Minority Business Development Center to be located at the GCP

Friday, April 15, 2011

Cleveland, Ohio—A new Minority Business Development Center will open this summer at the offices of the Greater Cleveland Partnership (GCP). The GCP’s Commission on Economic Inclusion will operate one of two new centers that will be funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA).

Operating expenses for the first year will be covered by a $225,000 federal grant with additional support from the GCP and its small business partner, COSE. The center will be located at the GCP’s new offices when it relocates from the Higbee Building on Public Square to 1240 Huron Road in PlayhouseSquare.

“A new MBDA Business Center in Cleveland will not only boost the local minority business community but also create economic benefits for the region,” said Commission on Economic Inclusion Executive Director Andrew Jackson. “We look forward to working with our partners to make the center successful in meeting the needs of Greater Cleveland minority-owned businesses (MBEs.)

MBDA Business Centers assist minority entrepreneurs with access to markets, contracts and capital and offer strategic business consulting to facilitate growth in today’s global economy. The Commission will work with several partners including COSE, the Northern Ohio Minority Supplier Development Council, the Northeast Ohio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, JumpStart, Inc., Team NEO and the WECO (Wealth, Education, Collaboration and Opportunity) Fund, Inc., to provide a broad range of services.

The goal is to help MBEs create 70 jobs and generate $20 million in new revenues during the center's first year, starting June 1. The center will focus on companies with $100,000 or more in annual revenues and serve as a complement to the Minority Business Accelerator 2.5+, a Commission on Economic Inclusion initiative focused on growing the size, scale and infrastructure of African American- and Hispanic-owned MBEs with annual revenues of at least $2.5 million in a 16-county area of Northeast Ohio. The Cleveland office will be one of 27 MBDA centers located throughout the U.S.

The Commission on Economic Inclusion, a program of the Greater Cleveland Partnership (GCP), works to significantly improve the meaningful involvement of minority businesses and individuals in the economic engines that drive Northeast Ohio. Founded in 2000, it is observing its 10th anniversary this year. www.commission-inclusion.com.

As an association of business members, the Greater Cleveland Partnership mobilizes private-sector leadership, expertise and resources to create jobs and leverage investment to improve the economic vitality of the region. www.gcpartnership.com

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