By Brian D’Antoni
Sundaze Gazette · Sept. 24, 2026
If your shop sits in Miami-Dade Commission District 9, the expensive mistake this month is treating Mom and Pop money as a vague county rumor. Vice Chairman Kionne L. McGhee’s District 9 Mom and Pop Small Business Grant Program is in an active window: application forms are available through October 2, 2026, a Zoom information workshop runs Wednesday, September 30 at 6:00 p.m., and completed packets must be hand-delivered in a sealed envelope October 5–9 by 4:00 p.m. at the Richmond Heights Business Development Hub. The published ceiling is up to $5,000 per qualifying for-profit business—on a cost-reimbursement path administered with Neighbors And Neighbors Association (NANA), not a same-day check at drop-off.
This is an owner map only. It is not a millage story, not a politics profile, and not a tour of every Miami-Dade district window. District 5 and District 11 cycles that ran earlier in 2026 are closed—do not treat archival PDFs or stale aggregator listings as open doors. Confirm your address is inside District 9 before you spend a night on paperwork.
Canonical sources re-verified live for this package:
- 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 (PDF) — controlling clocks, eligibility, eligible/ineligible spend, attachments
- District 9 hub — online application pickup path named in the PDF
- Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners — “Who is my Commissioner?” · or dial 311
Peer money maps already live on the Gazette—Boynton Beach small-business grants (October window), Build Tamarac Micro Grant + Tenant Improvement, Deerfield Beach CRA Commercial Façade Grant, Hallandale Beach CRA FY2025–26 incentives, and Margate MCRA PIP—are light-linked for process literacy. Their dollar ceilings and CRA polygons do not transfer onto a District 9 folio. Until a dedicated SoFla grants hub ships, use the live grants and small-business tags plus those city maps.
Hard process rule before anything else: confirm District 9 with 311 or the commissioner finder, download the live District 9 PDF, attend the September 30 Zoom workshop before you finalize the form, assemble required attachments, then hand-deliver one original sealed packet October 5–9 by 4:00 p.m. Submission is not an award.
Updated Sept. 28, 2026
Before Wednesday’s Zoom: what to check, what to have open, what to ask
The District 9 information workshop is Wednesday, September 30, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. on Zoom — Meeting ID 843 1533 8504, Passcode 624918. The program says registration is required, space is limited, and questions will be answered only during the workshop, so the hour is worth more if your paperwork is already on the table. The PDF’s advice still stands: gather everything, but don’t complete the application until after the session. The full attachment list is further down; this is the short version for Wednesday night.
Check these before you log on:
- 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.
Have these open during the call:
- The blank District 9 application PDF.
- 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 PDF’s eligible categories, plus any letters, certificates, or awards that show community involvement, which the form asks you to document.
Questions worth bringing:
- 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.
If you’re unsure how to register, call Neighbors And Neighbors Association’s Trina Kancey at 305-756-0605 before Wednesday. Forms stay available through Friday, October 2, and sealed packets are accepted October 5–9 by 4:00 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 PDF 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 three clocks that matter
Treat the District 9 application PDF as the controlling clock sheet for this cycle.
Clock 1 — Forms available through October 2. Applications may be picked up in person at the Richmond Heights Business Development Hub (Larcenia J. Ballard Plaza, 14508 Lincoln Blvd, Suite 210, Miami, FL 33176; Attn: Shandra Mallary, 786-592-1861) or downloaded online from miamidade.gov/district09. The published availability window is September 21 through October 2, 2026. Having a blank form is not the same as being ready to submit.
Clock 2 — Zoom workshop, Wednesday, September 30, 6:00 p.m. Meeting ID 843 1533 8504, Passcode 624918. Registration is required; the PDF warns that space is limited and asks owners to be on time. The program states that questions will be answered only during the workshop, and that attendance does not guarantee funding. The PDF’s own instruction is the one that should change your calendar: do not complete the application before attending the workshop.
Clock 3 — Sealed hand-deliver, October 5–9 by 4:00 p.m. Completed applications with required attachments must be hand-delivered in a sealed envelope to the same Richmond Heights Business Development Hub address. No late applications will be accepted. Mail, portal upload assumptions, and “I’ll drop it Monday the 12th” are not in the published path.
