Miami-Dade County has many programs to support small businesses and Manny Cid, asst. director for the Miami-Dade County Strategic Procurement Department, described some of them to the Miami Lakes Chamber of Commerce on March 11.      Whether it’s helping Mom and Pop firms launch with legal, staffing and marketing advice to winning bids for county contracts, Cid, a former town mayor and council member, said there...

Alejandra Perez-Mendoza Founder, Romanicos Chocolates Coral Gables       “I love Maria Corina Machado, who is a leader from Venezuela,” Alejandra Perez-Mendoza said. “She just won the [2025] Nobel [Peace] Prize. She [perseveres] and she has been very important for 20 years.  I learned from her [to be] resilient no matter what, and keep [focusing on] your vision, no matter...

    Chela’s Cocteleria has created more reasons to stay in town to party.      The Mexican restaurant’s goal: To offer high energy, culturally relevant experiences for Miami Lakers, says Marketing Director Vanessa Martinez.      Its target audiences are Generation X-ers (born after 1965) and millenials, born between 1981 to 1996, though women in their 40s are coming for the fun,...

     Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High School’s debate team is going to the national championship to be held Harvard College in April.      The Trojans placed at the White & Case 2026 Policy Debate Nationals Qualifiers on Feb. 28, held at Miami Dade College’s Kendall Campus.       HML’s Speech and Debate Sponsor Michelle Simon said in an email that the school took...

    Bob Graham Education Center’s dancers are National Champions.       Both the elementary and middle students showed off their skills at the 2026 Dance Nationals Contest of Champions held at the Universal Orlando Resort from Feb. 28 to March 1.       The squads came home with several awards including the national title in the junior high/middle school category for pom, which is...