Almost 80 percent of minority-owned
businesses in a four-county area are
not taking full advantage of available management-oriented resources. As a matter of fact, many don’t even know what
assistance is available.
The GAR Foundation, Akron Urban
League, Kent State University and Akron
SCORE are making every effort to reach the
approximately 3,000 businesses that are
owned by African-Americans or Hispanics in
Medina, Summit and Portage counties.
“The goals are to help create jobs, raise
incomes and grow the economy,” says Dr.
Patricia A. Book, vice president for regional development at Kent State University.
“Minority business owners are an important part of that strategy, and they merit
special attention.”
Smart Business talked to Book about how
local and regional minority businesses can
reap the benefits of various programs.
How is the Fund for Our Economic Future
helping minority businesses?
The Fund for Our Economic Future is
composed of 83 foundations. Those organizations have pooled their time and
resources to contribute to the region’s economic growth and development.
The Fund supports Advance Northeast
Ohio, a regional action plan, through grant-making, research and civic engagement. Not
long ago, it organized a broad stakeholders’
dialogue to engage Northeast Ohioans from
all walks of life. Four major economic initiatives emerged. One of them — growth
through racial and economic inclusion —
became part of the the regional action plan.
To that end, Kent State, the Akron Urban
League and SCORE — ‘counselors to
America’s small business’ — openly discussed what each was doing to support
small business development and success.
In the process, we discovered that we were
not effectively reaching a growing group of
business entrepreneurs in the African-American and Hispanic communities. The
three partners are only serving 633 of the
3,000 eligible businesses. So, we organized
a two-year program called the ‘Partnership
for the Minority Business Accelerator’
(PMBA) to serve companies in business at least one year with annual revenues of
approximately $50,000 to $2.5 million. The
program taps into all our resources and
engages participating companies in a two-year effort to align their needs and goals.
Program outcomes include increases in
profitability, number of employees and
market reach, and new products or services. The group approached the GAR
Foundation, a member of the Fund, for
funding support. The GAR Foundation has
become a major partner in launching the
new Partnership for the Minority Business
Accelerator.
What are some specific programs and plans?
Realizing that each prospective company
has varying needs and goals, PMBA focuses
on customizing plans. It offers services
whereby minority businesses can develop
business plans or obtain financing for sustainability and growth. The Akron Urban
League funds a minority business development center that is part of this project.
SCORE offices and several Small Business
Development Centers associated with Kent
State are involved. Another element is
expanding supplier diversity. The initiative hopes to increase awareness among participating companies about supplier diversity,
how to get on the list and how to prepare.
There is clearly a need for a more concentrated focus on a customized approach.
What do minority businesses need most?
They routinely require additional business
management information, and the best way
to provide that is through outside training,
coaching and mentoring. Some of the business topics in high demand are assistance
in securing business loans; human resource
issues, like creating and implementing
employee policies; recruiting and retaining
workers; staffing issues; and issues dealing
with marketing and product or service positioning. Additionally, if clients are interested in formal education, they can be directed to providers in their immediate geographical area for formal credits and associate or bachelor’s degrees.
Can Small Business Development Centers
sponsored by local institutions help?
Yes, they can. One excellent way is by
using internships to pair up African-American or Hispanic undergraduate or
graduate students with minority businesses. That can potentially engage students in
the real world of business development
and be a win-win-win for the students, the
businesses involved and, by extension, the
entire region’s economic viability.
How are the products and services that are
available being publicized?
Community outreach obviously includes
standard promotional materials, but it also
has to involve a speaker’s bureau, through
which representatives can carry the message
to locations and environments where they’re
likely to reach the community. The marketing
plan includes making contact with key
church leaders, professional organizations
that minority groups might belong to, and
financial institutions and community leaders
through an advisory board. <<
DR. PATRICIA A. BOOK is vice president for regional development at Kent State University. Reach her at (330) 672-8540 or
[email protected]. Official Web site of the Fund for Our Economic Future is www.futurefundneo.org.
