TAMPA, Fla. — Businesses across the Tampa Bay area got a chance to indulge in some career opportunities thanks to a county initiative to help minority, women, and small business owners.
"To be a first-time business owner in my family means the world to me," Keith Ware explained.
Ware is just one of the many local business owners looking to bid on contracts with government contractors and subcontractors. County officials said this is to alleviate some of the challenges they may face.
"Some of the reasons that these businesses face challenges that some other businesses don't face is access, access to capital, access to information, access to opportunities... we want to pour into them directly with contracting opportunities with the county," Ken Jones, Hillsborough County Director of MBE/SBE Programs, said.
From general contractors to around 50 local governments, business owners indulged in a room of opportunities.
"The things that I'm learning, I'm able to share those things with my family and encourage other family members, my nieces, and nephews to also pursue this type of opportunity. And it's not always just about a nine to five," Ware explained.
Ware also said being in a room of people who look like him is encouraging.
"A lot of times opportunities weren't available to us in the past, but now they are and so I'm glad to see a lot of other small business owners actually taking advantage of some of the opportunities that are available," Ware added.
Jones told us there are around 800 minority-owned small businesses across Tampa Bay.
"County commissioners... See the value of minority and women-owned businesses as economic drivers in this country. So we see that we know that we understand it, and we want to make sure that we're doing something about it," Jones explained.
Ware said opportunities like this are the backbone of his success.
"It's important for me as a small business owner to be able to provide a legacy for my family," Ware added.
