Business Advisory Board

Our Purpose. To provide insight, ideas, and recommendations that help the City create an environment where businesses can thrive.

Who We Are. A diverse group of local business owners, industry professionals, and community leaders who are passionate about Lake Worth Beach and invested in its future.

The Business Advisory Board was created by Ordinance 2022-16, adopted on September 30, 2022, to promote business development and support and sustain existing businesses within the city by identifying business opportunities and act as a liaison between the owners of businesses within the city and the city commission. The board shall consist of seven (7) members who are owners or operators of businesses within the city. The board members shall be comprised of representatives from the following categories: retail business, professional services business, personal services business, industrial business, commercial realtor or business broker, certified property manager, community bank representative, attorney, hospitality (to include restaurants, bars and hotels) and commercial property owner.

The Business Advisory Board was formed at the request of Commissioner Sarah Malega. Its purpose is to be a conduit between City Hall and you, the business owners. We have been in existence for nearly 3 years.  Since its inception, engaging the businesses has been a challenge.  Initially we met at City Hall, but no one knew we existed, and therefore no business owners were attending the meetings.  We came up with a plan to move the meetings out of City Hall and into the downtown area where the businesses are located in the hopes of boosting attendance.  Because of a continued lack of awareness of the Board and its benefits to business owners, we decided to walk door to door and introduce ourselves, at the same time gathering emails so we could create a database to communicate with you directly.  We have nearly 100 business emails (but there are thousands of businesses).  We have made a concerted effort over the past year to communicate with you regularly about activities/events happening in the City, about the CRA’s efforts to promote your business and the downtown as a whole, and let you know topics we are discussing at our meetings.  Despite our push for awareness, attendance at our meetings has been minimal.  This Board is effective only if the business owners participate.  If you are not participating, you are not being heard.  We exist to bring your concerns, ideas, solutions to the City, for all issues important to you. 

The Board meets the third Thursday of the month. We will be alternating our meetings between evening and daytime.  One month we will meet at 9:00 a.m. at Lilo‘s to accommodate business owners that work into the evening time and find it difficult to make an evening meeting. The next month we will have an evening meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the City Library to accommodate those that generally end their day at 5:00 p.m.  We are committed to this format for a full year for continuity, and we will evaluate and assess the Board’s effectiveness at the end of that time and decide its future.