Philanthropy News Digest, a newsletter of the Foundation Center, published the following article yesterday. One of the purposes of the partnership described in the article is to help minority businesses identify contracting opportunities.
The National Urban League, the Business Roundtable, and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation have announced the names of five cities that will spearhead a public-private partnership to encourage minority entrepreneurship and business development nationwide.
The Urban Entrepreneur Partnership plans to employ the resources of corporate America, major service organizations, the nonprofit sector, and federal, state, and city governments to expand entrepreneurship and jobs in historically neglected and underserved urban areas through the creation of economic empowerment centers housed at local National Urban League affiliates. The partnership initially will focus its efforts in five cities -- Atlanta, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Jacksonville, and Kansas City -- with a goal of having the first five centers operational by early 2005 and up to fifteen centers in operation nationwide by the end of 2006. The Kansas City-based Kauffman Foundation, a leader in advancing entrepreneurship, and the D.C.-based Business Roundtable, an association of one hundred and fifty CEOs, will provide guidance to the project and work to create partnerships between large firms and urban entrepreneurs, including mentoring and identification of contracting opportunities, while the federal government will provide assistance through the Minority Business Development Agency and Small Business Administration. "Small businesses are the largest creators of new jobs in America, and the Urban Entrepreneur Partnership will help more minority-owned businesses find the technical assistance, financial investment, and corporate relation-ships they need to grow, develop, and create more jobs in the urban areas that need it most," said National Urban League president and CEO Marc H. Morial, who will chair the partnership. "Growing small- and medium-size minority-owned businesses is one of the best ways to close the wealth gap in America and provide real economic empowerment to our communities." "Unprecedented National Partnership Launched to Encourage Minority Entrepreneurship." Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
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