cohorts graduated. The occasion was the South St. Petersburg CRA Microfund Program Celebration at Fox Hall on the Eckerd College campus. It was billed by the City as a “celebration honoring the dedication and hard work of our esteemed Microfund clients in successfully completing the South St. Petersburg CRA Microfund Program.”
There were 56 businesses represented—including brick-and-mortar, home-based, childcare, shared space/food trucks, and start-ups. They all had received grants in varying amounts. The event was hosted by the City’s Economic and Workforce Development Department and The Greenhouse, a city-directed initiative that offers business development services. St. Petersburg Mayor Kenneth T. Welch gave the keynote address.
Debra Conrad, EMP product director at the Leadership Development Institute at Eckerd College, explains that the EMP helps corporate leaders, students and entrepreneurs assess the degree to which they are utilizing an entrepreneurial mindset and provides resources to leverage that competitive edge.
It is an assessment that helps individuals identify their strengths and areas for potential development, and can be taken online for $80 or through an EMP-certified practitioner. Revenue generated from the EMP goes to the College to support student scholarships, tuition and operating expenses.
The Entrepreneurial Mindset Profile was developed by Eckerd’s Leadership Development Institute in 2013. With funding and encouragement provided by Eckerd alumnus Ernie Mahaffey ’68, who attended the College when it was known as Florida Presbyterian College, the St. Pete Greenhouse has been using the EMP in its programs since 2019. Mahaffey went on to a career in international business and entrepreneurship before retiring and becoming an active member of the Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College. He also is certified as an EMP practitioner and has been working with the City to build relationships in underserved communities.
There are currently more than 470 EMP practitioners in 41 countries.
“How wonderful that our city is helping to grow our economic ecosystem using this assessment that Eckerd College’s Leadership Development Institute created,” Conrad says. “Hopefully, it equips citizens to better understand where they have entrepreneurial strengths that they can leverage, and helps them move the needle to think and act more entrepreneurially.”
The target audience for the Entrepreneurial Mindset Profile, Conrad adds, isn’t limited to corporate clients but also includes the government, universities, colleges, small-business development centers and nonprofits. Among the businesses that have received grants are Lat & Sons Family Hair, One Community Grocery Co-op, Inside Jobs Design, and Pathways Early Learning Academy.
“The EMP is a key component of the Microfund Program,” says Tracey Smith, small business liaison and Greenhouse co-manager for the City.
CRA Microfund participants stand with Mayor Ken Welch.
“Using the EMP allows business owners to immediately see the impact of their efforts and the knowledge they’ve gained. Most of them are impressed with the gains that are reflected in their skills and personality scales.”
This latest cohort of business owners, she says, was particularly noteworthy. “It was a culmination of their hard work, especially those who went through back-to-back hurricanes last [fall]. It was an amazing moment. They had 60 days to complete the program, and they did it. They were able to get that buy-in and remain committed to the program.”
The effort, Conrad adds, “took a village. The mentors, the navigators … And when the business owners were honored with the ceremony on campus, they were so proud. You could see it in their faces. They learned things that will be really valuable, and they know that with the right tools, they can do this.”
