By Brian D’Antoni
Sundaze Gazette · Sept. 24, 2026
Updated Oct. 9, 2026
The District 9 hand-delivery window closed Friday, Oct. 9, at 4 p.m. The county said no late applications would be accepted.
Miami-Dade County’s Small Business Grants page listed District 9 as the only Mom and Pop district with a live window, with completed applications in a sealed envelope accepted from Monday, Oct. 5 through Friday, Oct. 9, by 4 p.m., at the Richmond Heights Business Development Hub, 14508 Lincoln Blvd., Suite 210. The published form period ran through Friday, Oct. 2, and the application packet said no late applications would be accepted. The county page now lists all 13 districts, including District 9, as “No longer accepting applications.” Neither the county page nor the packet published a mail-in or online submission route. As of Oct. 9, the county had not announced award decisions; owners who submitted can direct status questions to the hub at 786-592-1861 or to NANA at 305-756-0605.
If your shop sits in Miami-Dade Commission District 9, the program is Vice Chairman Kionne L. McGhee’s District 9 Mom and Pop Small Business Grant Program, with a published ceiling of up to $5,000 per qualifying for-profit business. It runs on a cost-reimbursement basis administered with Neighbors And Neighbors Association (NANA), which means eligible spending is repaid after a contract is executed, not handed over at drop-off. The District 9 information workshop took place on Zoom on Wednesday, Sept. 30.
As of Oct. 9 the county listed every district, including District 9, as no longer accepting applications, so treat archived application forms and aggregator listings as closed. For any future cycle, confirm your address is inside District 9 before you spend a night on paperwork. MDEAT runs separate countywide grants; see our MDEAT guide.
Primary sources (county grants page re-checked Oct. 9, 2026; District 9 application last read Oct. 5, 2026; others Oct. 2, 2026):
- Miami-Dade County: Apply for a Small Business Grant (district-by-district status and the District 9 dates)
- Miami-Dade County news, Small Business Grant applications available in Commission District 9 (September 21, 2026, Management and Budget)
- District 9 Mom and Pop Small Business Grant Program Application: controlling clocks, eligibility, eligible/ineligible spend, attachments. The form download window closed Oct. 2, and the application is no longer posted on the county site; see the county program page for current status.
- District 9 hub: online application download path named in the application packet (the download window closed Oct. 2)
- Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners: “Who is my Commissioner?” · or dial 311
Peer money maps for nearby programs (Boynton Beach small-business grants (October window), Build Tamarac Micro Grant + Tenant Improvement, Deerfield Beach CRA Commercial Façade Grant, Hallandale Beach CRA incentives, and Margate MCRA PIP) are useful for process literacy. Their dollar ceilings and CRA polygons do not transfer onto a District 9 folio. For the wider list of city, CRA and county programs, see the SoFla Business Grants and Incentives Guide; the grants and small-business tags carry the rest.
The published process this cycle was to confirm District 9 with 311 or the commissioner finder, get the District 9 form on or before Friday, Oct. 2, assemble the required attachments, then hand-deliver one original sealed packet from Monday, Oct. 5 through Friday, Oct. 9, by 4 p.m. Submission is not an award.
What the packet required, and what to ask now
The District 9 information workshop took place on Zoom on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. The program’s packet said registration was required, that questions would be answered only during the workshop and that attendance does not guarantee funding. The county page and the packet list no recording and no second session, so anyone who missed it should use the program contact below for process questions. The full attachment list is further down; this is the short version, useful for checking a packet you submitted or preparing for a future cycle.
Eligibility checks the packet required:
- Your business address (not your home address, if they differ) comes back as District 9 on “Who is my Commissioner?” or through 311.
- You have been in operation for at least one year, and your proof is in the current business name.
- You are a for-profit with a physical street address (no P.O. or UPS box), you are not part of a national chain, and only one application is going in for you, your family members, or your partners.
What the packet asked owners to have ready:
- Your completed District 9 application form (the form download window closed Oct. 2; the county program page shows current status).
- Proof of a year in operation: an old license, state corporation documents, sales tax records, or a utility bill (copies only).
- Your current Miami-Dade Local Business Tax Receipt, plus a City Business Tax Receipt if your city requires one.
- Your Sunbiz printout showing the FEIN, or IRS Letter 147C or SS-4 if it doesn’t.
- A valid photo ID for the owner, president, or managing member listed on Sunbiz, and a clear photo of the business location (building, home office, or work vehicle) with the address visible.
- Your employee roster: the form counts W-2 employees only (1099 workers are treated as subcontractors) and asks for hire month and year, job title, and race and ethnicity codes.
- A draft spend list sorted into the packet’s eligible categories, plus any letters, certificates, or awards that show community involvement, which the form asks you to document.
Questions worth putting to the program contact:
- Which expenses count as “incurred during the approved funding cycle,” and whether anything bought before a contract is signed can be reimbursed.
- When the Job Creation Form applies, and what “seeking the maximum funding” means for the amount you request.
- For home-based shops: which eligible lines still apply, since the security system and lease/mortgage lines are for commercial properties only.
