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Super Bowl Means Business For Small And Minority Operations

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By BAIRD HELGESON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 11, 2008

TAMPA - Faye Dowdell looks for any edge she can find in today's gloomy economy.

As the head of the Juneteenth celebration in St. Petersburg, she has watched sponsors cut donations to the event, which celebrates freedom from slavery.

The tough financial times have forced Dowdell to visit neighboring communities for money and sponsors.

"I am just trying to do anything I can," she said.

Dowdell spent the morning at the Tampa Port Authority office for the first installment of the NFL's Super Bowl XLIII Playbook for Small Business Workshop Series. The free workshops are designed to help local small and minority businesses.

The NFL's business workshops are so popular that organizers added second sessions to each of the three seminars. That means nearly 900 small business owners will participate, about twice as many as during last season's Super Bowl in Arizona.

"Certainly the economic situation has made people look for every opportunity," said Tisha Ford, who heads the NFL's Emerging Business Program. The program helps local businesses owned by women and minorities land contracts with Super Bowl vendors. "People are participating to build relationships to get them through these difficult times."

About 80 people endured heavy rain to attend today's morning seminar, which featured a presentation from Art Mahoney, a marketing specialist with the Small Business Development Center at Manatee Community College.

Air Force Master Sgt. Marshall Lewis just started a graphics business called Bawl Hogs. He takes photographs of young athletes and affixes them to footballs, basketballs and hockey pucks as mementos for parents and loved ones.

Lewis is about to retire from the military and hoped the seminar would give a boost to his business.

"I love sports and thought this would be a good opportunity to meet people with similar interests," he said.

Dusty Besecker is co-owner of a commercial sign shop called Precision Digital.

A die-hard Buccaneers fan, he wasn't going to miss an opportunity to spend the morning mixing two of his passions, work and football.

"We are looking for business everywhere we can," Besecker said. "The Super Bowl is coming, and I want to do whatever I can to benefit from it."

Henry Miller, owner of AJ's Snow Balls, joined this year's local Emerging Business Program in hopes of winning a Super Bowl contract. He sells flavored ice from a trailer he takes to beaches, Little League games and special events.

"The chance to be a part of the Super Bowl is huge," Miller said.

Curtis Stokes, a member of the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee's executive panel, was glad to see so many minority business owners at the seminar.

When the Super Bowl came to Tampa in 2001, some minority business owners complained they missed out on Super Bowl contracts.

"The participation has been fantastic," said Stokes, Hillsborough County's branch president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The next seminars will be after the holidays. The workshop Jan. 15 will focus on marketing to multicultural audiences. The session Jan. 22 will teach small business owners how to access capital.

For information, check out www.superbowlbiz.com.

Reporter Baird Helgeson can be reached at (813) 259-7668 or bhelgeson@tampatrib.com.

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