The Carrie P. Meek Center for Business is under investigation by the Miami-Dade County Inspector General’s office and the state has shut it down.
By Christina Veiga
cveiga@MiamiHerald.com
The county Inspector General is investigating a Homestead organization that landed almost $1 million in federal grants while purporting to be a nonprofit organization.
Trouble is, the IRS revoked the Carrie P. Meek Center for Business’ nonprofit status last year after the center didn’t file tax returns for three straight years. The center has no affiliation with former U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek.
The nonprofit status is not the only problem facing the center: The state has shut it down for failing to carry the required insurance. And court records show the center, also known as the Business and Technology Development Corp., has a trail of unpaid bills owed to a local bank, a payroll company and others.
Now, the center’s executive director, Hilda B. Hall-Dennis, has gone missing. She hasn’t answered phone calls from Homestead city officials, a city spokeswoman said. The number for the center is disconnected. Hall also didn’t answer an email sent Friday by The Miami Herald. Additionally, calls from The Herald to her cell phone went unanswered and text messages were returned as undeliverable.
The Meek center opened in 2003 as a “business incubator” — a place to help entrepreneurs launch new businesses in south Miami-Dade County . It claims to have helped 4,000 business people, according to its most recent grant application filed with the city of Homestead. County auditors in 2010 recommended closing the center after they couldn’t find proof of any of the center’s claims.
Its latest problems center on whether the nonprofit met the requirements to receive federal grants.
According to a memo from the county inspector general, since 2008, the center has obtained $898,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant money. As a condition of getting the money, the center is supposed to be registered as a nonprofit with the IRS and the state and have workers’ compensation and liability insurance, the memo states.
But the center lost its nonprofit status in June 2011 for not filing tax returns for three consecutive years. The center’s nonprofit status was still revoked as of Thursday, according to an IRS representative. However, the representative noted that there’s no way to know whether a new application is in the pipeline.
The state’s Department of Financial Services confirmed Friday that it had issued a “stop work” order for not carrying the requisite insurance.
The city gave the center a lucrative deal.
Since at least 2010, it has operated rent free out of a building owned by the Homestead Community Redevelopment Agency — a special taxing district of the city that helps spur economic development. The CRA has also given the center more than $220,000 in grants since 2005, according to city documents.
“The city has identified areas of significant concern regarding the Business and Technology Development Corporation. Staff has made multiple inquires of Ms. Hilda Hall and asked her to provide various documents,” said city spokeswoman Begoñe Cazalis. “Ms. Hilda Hall responded, saying that it was a misunderstanding and that she would provide the documentation. The city gave her a deadline of 30 days to provide the documents, and she has not provided them. She has not answered repeated calls, and her attorney has not answered calls either.”
Referring to the center by its initials, Inspector General Christopher Mazzella wrote in his Oct. 24 memo to the county agency that disperses the grants: “It is the inspector general’s opinion that BTDC has, among other things, misrepresented its nonprofit status. Therefore, it is our request that any further payments or grants to BTDC be suspended pending further review of this matter.”
In addition, the center owes $122,000 to local Homestead bank 1st National, according to a June 2012 court judgment. Another $96,000 is owed to General Electric, according to a 2011 judgment and more than $40,000 is owed to a payroll company in Texas.
Lyons Financial, a Minnesota company, also has a judgment against the center for $103,000.
Follow @Cveiga on Twitter.
Trouble is, the IRS revoked the Carrie P. Meek Center for Business’ nonprofit status last year after the center didn’t file tax returns for three straight years. The center has no affiliation with former U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek.
The nonprofit status is not the only problem facing the center: The state has shut it down for failing to carry the required insurance. And court records show the center, also known as the Business and Technology Development Corp., has a trail of unpaid bills owed to a local bank, a payroll company and others.
Now, the center’s executive director, Hilda B. Hall-Dennis, has gone missing. She hasn’t answered phone calls from Homestead city officials, a city spokeswoman said. The number for the center is disconnected. Hall also didn’t answer an email sent Friday by The Miami Herald. Additionally, calls from The Herald to her cell phone went unanswered and text messages were returned as undeliverable.
The Meek center opened in 2003 as a “business incubator” — a place to help entrepreneurs launch new businesses in south Miami-Dade County . It claims to have helped 4,000 business people, according to its most recent grant application filed with the city of Homestead. County auditors in 2010 recommended closing the center after they couldn’t find proof of any of the center’s claims.
Its latest problems center on whether the nonprofit met the requirements to receive federal grants.
According to a memo from the county inspector general, since 2008, the center has obtained $898,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant money. As a condition of getting the money, the center is supposed to be registered as a nonprofit with the IRS and the state and have workers’ compensation and liability insurance, the memo states.
But the center lost its nonprofit status in June 2011 for not filing tax returns for three consecutive years. The center’s nonprofit status was still revoked as of Thursday, according to an IRS representative. However, the representative noted that there’s no way to know whether a new application is in the pipeline.
The state’s Department of Financial Services confirmed Friday that it had issued a “stop work” order for not carrying the requisite insurance.
The city gave the center a lucrative deal.
Since at least 2010, it has operated rent free out of a building owned by the Homestead Community Redevelopment Agency — a special taxing district of the city that helps spur economic development. The CRA has also given the center more than $220,000 in grants since 2005, according to city documents.
“The city has identified areas of significant concern regarding the Business and Technology Development Corporation. Staff has made multiple inquires of Ms. Hilda Hall and asked her to provide various documents,” said city spokeswoman Begoñe Cazalis. “Ms. Hilda Hall responded, saying that it was a misunderstanding and that she would provide the documentation. The city gave her a deadline of 30 days to provide the documents, and she has not provided them. She has not answered repeated calls, and her attorney has not answered calls either.”
Referring to the center by its initials, Inspector General Christopher Mazzella wrote in his Oct. 24 memo to the county agency that disperses the grants: “It is the inspector general’s opinion that BTDC has, among other things, misrepresented its nonprofit status. Therefore, it is our request that any further payments or grants to BTDC be suspended pending further review of this matter.”
In addition, the center owes $122,000 to local Homestead bank 1st National, according to a June 2012 court judgment. Another $96,000 is owed to General Electric, according to a 2011 judgment and more than $40,000 is owed to a payroll company in Texas.
Lyons Financial, a Minnesota company, also has a judgment against the center for $103,000.
Follow @Cveiga on Twitter.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/02/3079947/homestead-business-incubator-faces.html#storylink=cpy
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