- If your County receipt reads “Operating in Miami-Dade,” whether your city also requires its own Business Tax Receipt.
For process or status questions, call Neighbors And Neighbors Association (NANA) at 305-756-0605, or contact the District 9 commission office at District9@miamidade.gov or 305-234-4938. Forms were available through Friday, October 2, and sealed packets were accepted through Friday, October 9, by 4 p.m. at the Richmond Heights Business Development Hub, 14508 Lincoln Blvd, Suite 210.
Confirm you are actually in District 9
The Mom and Pop program exists across Miami-Dade’s thirteen commission districts, but each district runs its own calendar, form, and start date. The District 9 application packet is blunt: apply only in the district where the business is located. Enter the business address, not your home address if they differ, under “Who is my Commissioner?” on the commission home page, or call 311.
Geography is the first filter. A shop two blocks into another district needs that district’s packet when its window opens, not District 9’s. Owners with multiple locations must map each folio separately. Home-based businesses can apply under District 9 rules when the physical home/business address clears the district test, but they still need a real street address; P.O. boxes and UPS boxes are not accepted.
If the finder returns a different commissioner, stop. Do not force a District 9 file onto an out-of-district address. Do not assume a prior-year award in another district travels with you.
The clocks: forms through Oct. 2, hand-delivery Oct. 5 to 9
The District 9 application packet set the deadlines for this cycle.
Clock 1: Forms available through October 2. Applications could be picked up in person at the Richmond Heights Business Development Hub (Larcenia J. Ballard Plaza, 14508 Lincoln Blvd, Suite 210, Miami, FL 33176; hub line 786-592-1861) or downloaded online from miamidade.gov/district09. The published availability window was September 21 through October 2, 2026, so Friday, October 2 was the last day the form was available, online or at the hub. The county page and the packet gave no pickup hours.
Clock 2: Zoom workshop, Wednesday, September 30, 6:00 p.m. (took place). The packet required registration, said questions would be answered only during the workshop and said attendance does not guarantee funding. It also advised against completing the application before the session. The county page and the packet list no recording and no second session.
Clock 3: Sealed hand delivery, Monday, October 5 through Friday, October 9, by 4 p.m. Completed applications with required attachments had to be hand-delivered in a sealed envelope to the same Richmond Heights Business Development Hub address. The packet said no late applications would be accepted. Mail and portal uploads were not in the published path.
Owners who submitted should keep their personal copy of everything in the packet, which asked for one original completed application with all required attachments.
Who clears eligibility, and what auto-disqualifies
District 9 eligibility is a checklist, not a vibe.
You must have been in operation for at least one (1) year. You must be a for-profit business; home-based for-profits are eligible to apply. You must have a physical address (again: no P.O. / UPS boxes). You must hold current County, City (if applicable), and State registrations as detailed on the packet’s attachments list.
Automatic disqualification is equally concrete. Files that relocate out of District 9 during the application process are out. Late submissions are out. Non-profit organizations are out. Multiple applications for the same owner(s), family member(s), or partner(s) are out. Businesses that are part of a national chain are out.
The Selection Committee may consider special projects, request additional information, and accept or reject any application. Attendance at the workshop was encouraged; it was never a funding promise.
Best-fit files look ordinary and local: a for-profit District 9 shop (storefront or qualifying home-based) with at least a year of operating history, clean current registrations, and a spend plan that maps to the eligible list, not payroll, not license fees, not a national-brand remodel.
What up to $5,000 can reimburse
The published ceiling is up to $5,000 per business. County news copy and the District 9 application packet both point owners toward equipment, supplies/inventory, advertising/marketing, liability insurance, security systems, and minor renovations as the kinds of costs this program is built to support. The packet’s eligible-use column is the planning list:
- Inventory / supplies
- Business equipment
- Marketing / advertising
- Liability insurance
- Minor interior / exterior renovations
- Security system (commercial properties only)
- Work vehicle (pick-up truck or cargo van) registered in the business name
- Professional services (accounting, business training, seminars, and events)
- Lease / mortgage (commercial properties only)
Ineligible uses are not a gray area to argue at drop-off. The packet lists rental deposits; late payment fees; purchase of alcohol, tobacco, or medicine; salaries; debts; property taxes; County, City, and/or State license costs; and anything else not named in the eligible column.
Read those commercial-only lines carefully if you are home-based. A security system or lease/mortgage line that works for a commercial suite is not automatically available for a residential folio. A work vehicle that is titled only in a personal name is the wrong vehicle for this packet. Salaries are a hard no even when job-creation language appears elsewhere on the form; funding cannot be used for salaries/payroll.
Plan the ask against receipts you can actually produce after a contract is executed, not against a wish list you cannot document.
Cost-reimbursement is not a check at drop-off
The District 9 application packet describes the Mom and Pop Small Business Grant Program as a cost-reimbursement program. Participants are reimbursed for eligible expenses incurred during the approved funding cycle after executing a contract with NANA and Miami-Dade County for the awarded amount. That sequencing matters for cash flow: no one walked out of Richmond Heights with $5,000 in hand at drop-off.
