Success Stories

Over the last few years, many Americans have moved to Florida, making it one of the top destinations for domestic migration. In 2021 alone, more than 220,000 people moved to the Sunshine State.

Coupled with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, this mass migration put a serious strain on the state’s resources, minimizing its lending power to small, minority-owned businesses and other entrepreneurs. However, with assistance from the Economic Development Administration (EDA), the South Florida Regional Planning Council (SFRPC) is helping many such businesses develop and grow.

​​​​​​​Tewelde’s Lafitte Drugs has operated inside a grocery store in Lafitte, Louisiana, for more than 40 years. It has long served an important role in the rural community of 2,500 people.

Fire protection in California’s rural and heavily forested Humboldt County is provided by a patchwork of more than three dozen different agencies, many of whom rely entirely on volunteer firefighters.

BAR U EAT started, quite literally, in a home kitchen. Unsatisfied with the granola and protein bar options in local stores in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Sam Nelson decided to make his own.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 220,000 Americans moved to Florida in 2021, making it the nation’s top destination for domestic migration. With support from the Economic Development Administration, a Florida-based company is helping many Americans move to the Sunshine State.

About 10 years ago, the city of Savanna, Illinois, faced two economic development hurdles.

The first was a three-quarter-mile, pot-holed-filled street, called Wacker Road, that rumbled as trucks passed a school and homes to get to industrial businesses. The second was a dilapidated wastewater treatment plant that was built so close to the Mississippi River that it flooded frequently and caused back-ups across the city.

Running a small business can be challenging. Owners often wear multiple hats, performing customer service and human resources, conducting bookkeeping, and providing maintenance and sanitation.

As the coronavirus pandemic kept families and friends apart, sending flowers became an appealing option to show loved ones that they were missed.

The coronavirus pandemic hit Hawaii’s tourist economy like the surf at Pe’ahi; almost overnight, visitor arrivals plummeted more than 99 percent.1 But the impact of the disaster was felt far beyond the normally crowded beaches and mega-resorts of Waikiki and Wailea. The requisitioning of Aloha Stadium’s parking lots to store unused rental cars partially displaced a popular community market.

Straddling a winding section of California’s “Lost Coast,” Mendocino County is a picturesque, semi-rural region known for its dozens of wineries and...