Florida Accreditation Report

A next generation accreditation model for Florida businesses, residents, and communities

MyFloridaBusiness.org builds on what traditional accreditation bodies offer, then adds real time trust signals, AI powered support, and direct access to Florida homeowners and communities; all without pay to play lead selling or bidding wars.

Accreditation plus customer acquisition in one place No per lead fees; no bidding wall Built for Florida communities and HOAs

Florida Accreditation Report Focused on outcomes; not just ratings

Enhances BBB and replaces pay to play tools Thumbtack. Angi. Lead marketplaces.

Accreditation Fee

$120 per year

Flat, predictable, Florida specific

Homeowner Access

Zero per lead

Included with accreditation status

SkillShare Jobs

New roles created

Residents; students; under employed

Section 1

Extending and modernizing what BBB provides

The Better Business Bureau has a long history of promoting honest business practices and resolving customer complaints. MyFloridaBusiness.org respects that foundation and builds on it for the realities of Florida communities, digital customer expectations, and AI assisted service delivery.

Shared goals

Where MyFloridaBusiness and BBB are aligned

Both models care about trust, transparency, and accountable business behavior. MyFloridaBusiness keeps these strengths and pushes them further into the day to day experience of Florida residents and providers.

✓ Clear standards of conduct; honest advertising; honoring promises; protecting customer privacy.
✓ Dispute resolution expectations so that residents have a place to raise issues and providers have a clear process to respond.
✓ Public facing trust signals for residents that want more than a random online review when they select a provider.

Key enhancements

Where MyFloridaBusiness goes beyond BBB

BBB is a powerful rating and complaint system, but it stops short of providing a full pipeline of work or a structured job creation engine for Florida. MyFloridaBusiness is designed as both an accreditation system and a real economic mobility platform.

+ Direct integration with Florida homeowners and HOAs; accreditation immediately connects providers to actual demand inside registered communities.
+ AI assisted matching and routing; residents describe what they need in plain language, the system routes the request to their assigned accredited community provider with no lead fee or auction.
+ SkillShare and workforce tools; accreditation is not just a badge; it is a door into training, hiring, and co branded business creation pathways that simply do not exist inside legacy rating agencies.

How accreditation is measured and enforced inside MyFloridaBusiness

BBB ratings are based on a periodic review of complaints, time in business, and a set of trust principles. MyFloridaBusiness keeps a similar ethical backbone, but adds real time data, AI analysis, and Florida specific context.

Dimension	Traditional BBB style accreditation	MyFloridaBusiness Florida Accreditation
Core purpose	Rate businesses; publish complaints; encourage ethical practices.	Accredit businesses, route them real work inside Florida communities, and track outcomes, savings, and job creation over time.
Data model	Complaint history, time in business, limited documentation, periodic updates.	Complaint history plus service outcomes, HOA and resident feedback, schedule reliability, SkillShare participation, and pricing fairness tracked through the platform.
Resident view	Search and see ratings; then contact businesses manually.	Residents and HOAs see accreditation status and place requests directly inside MyFloridaBusiness; the system routes to their assigned accredited provider automatically.
Provider benefits	Trust badge that can be displayed on site and marketing materials.	Trust badge, integrated homeowner demand, HOA relationships, training access, SkillShare workers, and cross county expansion pathways for top performers.
Economic mobility	Indirect; trust can support growth, but job creation is not a core design goal.	Direct; SkillShare and tiered provider programs are built so that accreditation triggers more jobs, new businesses, and upward mobility for Florida residents.

Section 2

Replacing pay to play lead marketplaces with a fair, inclusive model

Many Florida businesses currently rely on national lead marketplaces such as Thumbtack or Angi. These platforms can generate work, but they often do it through a pay to play structure that drains margins, disadvantages smaller providers, and confuses homeowners with auctions and aggressive bidding. MyFloridaBusiness is intentionally designed as the opposite experience.

Current pain

How pay to play lead systems work today

Typical national lead platforms position themselves as neutral marketplaces, but their business model usually depends on providers paying per lead, per click, or through high monthly ad budgets. That means the real customer is often the advertiser rather than the resident.

Providers pay for the chance to compete; multiple businesses pay for the same lead; only one closes the work; the rest absorb the cost.
Residents are pushed into comparison mode; they receive many calls and texts, then feel pressured to choose the lowest price rather than the best long term partner.
Smaller and newer providers struggle to compete without large advertising budgets, which can reinforce gaps in local economic mobility.
Communities are not coordinated; each resident acts alone, so there is no shared negotiation power, no HOA level standards, and no consistent performance expectations.

MyFloridaBusiness model

What changes when accreditation replaces per lead bidding

Inside MyFloridaBusiness, accredited providers do not pay per lead and do not compete in a blind auction each time a resident needs service. Instead, they earn the role of accredited community provider and receive structured demand as part of that relationship.