For additional information, the packet points owners to Neighbors And Neighbors Association (NANA) at 305-756-0605. Use that contact for process and status questions.
Owners who cannot float eligible spend until reimbursement clears should size the request and the timing honestly before they promise a contractor or vendor a grant-funded payment date that the packet never promised.
What went in the sealed packet
The packet’s approach was the opposite of “fill it out and hope”: gather the documents, then finalize. Required attachments listed for a complete District 9 file included:
- One original completed application, typed or printed in blue or black ink
- Proof of at least one year in operation (old license, state corporation documents, sales tax records, or utility bill, in the current business name; copies only)
- Current Miami-Dade County Local Business Tax Receipt (and written Tax Collector proof if the County does not require an LBT for your situation)
- City Business Tax Receipt if you operate inside a city that requires one
- Active State of Florida corporation or fictitious-name registration from Sunbiz (FEIN on the printout, or IRS Letter 147C / SS-4 if needed)
- Valid picture ID of the owner / president / managing member as listed on Sunbiz
- Clear photo of the business location (building, home office, or work vehicle) with the address visible
- Job Creation Form if applicable when seeking maximum funding and funds are available
- State professional license if your trade requires one
- Conflict-of-interest clearance from the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics if you are an elected official, government board appointee, or County employee
- Outside-employment approval through INFORMS plus department-director approval if you are a Miami-Dade County employee
The packet called for one sealed original, hand-delivered from Monday, Oct. 5 through Friday, Oct. 9, by 4 p.m., to Suite 210 at 14508 Lincoln Blvd. The packet published no mail-in path.
For a status call to NANA (305-756-0605) or the hub line (786-592-1861), have ready: legal business name as on Sunbiz; District 9 business address; the date you delivered your packet; whether you are commercial or home-based; and which eligible spend categories you plan to document.
How this sits next to Broward and Palm Beach grant maps
South Florida owners often run multi-county vendor and customer maps. District 9 Mom and Pop money does not replace a Boynton Support/Marketing cycle, a Tamarac Micro Grant receipt window, a Deerfield façade match, a Hallandale CRA ladder, or a Margate PIP arterial file. Those maps stay useful when your second location or next buildout sits north of the county line. Paste none of their caps, match percentages, or CRA boundaries into a Miami-Dade District 9 sealed envelope.
What transfers is discipline: verify the district or CRA polygon first, read the program’s own rules, respect the clock, and treat reimbursement as reimbursement. The grants tag is a running index of owner money maps.
Success in this cycle was never downloading every Mom and Pop application in the county and hoping the largest number sticks. It meant confirming District 9, holding a form by Friday, Oct. 2, matching eligible spend to receipts you can defend, and landing a complete sealed original at Richmond Heights during the county’s published window, Monday, Oct. 5 through Friday, Oct. 9, by 4 p.m.
Sources: Miami-Dade County Small Business Grants page; Miami-Dade County September 21, 2026 District 9 small-business grant news item; District 9 Mom and Pop Small Business Grant Program Application (FY 2025 to 2026), no longer posted; District 9 hub; Miami-Dade Commission “Who is my Commissioner?” page (re-checked Oct. 2, 2026; county grants page re-checked Oct. 9, 2026).
Key Facts for Owners and Search
What is the Miami-Dade District 9 Mom and Pop grant?
The District 9 Mom and Pop Small Business Grant Program offers up to $5,000 per qualifying for-profit business located in Miami-Dade Commission District 9. It runs on a cost-reimbursement basis with Neighbors And Neighbors Association, or NANA, so eligible spending is repaid after a contract with NANA and the county is executed, not handed over at drop-off.
When and where were District 9 applications accepted?
Sealed applications were accepted by hand from Monday, Oct. 5 through Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, by 4 p.m., at the Richmond Heights Business Development Hub, 14508 Lincoln Blvd., Suite 210. The form period ended Oct. 2, the county said no late applications would be accepted, and no mail or online route was published. Direct status questions to the hub at 786-592-1861.
Who is eligible for the District 9 grant?
For-profit businesses, including home-based ones, with at least one year in operation, a physical street address rather than a P.O. or UPS box, and current county, city and state registrations. Confirm your business address is in District 9 through 311 or the county's commissioner finder. National chains, nonprofits and multiple applications from one family or partnership are disqualified.
What can the grant reimburse?
Inventory and supplies, business equipment, marketing, liability insurance, minor interior or exterior renovations, a work vehicle registered in the business name, professional services, and security systems or lease and mortgage costs for commercial properties only. Rental deposits, late fees, alcohol, tobacco, medicine, salaries, debts, property taxes and license costs are ineligible.
What documents went in the sealed packet?
One original application, typed or in blue or black ink; proof of a year in operation in the current business name; a Miami-Dade Local Business Tax Receipt and any required city receipt; a Sunbiz printout showing the FEIN; the owner's photo ID; a photo of the location with the address visible; and the Job Creation Form if applicable. Keep copies.
