“Job Posting: Will pick mangoes for FREE. Highly professional and efficient.”  

I was not fully prepared for what came next. I was inundated with offers from friends and family to visit their humble collection of mango trees scattered across Miami-Dade County. Usually at dusk when the weather was more pleasing, I’d venture out to mango land. Thus “We The People Mango Services” was born. After all, every mango tree needs a community friend. 

In the tropical heart of Miami’s summer season, when the sun lingers a little longer and hotter and the air hangs ripe with possibility, something beautiful unfolds among our local foliage: mangoes blush with a red and golden glow, hung on branches heavy with promise. For me, this mango season has sparked not just a harvest, but a quiet revolution in how we can show up for one another. I call it mango as a community currency with no exchange rate.

During each visit with friends, there was no money exchanged, no formal agreements — just a willing hand and shared joy. For some, their deathly fear of lizards, iguanas and other crawling neighbors of nature was enough to put me on speed dial. For others, the sheer volume of mangoes, battles with squirrels or an aversion to rotten fruit were sufficient reasons to welcome my farmer hand. 

From these community harvests, we gifted mangoes to others in the community: co-workers, elders, children, newcomers and friends we have not connected with in months and less so during the pandemic. And with every handoff of a sun-warmed fruit, something extraordinary happened: We connected. We slowed down. We exchanged smiles and stories of our mutual love.

In a world often overrun with transactional exchanges, mangoes remind us that generosity can be deeply simple and wildly powerful. A mango is never just a mango — it’s a gesture. A story. A smile between strangers. A memory waiting to be made. To pick one from a tree, still sticky with sap, and offer it freely is to say, “I see you. You matter. Let’s share this moment.”

There’s something anciently and soulfully special about this fruit. It grows effortlessly in our Caribbean and South Florida yards, provided by nature with abundance. Yet we rarely stop to honor its magic. Mangoes feed not just the body but the spirit. They ask nothing of us except to be gathered and shared. In doing so, they become symbols of reciprocity, humility and joy.

The act of harvesting together is sacred, too. It slows us down, requires cooperation, and invites storytelling. Someone always has a memory to share — the mango tree planted by a grandfather, the childhood games played beneath its shade, the recipe passed down through generations, the joy from the mango juice dripping down the crease of your palm to your elbow. These conversations, woven between branches and over buckets of fruit, root us deeper in the soil of our shared humanity.

This experiment of mine has grown into a movement, one sweet exchange at a time. As we turn mangoes into meals, gifts and gestures of connection, we rewrite what community care can look like. We build new traditions. We learn that sometimes the most radical thing we can do is offer something beautiful and ask nothing in return. For the people, by the people, of the people.

For this summer and other seasons to come, let’s remember to ignore the noise of the world and extend the open door of this gift of nature. Because when we share mangoes, we share more than fruit — we share love, belonging and the delicious truth that we are all connected.

To read the original blog post in The Miami Times, click here.

The post Mangoes, Love and the Sweetness of Community appeared first on Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman.

Additionally, small businesses may utilize two federal programs for contract opportunities: the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program (DBE) and the Airport Concessions Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program (ACDBE). These two programs, however, are gender and race conscious. The DBE increases participation of minority groups in state and local procurement and the ACDBE increases opportunities for minority businesses to operate concessions in airports around the country. Both federal certifications are valid irrespective of which state you may choose to relocate your business. In making the decision to get certified in your county for these programs, businesses should consider their eligibility, application process, recertification, and access to technical assistance.

Miami-Dade County

Miami-Dade County offers one online application for local and federal certification programs.

Local Programs
Determining your eligibility for SBE.

• Must have a Miami-Dade County Local Business Tax Receipt for at least 1 year.
• Must have an actual location in Miami-Dade County.
• For home-based business, the owner must reside at the location. Virtual Offices are not accepted.
• Business Owner can only have one certified SBE firm.
• Three types of Small Business Enterprises (SBEs) may apply: (1) Goods and Services; (2) Architectural & Engineering; and (3) Construction.
• For more information on additional SBE eligibility requirements please visit the SBE Application Requirements.

