Business and Tax Lawyer Blog

Five Jacksonville, Florida nonprofit community development corporations (CDC) have built or renovated 208 homes in the area north of Jacksonville's downtown. The new or completely renovated homes have been quickly bought up by low income home buyers looking for affordable, livable housing.

Amazingly, even though Florida leads the nation for delinquent mortgages and foreclosures, all of these homes were purchased by low-income borrowers who still live in the homes and have kept their mortgages in good standing.

The executive director of Local Initiatives Support Corp Jacksonville, Jonie Foster, says that revitalizing these neighborhoods in the ultimate goal. Her organization provides capital to the CDCs that they use to purchase and develop real estate.

People interested in purchasing a CDC home start by going to the Jacksonville Housing and Neighborhoods Department, which provides home ownership certification and referrals credit counseling. Buyers are assisted in creating a budget and counseled on the ongoing costs of maintaining a home. Buyers appreciate the process, and feel that there are no surprises once they get to the closing.

Milton and Kristen Torres were able to purchase a home near Jacksonville Municipal Stadium through the program, which allowed them to start their own small business; Pro-Motion Pedicab. The program also improves Jacksonville's tax base which in turn improves local government. Find out more about the five non-profit homebuilders that are revitalizing North Jacksonville at CDCs help revitalize area north of downtown Jacksonville.

Continue reading "Jacksonville, Florida Home Builders Thriving Despite Economy" »

The Bark ‘n Howl Bakery provides a variety of flavors of dog biscuits for Jacksonville, Florida pets. The non-profit business doesn’t just provide doggie treats though – they provide vocational training and employment for young people with physical and developmental disabilities from Career Frontiers of Northeast Florida.

Leigh Forrester and Martha Sawyer incorporated the business last year and sell their dog treats over the internet at www.barknhowlbakery.com as well as at local farmers’ markets in the Jacksonville area. The two take turns making the biscuits in their own kitchens, and started training the special needs students to help them in February, 2010.

The year-round program is suitable for young adults with Down syndrome, autism, and visual and hearing impairments. The helpers, are from eighteen to thirty five years old and learn a variety of skills, including safety, cooking, weighing, measuring, packaging, computer skills, and even help sell the treats at the farmers’ markets. They will soon be able to learn retail skills as the bakery plans to open a permanent location if they can find a local benefactor to donate the retail space.

The founders say that their goal is to train the students so that they can seek paid employment in Jacksonville and nearby communities. Find out more about this unique business at Dog bakery provides vocational training for special young adults.

If you live in the Jacksonville, Florida or Orlando, Florida area and have a business or employment legal matter, please contact Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A. for business legal counsel.

The Beaver Street Enterprise Center is a small business incubator that opened its doors in Jacksonville, Florida in 2003. It was established by the nonprofit group, FreshMinistries, to nurture small businesses by providing entrepreneurs with reasonably priced office space, mentoring services and opportunities for networking with other business owners.

In the incubator’s first year, fifteen fledgling businesses provided jobs for sixty two Floridians. By 2007, the center’

s businesses provided almost five hundred jobs to Florida residents, most of them from Jacksonville. The total revenue produced by these businesses has grown to close to $10 million.

Successful businesses to come out of the incubator include A. Harold & Associates, Xeye, Inc., and a Burger King Franchisee who owns six Burger King stores. The University of North Florida’s Small Business Development Center also has a presence there. Most come for the $10 per square foot office rent, but stay for the networking and relationships. Entrepreneurs credit the center with providing them the focus they need to build their businesses, the contacts with other business owners who can provide guidance, and the opportunity to meet local bankers who can help finance their operations.

The Beaver Street Center is currently home to fifteen small business tenants, and has room for two more. The Center also supports fourteen home-based businesses with shared office space, equipment and training. In addition, the Jacksonville Hospitality Institute offers a nine-week course, held in the Center, which prepares students for a career in hotels or restaurants.

Find out more about this small business incubator at Jacksonville small businesses get chance to grow on Beaver Street.

If you live in the Jacksonville, Florida or Orlando, Florida area and run a small business, please contact Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A. for business legal counsel.

Allied Veterans of the World is a non-profit organization that raises money for veterans. Part of their fundraising strategy in Florida has involved running Internet cafés that take advantage of a loophole in Florida sweepstakes legislation to offer online gambling. Their cafés have been raided and shut down by police in several Florida counties, including Seminole, Marion, Jackson and Pinellas.

They recently filed a lawsuit asking the state of Florida to declare that the cafés do not violate Florida state law. But the circuit court judge threw out the case, saying that local sheriffs are not arms of the state, meaning that Allied Veterans of the World will have to fight for the right to stay open in each of the individual counties where they are attempting to operate. They currently operate twenty five cafés across the state of Florida.

In related news, a lawsuit brought against Allied Veterans of America by Jacksonville Greyhound Racing Inc. will be allowed to proceed. The lawsuit alleges that Allied Veterans of the World is violating Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and Florida's Civil Remedies for Criminal Practices Act and that the establishments are a "common nuisance" under Florida Statutes.

Jacksonville Racing is seeking to have all of the cafés shut down and is asking for damages and legal costs. You can read more about the two lawsuits at Tallahassee judge tosses out suit over Internet cafes.

If you have a legal matter that is affecting your business, please contact Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A. for legal counsel.

Before registering a business, every new business owner is confronted with the task of deciding what business form/entity to use.

Well, the basic common business forms come in 6 flavors. They are the sole proprietorship, the general partnership, limited partnership, limited liability partnership (LLP), limited liability company (LLC), and the Corporation.

This is the first in a seven-part series, where I will provide a brief introduction to the options that best suits a business owner's needs.