Minority Business Accelerator 2.5+ client closes $1.9M subcontracting deal

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Cleveland, Ohio - April 22, 2009 - The Minority Business Accelerator 2.5+, an initiative of the Commission on Economic Inclusion, has helped Key General Contractors, a minority-owned construction company, secure a $1.9 million subcontracting job under The Krill Co. for work on the Cleveland Clinic/Fairfax Development Corporation's  Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center . Key will be performing field supervision, site work, and all finishing work such as drywall, doors, carpentry, and painting.

This is the second deal that the MBAccelerator 2.5+ has helped Key General Contractors secure. In 2008, the company won a $165,000 contract with  The Sherwin-Williams Co.  to renovate Suite 925 in Landmark Towers for the company's chemical coatings division. Key served as the project's general contractor. 

"This is an example of how minority business enterprises (MBEs) can grow by participating in the Minority Business Accelerator," said Andrew Jackson, executive director of the Commission. "We are continually working with our portfolio MBEs to secure deals that will enable them to improve their bottom line and create jobs."

“Cleveland Clinic is committed to increasing market share for minority and female businesses,” said Dr. Anthony Stallion, the Clinic’s chief diversity and community relations officer. “Innovative partnerships like the one between Key and Krill not only help us achieve aggressive diversity goals but also have a significant impact on economic development to benefit both Cleveland and Cleveland Clinic."

Key General Contractors' president is Daryl Lackey, who began working in the construction industry in 1988 as an apprentice carpenter for Gleeson Construction. That same year, he became a member of Carpenters Union Local 212. Although he's now a business owner, he says,  "I'm still a union member. I'm not afraid to get out my tools and pitch in, if that's needed to complete a job on time."

He credits much of his success to a mentoring program offered by The Krill Co. "This was instrumental in helping me understand the general contracting business...about meeting with owners and architects and learning the language of the other trades," says Lackey, who participated in the program from December 2004 through January 2006.

Lackey also is committed to giving back and mentoring others. He serves on the Commission's MBE Growth Committee. He also hired a Job Corps member, who was working on a Habitat for Humanity project, as a carpentry apprentice. "Somebody gave me a chance," says Lackey. "I'm just passing it on."

The Minority Business Accelerator 2.5+ is funded by the  Fund for Our Economic Future . It focuses on growing the size, scale and infrastructure of African American and Hispanic MBEs with annual revenues of at least $2.5 million in a 16-county area* of Northeast Ohio. Since its launch in January 2008, the MBAccelerator 2.5+ has helped 11 MBEs in industries ranging from construction to printing and contracts worth more than $38 million with an average deal value of $650,000.  www.mbaccelerator2-5.com

The  Commission on Economic Inclusion, a program of the  Greater Cleveland Partnership, works to significantly improve the meaningful involvement of minority businesses and individuals in the economic engines that drive Northeast Ohio. The GCP mobilizes private-sector leadership, expertise and resources to create jobs and wealth and improve the economic vitality of the region.

*The 16-county Northeast Ohio service area of the Minority Business Accelerator 2.5+
 
1. Ashland
2. Ashtabula
3. Carroll
4. Columbiana
5. Cuyahoga
6. Geauga
7. Lake
8. Lorain
9. Mahoning
10. Medina
11. Portage
12. Richland
13. Stark
14. Summit
15. Trumbull
16. Wayne

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