The Health Foundation has invested $1.2 million to launch an AI-powered tech platform designed to help increase contracting opportunities for local and minority-owned small businesses at regional anchor institutions. Ten local public and private anchor institutions—Miami-Dade County, Broward County and the City of Miami; Florida International University, Broward College and the University of Miami; Miami Dade Public Schools and Broward County Public Schools; UHealth and Broward Health—announced commitments to join the marketplace, which is expected to launch second quarter 2023. 

The South Florida Anchor Alliance Regional Marketplace will pool contracting opportunities and vendor lists into one shared platform to make finding opportunities and bidding on contracts to do business with such massive organizations easier, more accessible, and inclusive. 

The anchor institutions collectively spend nearly $8 billion a year procuring goods and services, so their participation in the marketplace represents a significant economic opportunity for regional small businesses. This critical platform will help local and minority-owned businesses —the heartbeat of the South Florida economy—not just recover from COVID’s economic aftermath but grow and succeed. 

Beyond the investment in the marketplace technology, the Health Foundation awarded a $400,000 grant to Broward College to implement the SFAA Capacity Building Partnership Project, bolstered by a $200,000 investment from Citi Foundation—to provide technical assistance to small businesses ensuring they are ready to compete in the marketplace. The Alliance initiative is part of the Health Foundation’s overarching goal of addressing and positively impacting the social and economic disparities that affect community health and well-being.