Determining your eligibility for LDB.

• Must be located and performing commercially useful function in Miami-Dade County or be at least 51% owned by a person or persons who reside in Miami-Dade.
• Must not exceed 3-year average gross receipts of $22,410,000.
• Must possess the required licenses to do business in Miami-Dade County.
• Annual renewal of certification is required.
• Program provides opportunities for small businesses to provide aeronautical services to the Miami International Airport.
• For more information on additional LDB eligibility requirements, please visit LDB application requirements.

Federal Programs
Miami-Dade County participates in the DBE and ACDBE programs. The requirements for eligibility include the following:

Determining your eligibility for DBE and ACDBE.

• Owners must own 51% of the firm and be a member(s) of one of the following groups:

• • Women (regardless of race)
  • Black Americans
  • Hispanic Americans
  • Native Americans
  • Subcontinent Asian Americans

• Must be a small business as defined under Small Business Administration (SBA). Please visit SBA requirements for more details.
• Must be independent.
• For more information on additional DBE/ACDBE requirements, please visit Miami-Dade Website: DBE/ACDBE Eligibility requirements or Federal website DBE/ACDBE requirements.

Applying for Certification (all local and federal programs)

• The certification application is web-based. To submit an application, please visit the Business Management Workforce System (BMWS) Web-based Application.

Maintaining your recertification (all programs)

• To renew your certification, please visit BMWS renewal and login into Business Management Workforce System.

Accessing technical assistance

• If you are having difficulties submitting your application, please contact the BMWS support team.

For additional information, you may contact the Miami-Dade Internal Services Department – Small Business Development Division at 305-375-3111 or email or visit their website.

Broward County

Local Program
Broward offers two local programs: County Business Enterprise (CBE) and Small Business Enterprise (SBE). CBE provides opportunities for larger projects and businesses may hire subcontractors. SBE provides opportunities for smaller projects and businesses use only their resources and no subcontractors. One online application form is used to determine eligibility for both program; a business can qualify for both certifications.

Determining your eligibility

• Personal net worth per owner < $1.32 million.
• Firm/Business must be independent.
• Vendor must have a Broward Business Tax Receipt and be located in Broward County.
• Business must be established for a period of one year prior to submitting its application.
• Site visit by Office of Economic and Small Business Development (OESBD).
• 15 or less permanent full-time employees (SBE requirement only).
• For more information on additional requirements, please visit SBE/CBE requirements.

Applying for Certification

• Applicants must use the Google chrome Browser to submit the online application.
• Applicants must have access to a Broward Account or create one.
• Must have all documents on the checklist. Each document must be saved separately and uploaded individually.
• Before starting the online application, an affidavit must be signed and uploaded.
• You may also watch this video for a step-by-step tutorial on your application.

Maintaining your recertification

• Business must submit the Renewal Form by the firm’s anniversary date; failure to do so will result in the suspension of the business’s certification.

Accessing technical assistance

• For more information and assistance with DBE/ACDBE certification, please call 954-357-6400.

Federal Programs
Broward county participates in the DBE and ACDBE programs. Please see the requirements below.

Determining your eligibility

• Must be a small business.
• Must be a for-profit business.
• Must be independent.
• Must be 51% owned or controlled by a socially and economically disadvantaged U.S. citizen or legal resident.
• For more information on additional requirements, please visit Broward County Website DBE/ACDBE Program Eligibility or Federal website DBE/ACDBE requirements.

Applying for Certification

• Applicants may submit their application to the Office of Economic and Small Business Development. Mail only.

Maintaining your recertification

• Once a year on the date of the initial certification, business should send in the completed No Change Declaration form along with the previous year’s business complete tax return.

Accessing technical assistance

• For more information and assistance with the CBE/SBE certification, please call 954-357-6400.

For additional information, you may contact the Broward Office of Economic and Small Business Development or visit their website.

If you need further technical assistance with any of the application process for the programs listed in this document, please contact Small Business Administration, Enterprise Florida, Florida State Minority Supplier Development Council, Minority Business Development Center or FIU Small Business Development Center.

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