St. Petersburg, Florida. – Florida’s growth is bursting with opportunity for business owners, and during National Black Business Month, Tampa Bay entrepreneurs are preparing for a neighborhood show in St. Petersburg to highlight the area’s businesses.
For Katrina Smith Headley, the phrase “It all stays in the family” is not just an empty phrase, but also the way her family business “Heavy’s Restaurant and Take Out” was founded.
“All my friends wanted to come to my house because my dad cooked for a lot of people. There was never enough for us because his heart was in his cooking,” said Headley, who runs Headley’s in St. Pete. “It’s cooked with love, but there are recipes we follow in his absence.”
RELATED: St. Pete is one of America’s largest boomtowns, and small businesses hope to stay in the heart of the city
Katrina’s brother, Kendrick Scott, opened Heavy’s Restaurant and Takeout as a food truck about 11 years ago, and three years ago they opened a storefront on 22nd Street South.
Headley said her late grandmother guides her and she always works to build relationships with customers.
“A lot of the young people who come in call me ‘auntie’ and I call them ‘nephew,’ so it’s family oriented,” Headley said.
This sense of familiarity a few blocks away on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street South inspired Elaine Chambliss Dogan to open her art studio, Echambliss Art, in the neighborhood where she grew up.
PREVIOUS: Newest food hall opens this fall in St. Pete
“It was mostly black-owned businesses. There was a dentist across the street. So I kind of felt comfortable, even though I was new to entrepreneurship, I just felt comfortable,” Dogan said.
Working with oil paintings was not always her main profession. Dogan used to be a draftswoman and then started creating stories through art.
“When I started painting, I started painting instruments because I love instrumental music,” Dogan said.
According to the Pew Research Center, there are about 18,000 black-owned businesses in Florida, the highest number in the country.
“Of course, it’s always the weather. But on the other hand, St. Petersburg has a commitment to diversity and inclusion of small businesses,” says George Smith, economic development manager of the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area.
READ: Foodie Labs brings ghost kitchen to St. Pete’s takeout scene
Some of that commitment will be on display Friday at the Greenhouse in St. Pete at the Neighborhood Commercial Business Expo from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 440 Second Avenue North. The event aims to showcase some of the local black-owned businesses, from food to handmade goods, as part of National Black Business Month.
Black-owned businesses are celebrated across the country in August, and the Tampa Bay Area is attractive to new entrepreneurs.
“With so much work, opportunity and growth downtown, and something about to happen in the historic gasworks area, this is a great opportunity and a great place for small businesses to get involved,” Smith said.
There are also efforts to expand opportunities with city contracts. In the city of Tampa, officials said the number of Black-owned businesses certified by the city as minority or diverse suppliers working on contracts increased from 144 firms on May 1, 2018, to 153 firms on May 1, 2019.
In fiscal year 2023, some city contracts in Tampa include roadwork, pipe work and janitorial services totaling approximately $2.9 million.
For those who think they have an entrepreneurial spirit, local businesses have a message.
“I encourage them to pursue this if it is something they really care about,” Dogan said.
WATCH FOX 13 NEWS:
STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA: