Helping Small Businesses Grow
Eileen Higgins is a Downtowner determined to find solutions.
Eileen Higgins, a multifaceted and relentless Downtowner with an engineering degree from Cornell, can be see marching along high school kids, organizing affordable housing forums or participating in some board meeting. On Monday evenings, however, she teaches a class at CIC — not an ordinary class.
Participants in the BizHack course in digital marketing fundamentals are small business owners, entrepreneurs and non-profit leaders. “They’re looking to gain the 21st century skills, and after the 12-week course students emerge fully equipped to activate the power of digital channels to connect with customers and drive sales.”
She goes on to point out the profound skills gap in Miami’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. “As our area has become a hub for entrepreneurial activity we still see lots of start-ups that fail to become scale-ups. Some lack access to capital, but many have great products and services with owners who simply don’t know how to connect with potential customers. We’re here to change that using the power of digital marketing.”
“Let’s face it. Many jobs in Miami are $15 an hour or worse. I’ve got my fingers crossed that Amazon will pick downtown Miami for its next headquarters, but we don’t need to wait around for them,” Eileen says emphatically. “We can create our own high-paying jobs by enabling entrepreneurs to grow their businesses faster. That’s how we create high wage jobs today.”