Keep a personal copy of everything you submit. The packet asks 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 PDF’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 is encouraged and useful; it is not 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 PDF 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 PDF’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 PDF 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 PDF 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: you are not walking out of Richmond Heights with $5,000 in hand on October 7.
For additional information, the PDF points owners to Trina Kancey at 305-756-0605, Neighbors And Neighbors Association (NANA). Use that desk for process questions that survive the workshop; use the workshop itself for the questions the program says will be answered only then.
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.
Workshop before you fill—then build the sealed packet
The PDF’s workshop guidance is the opposite of “fill it out tonight and hope.” Gather documents, attend Zoom on September 30, then finalize. Required attachments listed for a complete District 9 file include:
- 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
Seal one original packet. Keep your copy. Hand-deliver October 5–9 by 4:00 p.m. to Suite 210 at 14508 Lincoln Blvd. Do not invent a mail-in path the PDF does not publish.
A clean call script for 305-756-0605 (NANA) or the RHBDH pickup line (786-592-1861): legal business name as on Sunbiz; District 9 business address; for-profit / years in operation; County + City + Sunbiz status; whether you are commercial or home-based; whether you can attend the September 30 Zoom; and which eligible spend categories you intend 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 Gazette 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 controlling PDF, respect the clock, and treat reimbursement as reimbursement. The grants tag is the current Gazette index while a single SoFla grants hub page is still offline.
Success on this map is not downloading every Mom and Pop PDF in the county and hoping the largest number sticks. Success is confirming District 9, sitting the September 30 workshop before you finalize, matching eligible spend to receipts you can defend, and landing a complete sealed original at Richmond Heights by 4:00 p.m. sometime between October 5 and October 9.
Sources: Miami-Dade County September 21, 2026 District 9 small-business grant news item; District 9 Mom and Pop Small Business Grant Program Application PDF (FY 2025–2026); District 9 hub; Miami-Dade Commission “Who is my Commissioner?” page (all re-verified live for this package).
Key Facts for Owners and Search
- Program: Miami-Dade Commission District 9 Mom and Pop Small Business Grant Program (Vice Chairman Kionne L. McGhee) — for-profit shops located in District 9; administered with Neighbors And Neighbors Association (NANA) on a cost-reimbursement basis after contract execution.
- Award ceiling: up to $5,000 per business.
- Forms available: September 21 – October 2, 2026 online at miamidade.gov/district09 or in person at Richmond Heights Business Development Hub (Larcenia J. Ballard Plaza, 14508 Lincoln Blvd, Suite 210, Miami, FL 33176; Attn: Shandra Mallary, 786-592-1861).
- Zoom workshop: Wednesday, September 30, 2026, 6:00 p.m. — Meeting ID 843 1533 8504 / Passcode 624918; registration required; space limited; PDF recommends not completing the application before the workshop; questions answered only during the workshop; attendance does not guarantee funding.
- Hand-deliver window: October 5–9, 2026 by 4:00 p.m. — one original completed application + required attachments in a sealed envelope to the same RHBDH address; no late applications.
- Eligibility (high level): ≥1 year in operation; for-profit (home-based OK); physical address (no P.O./UPS boxes); current County / City / State registrations.
- Automatic disqualifiers: relocate out of District 9 during the process; late submit; nonprofit; multiple apps for same owner/family/partner; national chain.
- Eligible spend (PDF): inventory/supplies; business equipment; marketing/advertising; liability insurance; minor interior/exterior renovations; security system (commercial only); work vehicle (pick-up/cargo van in business name); professional services; lease/mortgage (commercial only).
- Ineligible (PDF): rental deposits; late fees; alcohol/tobacco/medicine purchases; salaries; debts; property taxes; County/City/State license costs; anything not on the eligible list.
- District finder: dial 311 or use Who is my Commissioner? with the business address.
- NANA desk: Trina Kancey · 305-756-0605.
- Primaries: County news item · District 9 application PDF.
- Closed elsewhere (do not treat as open): District 5 and District 11 2026 windows are closed.
- Peer light-links (different cities/PDFs): Boynton Beach grants · Build Tamarac · Deerfield façade · Hallandale CRA · Margate MCRA PIP · grants tag · small-business tag.