✓ Flat accreditation and platform fees instead of unpredictable per lead costs; providers can plan cash flow and invest in quality rather than chasing the next bid.
✓ Assigned community provider status; in many cases a single accredited provider is presented to residents inside a community, with backup options if that provider is unavailable or declines the work.
✓ Performance based expansion; providers that consistently deliver value and strong outcomes can be invited into more communities and additional counties, which grows revenue without additional ad spending.
✓ Homeowners are no longer sold as leads; their service requests stay inside the MyFlorida ecosystem, with clear privacy expectations and less noise from competing advertisers.

Key message for providers

With MyFloridaBusiness accreditation, you no longer need to depend on Thumbtack, Angi, or similar pay to play lead services just to keep your schedule full. Your accreditation fee and participation in the Florida ecosystem become your primary marketing engine. You build long term relationships with communities instead of repeatedly buying temporary access to strangers.

Section 3

Driving new jobs and new businesses through the SkillShare program

Accreditation alone does not guarantee economic mobility. MyFloridaBusiness adds the SkillShare program so that every new service relationship can become a pathway to training, part time earnings, and eventually full business ownership for Florida residents.

For residents

How SkillShare turns accreditation into jobs

SkillShare is the workforce and opportunity layer that sits beneath the accreditation program. It connects residents who want to work or learn with accredited providers who need talent and with communities that want stable, local service relationships.

★ Entry level SkillShare roles such as lawn care assistant, handyman helper, cleaning assistant, or community support coordinator.
★ On the job training delivered by accredited businesses; MyFloridaBusiness can track completion and performance, which becomes part of a resident’s SkillShare profile.
★ Progression paths from helper roles to certified technician, crew lead, and eventually partner or independent provider inside the ecosystem.
★ Local focus; jobs and income stay inside Florida neighborhoods rather than going to out of state call centers or anonymous gig platforms.

For accredited providers

Why SkillShare matters to your business

Many businesses struggle to grow because they cannot find enough reliable workers, or they do not have a structured way to train new staff. SkillShare turns accreditation into a recruiting and training advantage.

✓ Priority access to a local talent pool of residents that have opted into SkillShare and are ready to work in your category.
✓ Shared standards of training and safety that align with your accreditation obligations and protect both workers and residents.
✓ Data to support grants and funding; providers and communities can show that accredited work is creating real jobs, not just revenue for the platform.
✓ Co branded business creation; experienced SkillShare participants can be supported to start their own accredited businesses inside the MyFlorida ecosystem, which helps meet demand in new communities and counties.

From single opportunity to statewide ladder of mobility

The long term vision is to align Florida counties, HOAs, and accredited businesses around a shared mobility ladder. Entry level residents can start with one SkillShare opportunity in a single community and move toward county wide and statewide roles as they gain experience.

Resident discovers SkillShare through community provider Trains with accredited business on real work Builds a track record inside the MyFlorida platform Steps into higher responsibility roles and earnings Launches or co owns an accredited business

Section 4

Governance, fairness, and resident protections

Any accreditation program must answer a simple question. Is this system truly working for residents, small businesses, and communities, or is it quietly optimized for whoever pays the most. MyFloridaBusiness is designed around transparency, fairness, and shared accountability.

Fairness by design

How the model stays independent of pay to win incentives

Flat accreditation and platform fees reduce the pressure to sell premium placements or bundle ads that would bias resident outcomes.
Assignment logic is performance and community based; providers earn more visibility by serving communities well, not by bidding higher.
Clear separation between accreditation criteria and sales; the standards for ethical behavior and service quality are not for sale at any price.
Resident voice is built in; feedback and outcomes are captured directly inside the platform and fed back into provider evaluations.

Protection and recourse

How residents and communities are protected

✓ Documented complaint and remediation process so residents know exactly what happens when something goes wrong and how it will be resolved.
✓ Tiered sanctions for providers; warnings, probation, and removal from communities or the platform if providers cannot or will not meet accreditation standards.
✓ Privacy rules that prevent residents from being turned into cold leads for outside advertisers or non accredited companies.
✓ County and HOA level reporting; leaders can see trends in complaints, response times, service quality, and job creation to ensure the program is delivering real public value.

Unified message for the accreditation branch of MyFloridaBusiness.org

MyFloridaBusiness accreditation is not just a digital badge. It is a structured agreement between residents, accredited providers, communities, and the State of Florida that defines how trust, jobs, and savings flow through the system. It builds on the best of BBB style trust frameworks while removing dependence on pay to play lead services, and it adds a SkillShare engine that turns service work into a ladder of opportunity.

Section 5

Virtual Board of Innovation perspectives

The MyFloridaBusiness accreditation model is intentionally ambitious. Below are short perspectives from our Virtual Board of Innovation, followed by a unified recommendation that guides how the accreditation branch of the site should speak to Florida businesses and communities.

Board Member #1

Visionary technologist

Treat accreditation as an autonomous AI system that constantly learns from real world service data. Use intelligent routing and agent style workflows so that Florida residents experience near instant, high quality responses.

Board Member #2

Systems architect and philanthropist

Measure whether accreditation and SkillShare are actually improving economic mobility for low income Floridians. Publish transparent metrics on jobs created, new businesses launched, and communities served.

