Category: MBDA

Georgia MBDA Business Center Client Scores “Major” Win

A Big Night for Client Next Play 360° and Scoot Henderson

Group photo
Scoot Henderson (center), a Georgia MBDA Business Center client, celebrates with family and friends following his joining the NBA in the 2023 draft.

The Georgia MBDA Business Center congratulates Scoot Henderson and his parents, Crystal and Chris Henderson, co-founders of portfolio client Next Play 360°, for Scoot’s selection in June by the Portland Trail Blazers as the No. 3 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. Scoot, formerly the youngest player in the NBA G-League, spent the past two years playing for the G-League team Ignite. 

Next Play 360° is dedicated to developing the whole person through a robust program that focuses on four core pillars: athletics, academics, leadership, and community. Through this program,  Next Play 360° helps student athletes like Scoot become as competitive in the classroom as on the court and change what they think is possible for their futures.

“We could not be more thrilled for Scoot, Crystal, and Christ Henderson,” said  Jennifer Pasley, the Georgia MBDA Business Center’s project director.

The Center has been working with Next Play 360° to secure SBA financing to purchase a multi-sports complex in Marietta, Georgia.

“Through our work with Next Play 360°, we have been fortunate to have a front-row seat to Scoot’s incredible NBA journey, and we wish him the best of luck in this exciting new endeavor.”

Georgia MBDA Business Center and Siemens USA Announce Winners of Siemens Entrepreneurship Grants

Gavin Ireland, founder of Georgia Green Energy Services, gives a presentation to Siemens and Georgia Tech leaders. (Photo: Allison L. Carter)

Georgia Green Energy Services, an Atlanta-based firm in the electrical construction industry, was recently awarded $20,000 from Siemens USA as part of the technology company’s ongoing commitment to expanding vendor diversity in the supply chain.

Founded by Gavin Ireland in 2007, Georgia Green Energy Services is one of nine Black-owned businesses across the country awarded the $20,000 Siemens Entrepreneurship Grant. The companies will join Siemens’ supplier database, which is comprised of more than 3,700 small and diverse businesses. That business segment represents more than a quarter of Siemens’ entire supplier base.

“What Siemens is doing is important because it’s impactful for the community and for business owners to be able to see that large corporations are making make these investments,” Ireland said. “It means a lot to me. A lot of times, as minority businesses, we have to work with limited resources, so this investment in us is very important.”

Siemens’ announcement was in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) and the Georgia MBDA Business Center at Georgia Tech.

The nine winning recipient businesses were selected from U.S. cities where Siemens has a significant footprint: Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Dallas, Detroit, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, and Sacramento. These grants, now totaling $320,000 over the past two years, complement the nearly $1 billion that Siemens USA spends annually doing business with small and diverse-owned firms.

“What we’re seeking are those minority enterprises that deserve to be highlighted within the whole network — the people who are really making a difference and showing the way and working on things that are absolutely essential to our future,” said Siemens CEO Barbara Humpton during a recent visit to Georgia Tech’s campus, where the announcement was made. “This is about being in a network

From left, Gavin Ireland, 2022 Atlanta Siemens Grant recipient; Leonard Wright, 2021 Atlanta recipient; Siemens USA CEO Barbara Humpton; Donna M. Ennis, director of the Georgia MBDA Business Center at Georgia Tech’s ’s Enterprise Innovation Institute; Patric Stadtfeld, Siemens USA head of Supply Chain Management for the Americas; David Bridges, vice president of the Enterprise Innovation Institute, and Jennifer Pasley Georgia MBDA Business Center program manager. (Photo: Allison L. Carter)

together and working together to create change.”

In January 2022, MBDA Business Centers in those cities nominated 37 Black-owned businesses to apply for the Siemens grants. Nominees were selected based on criteria and specialties that aligned with industry demand: preventative and predictive maintenance, fire and security, electrical, construction, rail and transport, mobility solutions, and facilities and project management. The Georgia MBDA Business Center evaluated and selected the winners.

In addition to Georgia Green Energy Services, the other selected businesses are:

  • Maven Construction – Boston
  • E-Fix Housing Solutions – Charlotte
  • GCC Enterprises, LLC – Dallas
  • Onyx Enterprise, Inc. – Detroit
  • Arbor Electrical Service, Inc. – Miami
  • Evans Electrical Services, Inc. – New York
  • A M Electric, Inc. – Philadelphia
  • AHI Construction, Inc. – Sacramento

“Siemens continues to show its commitment to Black-owned businesses through the Siemens Entrepreneurship Grant,” said Donna M. Ennis, C.P.F., director of the Georgia MBDA Business Center and director of Diversity Engagement and Program Development at Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute. “The business community recognizes the importance of diversity and its economic impact on communities,” she said, noting that Georgia Green Energy Services is among the Georgia MBDA Business Center’s roster of clients.

“Grants and commitments like these not only provide a critical mechanism to enhance businesses’ viability through these challenging times, but to grow and thrive.”

Siemens Expands Supply Chain Diversity Through $140K in Grants to Small, Black-Owned Businesses

Collaboration with the Georgia Minority Business Development Agency Business Center at Georgia Tech supports diversity and inclusion in entrepreneurship

 

WASHINGTON — Siemens USA today announced it will award $140,000 in grants to small, Black-owned businesses for the second consecutive year to support diversity, equity and inclusion in business development and entrepreneurship.

