Bay Area entrepreneurs gear up for St. Pete expo during National Black Business Month

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Florida’s growth is beaming with opportunity for business owners, and during National Black Business Month, Tampa Bay entrepreneurs are gearing up for a neighborhood expo in St. Petersburg to highlight the businesses in local areas. 

For Katrina Smith Headley, the phrase “it’s all in the family” isn’t just words but how her family’s business, Heavy’s Restaurant and Take Out, got started.

“All my friends wanted to come to my house, because my dad would cook for many people. You never had just enough for us, because his heart was in his cooking,” said Headley, who helps run Headley’s in St. Pete. “It’s cooked with love, but there are recipes that we follow in his absence.”

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Katrina’s brother, Kendrick Scott, opened Heavy’s Restaurant and Takeout as a food truck about 11 years ago, and three years ago they opened a brick-and-mortar location on 22nd Street South.

Headley said her late grandmother guides their steps, always working to develop a relationship with customers.

“A lot of the young guys that come in call me ‘Auntie,’ and I call them ‘Nephew,’ so it’s family oriented,” said Headley.

Several streets over on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street South, that sense of familiarity prompted Elaine Chambliss Dogan to open her art studio, Echambliss Art, in the neighborhood where she grew up.

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“It was mainly Black-owned businesses here. There was a dentist across the street. So, I kind of felt comfortable, although I was new to being an entrepreneur, I just felt comfortable,” said Dogan.

Working with oils wasn’t always her day job. Dogan was formerly a drafter, then started creating stories through art.

“When I started painting, I started painting instruments, because I love instrumental music,” said Dogan.  

Florida has some 18,000 Black-owned businesses across the state, which is the largest number in the country, according to Pew Research Center.

“Of course, always it’s the weather. But the other part of it is, there’s a commitment in St. Petersburg for diversity and inclusion of small businesses,” said George Smith, the economic development manager of South St. Peterburg Community Redevelopment Area.

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Part of that commitment will be on display at the Greenhouse in St. Pete on Friday for the Neighborhood Commercial Business Expo from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 440 Second Avenue North. The event’s goal is to showcase some of the local Black-owned businesses, from food to handmade goods, as part of National Black Business Month.

August celebrates Black-owned businesses across the country, and the Tampa Bay area is attractive to new entrepreneurs.

“Because there is so much work and opportunity and growth in the downtown area and as well as what’s going to coming forward soon in the historic Gas Plant area, this is a great opportunity and a great place for small businesses to get involved,” said Smith.

There’s also an effort to grow opportunities with city contracts. In the City of Tampa, officials said the number of Black-owned businesses certified with the city as minority or diverse suppliers to work on contracts has grown from 144 firms as of May 1, 2018, to 153 firms as of May 1, 2019. 

In fiscal year 2023, some city contracts in Tampa include road work, pipes and janitorial services, totaling to about $2.9 million being awarded.

For anyone thinking they have an entrepreneurial spirit, local businesses have a message.

“I encourage them to pursue that if that’s what’s really on their heart,” said Dogan.

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