Minority Business Accelerator 2.5+
The Minority Business Accelerator 2.5+, funded by the Fund for Our Economic Future, is completing its second year of operation. The MBAccelerator2.5+ is an initiative of the Commission on Economic Inclusion, which is a program of the Greater Cleveland Partnership.
It focuses on growing the size, scale and infrastructure of African American- and Hispanic-owned enterprises (MBEs) with annual revenues of at least $2.5 million in a 16-county area of Northeast Ohio. It works with the corporate community and the public sector to determine the demand for business-to-business opportunities. It then uses that demand to identify MBEs for participation. Economic indicators suggest these opportunities are likely to be in construction, manufacturing, IT, financial services, and healthcare.
Ultimately, the MBAccelerator 2.5+ serves as a matchmaker by identifying business opportunities, preparing participating MBEs for business deals, and working to build win-win business relationships for those MBEs, the corporate community and the public sector.
Results to date
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29 deals valued at $70 million have been closed with 16 minority-owned businesses (15 African American MBEs and one Hispanic MBE) in Cuyahoga, Stark and Summit counties. Contracts included printing, HVAC, data cabling, flooring and general contracting with these additional results:
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180+ jobs created
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$1 million in lines of credit and bonding secured
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Over $125 million in business opportunities identified
Recent news
Click here
to read the latest Minority Business Accelerator 2.5+ e-newsletter.
Service area
The Northeast Ohio service area of the MBAccelerator2.5+ is composed of these 16 counties: Ashland, Ashtabula, Carroll, Columbiana, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Richland, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, and Wayne.
Getting started
If you're an African American or Hispanic MBE with at least $2.5 million in annual revenue and meet the above criteria, click here to learn more about participating in the MBAccelerator2.5+.
Success stories
View our slide show
to learn about the success stories of our 2008 MBE portfolio companies.