House Community Budget Issue Requests - Tracking Id #2426 African & African Diaspora Trade Office
Requester:	Inez Long		Organization:		Black Business Investment Fund of Central Florida, Inc. (BBIF)
Project Title:	African & African Diaspora Trade Office		Date Submitted:		01/31/2000 1:02:41 PM
District Member:	Alzo Reddick		Service Area:		Statewide
Counties Affected:	{Statewide}
Recipient:	Black Business Investment Fund of Central Florida, Inc.		Contact:		Inez Long
	315 E. Robinson Street, Suite 222		Contact Phone:		(407) 649-4780
	Orlando 32801
Project Description:
Trade office will introduce Florida business owners to potential business opportunities that exist in African and African Diasporia countries. It will also introduce Florida business people that are currently engaged in trade in those countries to selected governmental officials relevant to business development and to the business culture of those countries. Although the office will focus on the viable markets in Africa and the African Diaspora, the office's services will be open and available to all small businesses regardless of ethnicity. However, the office will have a focus to include those black business owners that are not benefitting from the existing State of Florida initiatives.
Services Provided/Benefit to State:
Services provided will focus in the areas of: international business development; cross cultural awareness via seminars, workshops and conferences; exchanges of academia, professional, sports and tourism; and financial assistance and education. The benefits to the State of Florida are increased business revenues and increased local jobs as these businesses take advantage of contractual and other international trade business opportunities. This means more tax dollars for the state.
Measurable Outcome Anticipated:
A conservative estimate is the trade office business development efforts will help to impact over the next three years business revenue activities in excess if $150 million.
Amount requested from the State for this project this year:				$500,000
Total cost of the project:		$500,000

Request has been made to fund:			Operations and Construction
Is there Local Government or Private match for this request?						Yes
				In-Kind Amount:		$10,000
Was this project previously funded by the State?						No
Is future-year funding likely to be requested?						Yes
	Amount:	$100,000
	Purpose for future year funding:				Recurring Operations and Non-recurring Construction
	Will this be an annual request?					Unknown
Was this project included in an Agency's Budget Request?						No
Was this project included in the Governor's Recommended Budget?						No
Is there a documented need for this project?						Yes
	Documentation:	BBIF Analysis
Was this project request heard before a publicly noticed meeting of a body of elected officials (municipal, county, or state)?						Unknown