The Florida Small Business Development Center (FSBDC) at Florida International University (FIU) is accepting applications for the fall session of its Scale to Grow program, a free, seven-week hybrid training series for entrepreneurs and business owners throughout the Upper Keys.
The program, which begins Tuesday, Sept. 1 at the Key Largo library, is open to anyone with a defined business concept or an established business seeking to strengthen operations and plan for growth.
The program is free as part of the FSBDC’s mission to support Florida Keys-based entrepreneurs looking to start and grow businesses.
Bonnie Barnes and Nancy Hull, market growth specialists with the Florida Small Business Development Center at FIU, will lead the Scale to Grow hybrid training for entrepreneurs and business owners in the Upper Keys. CONTRIBUTED
“Small business owners in the Keys wear every hat in the company, and financial planning is usually the one that gets set aside,” said Brian Van Hook, regional director of the Florida SBDC at FIU. “This program gives them the tools to understand their numbers, build a real plan and present it to people who evaluate businesses for a living. And unlike most programs, our support doesn’t end at graduation. Every participant gets access to no-cost, one-on-one consulting with our market growth specialists for as long as they need it.”
The accelerator program combines in-person sessions at the Key Largo library with virtual workshop sessions, allowing participants to focus on the sessions and attend without disrupting business operations. The curriculum covers customer acquisition and retention strategy, business financial health and bankability, hands-on AI tools for small business, operational efficiency and productivity, brand development and marketing strategy and pitch preparation.
Participants build a business action plan over the course of the program and present it to a panel of industry professionals and lending experts during the final session.
The program is facilitated by Nancy Hull and Bonnie Barnes, both FSBDC market growth specialists with decades of combined experience in financial services, investment banking, marketing strategy and small business consulting. They have advised hundreds of owner-led businesses across the Keys on startup planning, growth strategy, operations and access to capital.
Previous participants have used the program to launch new businesses, secure financing, refine pricing strategies and make changes that directly improved profitability.
“Scale to Grow provided us the foundation to launch Give 2 Nickels LLC. It created a roadmap for success and structure for us to launch a new business,” said Michael Krause, a spring 2026 program graduate.
The fall session runs Tuesdays from Sept. 1 through Oct. 13 from 9:30 to 11 a.m., with the final graduation session extended through 1 p.m. Sessions alternate between in-person and virtual formats.
Applications are open at: go.fiu.edu/accelerator.
The Florida SBDC Keys office is at 300 Southard Street, Suite 205, Key West. More information is at sbdc.fiu.edu or 305-779-9230.
The FSBDC program is part of a national SBDC program of more than 1,000 small business centers across the country and the Florida SBDC Network of nine regional centers across Florida. The Florida SBDC network is the state’s principal provider of business assistance.
