The city held its first-ever Opportunity Apopka Business Expo, bringing together dozens of nonprofit and government organizations aimed at helping local businesses start, grow and sustain operations. 

The expo took place Friday at the Apopka Community Center on South Central Avenue. It featured 33 resource providers, all publicly funded organizations offering services at no cost to businesses.  

“It’s a way to connect our businesses with all of Central Florida’s resource providers,” Antranette Forbes, city economic development director, said. “I think a lot of our businesses are unaware that there’s all these free resources that are available to either help them start a business or scale their business or even exit.” 

Resources ranged from access to capital and credit assistance to business planning, exporting and contracting. Among the organizations represented at the expo were the Manufacturers Association of Central Florida, the Inventors Council of Central Florida, the Black Business Investment Fund, the Apopka Area Chamber of Commerce, utilities such as Duke Energy and the Lake Apopka Natural Gas District, and the Veterans Entrepreneurship Initiative. 

“They are all nonprofits or government organizations, so they have already been funded by taxpayers,” Forbes said. “Businesses have already paid for this service, so why not take advantage of it?” 

In speaking with different businesses, Forbes learned that the issues they might struggle with — no matter what stage they may be in — go beyond access to capital.  

“A lot of times, businesses think they need access to capital,” Forbes said. “That may or may not be the case. What they actually may need is some help with their operations or learning different cost-saving measures. It’s much more comprehensive than just funding.” 

Forbes said the expo plays a key role in Apopka’s economic development, particularly because nearly half of the city’s businesses operate from home.  

“Approximately 48% of our businesses are registered as home-based, which is substantial,” she said. “We want to see them grow … producing more income, higher sales, and hiring more staff. This is kind of that first entry point for our businesses to learn how to do that.” 

The rise in home-based businesses has accelerated since the pandemic, Forbes added, driven by remote work, technology, artificial intelligence and people’s desire for more work-life balance.  

“Folks are realizing that they can work from practically anywhere,” she said. 

Nonprofit leaders and business owners attended to seek partnerships and opportunities. Danyiel Yarbrough, founder of New Journey Youth Center, said she came to explore collaborations.  

“I’m just here to see what other type of business opportunities or potential partnerships that we can get going forward,” Yarbrough said. 

Founded in 2011, New Journey Youth Center serves middle and high school students and operates out of First Baptist Church of Apopka. Yarbrough said her long-term vision includes a youth innovation center.  

“Apopka is growing; we’ll be at 70,000 people soon, and when you have nowhere to go — like we go to the bowling alley and we go to the movie theaters — that’s all we have in 2025,” she said. “That’s really sad, because as huge as we are, why don’t they have a youth center?” 

Local businesses also saw immediate value. Sam Peele of Yellowstone Landscape attended to make connections and said he already spoke with a few companies in the market for a possible landscaper.  

“We have potential,” Peele said. “I’ve only been here for about an hour, and it’s already looking up.” 

McKenzie Steuerer, a customer relationship manager with Informulate and the Orlando Innovation League, said the event created meaningful engagement.  

Informulate is a software development and consulting company that customizes digital products for businesses. Orlando Innovation League is a separate company that focuses on events like Startup Weekend Orlando, a 54-hour program that feeds into business accelerators.  

“We’re not just looking to sell something to them; we’re looking to partner with them,” she said. “The best part of partnership is that face-to-face connection and really talking to them one on one. That’s kind of what we’re doing today.” 

Forbes said the city plans to host events similar to the expo quarterly.  

“What’s most important is listening to what our businesses’ needs are,” Forbes said. “There’s no point of having an event that doesn’t meet the need of our business community.”