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  Minority Business Development

'06-'07 Committee; Gary Shorb (Chair); Ken Glass; Martha Perine Beard

Key Partner Organizations:  Mid-South Minority Business Council

In late 2003 Memphis Tomorrow identified Minority Business Development as a key area of need for Memphis.   A glaring statistic confirmed what we knew anecdotally.  While African-Americans represent 43.8% of the total Memphis MSA, African-American businesses collected only 0.8% of total gross receipts.  Over the ensuing months Memphis Tomorrow took the following steps, among others, to address this issue. . .
  1. Through a partnership with Mid-South Minority Business Council, Memphis Tomorrow conducted a series of focus groups of local minority business owners to better understand the challenges and obstacles they face in growing their businesses.
  2. Memphis Tomorrow also commissioned a study by an outside consulting firm, TXP, to:
    • ascertain a baseline assessment of the scope and nature of local minority business
    • clarify key issues facing minority firms locally and nationally
    • identify best practices for addressing these challenges
    • identify key ways in which Memphis Tomorrow could make a significant difference
  3. Upon the recommendations of our consultant and Mid-South Minority Business Council leadership, we established a supplier diversity initiative.
  4. Presently Memphis Tomorrow is funding and overseeing a three-year supplier diversity pilot project involving eight Memphis Tomorrow companies working in partnership with Mid-South Minority Business Council.
  5. We anticipate positive results by the conclusion of the pilot in December 2007, and hope at that time to leverage the results and the lessons learned to drive a roll-out of the effort to a broader group of corporations and businesses.


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EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Early Childhood Development
K-12 Public Education
Higher Education
Recruiting and Retaining Talent

INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT
Bioscience Industry Development
Music Industry Development
Minority Business Development

PUBLIC SAFETY
Operation Safe Community and
Police and Sheriff Department Accreditation

SPECIAL INITIATIVES
Memphis Fast Forward
Government Efficiency