Board Member #3

Cloud and AI strategist

Build the accreditation branch on secure, scalable cloud services with clear data governance. Center empathy, accessibility, and transparency in every user experience.

Board Member #4

Customer experience pioneer

Start from the resident and the small business, then work backward. Accreditation must feel like a clear upgrade in simplicity, savings, and predictability compared with BBB plus lead platforms.

Board Member #5

Responsible AI leader

Clearly document how AI is used for matching, scoring, and recommendations. Provide appeal processes and human review so that no resident or provider is treated unfairly by an opaque algorithm.

Board Member #6

Economic mobility champion

Track and report on the number of SkillShare jobs and accredited small businesses that come from under served communities. Make mobility outcomes as important as revenue outcomes.

Board Member #7

Transformation executive

Create structured partnerships with counties, HOAs, and local agencies so accreditation becomes part of how Florida plans infrastructure and services, not just a marketing label.

Board Member #8

AI infrastructure visionary

Optimize compute and AI pipelines to deliver fast, predictive recommendations at low cost. Use this efficiency to keep accreditation affordable while offering powerful tools to small providers.

Board Member #9

AGI and ethics advisor

Keep human alignment at the center of every AI decision in the platform. Accreditation should increase human agency for residents, workers, and business owners, not reduce it.

Board Member #10

Human centered AI researcher

Design the accreditation experience to be inclusive of seniors, non technical users, and people with disabilities. Make every page readable, clear, and free from manipulative patterns.

Board Member #11

Network economy builder

Use accreditation to anchor a network of community ambassadors, provider referrals, and peer mentorship. The stronger the network, the more resilient Florida's local economies become.

Board Member #12

Inclusive design advocate

Be explicit about safety, harassment policies, and non discrimination expectations in the accreditation criteria. Make it clear that everyone is welcome to participate in the MyFlorida ecosystem.

Board Member #13

Community ecosystem designer

Focus on trust and belonging between residents, providers, and local officials. Accreditation should feel like a neighborhood level partnership, not a distant rating agency.

Board Member #14

Sustainable tech visionary

Hold a strong line on privacy, data security, and sustainability of the cloud infrastructure that powers accreditation and SkillShare.

Board Member #15

Economic inclusion strategist

Align MyFloridaBusiness accreditation with the broader movement to use AI and data to expand opportunity for low income households. Design outcomes and metrics that speak the language of philanthropic and public sector partners.

Unified recommendation for the accreditation branch of MyFloridaBusiness.org

Taken together, the Board of Innovation voices support a bold but grounded direction for accreditation. The site should not simply re create a traditional rating agency or a generic lead marketplace. It should clearly present MyFloridaBusiness accreditation as a Florida specific trust and economic mobility engine that:

1 Builds on the best of BBB by keeping ethical standards and dispute resolution, then adds real time AI assisted service routing and performance tracking at the community level.
2 Replaces the need for pay to play lead tools by giving accredited providers a direct, predictable path to customers and HOAs, with no hidden auctions or per lead fees.
3 Turns every service relationship into a SkillShare opportunity so that residents can step into work, training, and future business ownership without leaving their communities.
4 Measures and publishes real impact in terms of jobs created, new businesses launched, resident savings, and community stability, so that Florida leaders can see the return on investing in this model.

Section 6

Draft FAQ copy for the accreditation branch

The following FAQ wording can be adapted directly into MyFloridaBusiness.org. It reinforces the core messages of this report using simple, resident and provider friendly language.

How is MyFloridaBusiness accreditation different from BBB accreditation

BBB provides ratings and complaint handling for many types of businesses. MyFloridaBusiness accreditation builds on similar trust principles, but it also connects accredited providers directly to Florida homeowners and HOAs inside our platform, includes SkillShare job and training tools, and is designed from the ground up to keep residents out of pay to play lead systems.
If I become accredited with MyFloridaBusiness, will I still need Thumbtack or Angi

Many providers find that accreditation plus our community assignment model replaces a large portion of what they used to buy from national lead marketplaces. Instead of paying per lead or bidding for attention, you earn the role of accredited provider for specific communities and receive requests through the platform without per lead fees.
How does the SkillShare program help my business grow

SkillShare connects you with residents who want to work, learn, or start their own service business. You can bring them on as helpers, train them on real work, and build a reliable local team. Over time, some of these workers may become crew leaders or co owners in new accredited locations, which extends your reach across more communities.
How are residents protected inside the MyFloridaBusiness ecosystem

Residents and HOAs have a clear complaint process, privacy protections, and the ability to see whether providers are in good standing. Providers can lose access to communities or to the platform entirely if they do not meet accreditation standards. Unlike many lead marketplaces, residents are not sold as leads to multiple bidders.
What types of outcomes will you track and share

We plan to track service reliability, resolution times, job creation through SkillShare, the number of new Florida businesses launched inside the ecosystem, and estimated savings for residents who use accredited providers. These metrics will help counties, HOAs, and partners see the real impact of supporting MyFloridaBusiness accreditation.