 

Siemens and the Georgia MBDA Business Center at Georgia Tech will select the winning recipient businesses in seven U.S. cities where Siemens has a significant footprint: Atlanta, Boston, Buffalo, Dallas, Detroit, Miami, and Sacramento. These grants, now totaling $280,000 over the past two years, contribute to Siemens USA’s annual investment of nearly $1 billion in small and diverse-owned businesses that comprise nearly a quarter of the company’s entire supplier base.

 

“At Siemens, we’ve made it a priority to do our part to help build a more resilient America, one that’s more equitable and inclusive,” said Nichelle Grant, head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Siemens USA. “This is why we want to make significant investments, such as this one, in businesses owned by women, people of color, veterans, and people with disabilities, among other diverse owners.”

 

The national network of 60-plus MBDA Business Centers and special projects — including the one housed at Georgia Tech — is funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency.

 

The MBDA Business Centers will nominate up to five finalist businesses for the grants in each city based on criteria that aligns with industry demand, including preventative and predictive maintenance, fire and security, electrical, construction, and facilities and project management. The Georgia MBDA Business Center at Georgia Tech will evaluate and select the winning recipient in each city. The winners will be announced in late February 2022, and each will receive a $20,000 grant.

 

“As we work to build and strengthen America’s economic resiliency, it’s critical that all sectors of the economy share in that,” said Donna Ennis, director of the Georgia MBDA Business Center. “Collaborative initiatives such as this effort with Siemens helps us achieve that mission.”

 

A 2021 White House Council of Economic Advisers report shows “differences in business ownership account for 20 percent of the wealth gap between average white and Black households.” In response to this analysis, President Biden recently announced a goal of increasing the share of contracts going to small and disadvantaged businesses by 50 percent by 2025. Grants such as these will help contribute to the administration’s goal of increasing opportunity for all underserved businesses.

 

“In order to remain resilient as a company, we must be diverse and equitable, which requires us to proactively help to close the representation gap in the supply chain,” said Patric Stadtfeld, head of Supply Chain Management for the Americas, Siemens USA. “We’re proud of our growing supplier database of more than 3,700 small and diverse businesses and will continue to support business development in underserved communities and cities across the country.”

 

Siemens USA is committed to giving businesses owned by minorities, women, the disadvantaged, the disabled, veterans, and other diverse suppliers maximum opportunity to participate in its competitive contracting and procurement processes. Supplier diversity contributes to excellence in the supply chain, leading to growth for Siemens and its suppliers in the marketplace, as well as helping to create social impacts on the changing demographic landscape of the United States. To learn more about Siemens USA’s Supplier Diversity Program, visit here.

 

Learn more about Siemens USA’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion at usa.siemens.com/diversity.

 

About Siemens Corp.
Siemens Corp. is a U.S. subsidiary of Siemens AG, a global technology powerhouse that has stood for engineering excellence, innovation, quality, reliability, and internationality for more than 170 years. Active around the world, the company focuses on intelligent infrastructure for buildings and distributed energy systems and on automation and digitalization in the process and manufacturing industries. Siemens brings together the digital and physical worlds to benefit customers and society. Through Mobility, a leading supplier of intelligent mobility solutions for rail and road transport, Siemens is helping to shape the world market for passenger and freight services. Via its majority stake in the publicly listed company Siemens Healthineers, Siemens is also a world-leading supplier of medical technology and digital health services. In addition, Siemens holds a minority stake in Siemens Energy, a global leader in the transmission and generation of electrical power that has been listed on the stock exchange since Sept. 28, 2020. In fiscal 2020, Siemens Group USA generated revenue of $17 billion and employs approximately 40,000 people serving customers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

 

About the Minority Business Development Agency
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) is the only federal program solely dedicated to the growth and global competitiveness of minority business enterprises. MBDA invests in a national network of more than 60 business centers, specialty centers, and grantees. Our programs offer customized business development and industry-focused services to provide greater access to capital, contracts, and markets. With a vision of economic prosperity for all American business enterprises, MBDA programs, services, and initiatives focus on helping MBEs grow today, while preparing them to meet the industry needs of tomorrow. To learn more about the MBDA and its business center network, visit www.mbda.gov.

 

About the Georgia MBDA Business Center
As part of a national network of 60-plus centers, the Georgia MBDA Center helps minority business enterprises (MBEs) access capital, increase profitability, scale, and grow their businesses. Funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Georgia MBDA Business Center is a program of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, the nation’s largest and most comprehensive university-based program of business and industry assistance, technology commercialization, and economic development. To learn more, please visit: georgiambdabusinesscenter.org.

Enterprise 6 Students Share Experiences in Working on Economic Development Projects

Six Georgia Tech students spent the summer working on various economic development projects as embedded Enterprise 6 (E6) interns in the Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2).

 

The six interns were selected from more than 200 students who applied for the slots for the inaugural internship cohort.

 

The 13-week, paid internship was funded by the Office of the Executive Vice President for Research and open to all Tech undergraduate and graduate students.

 

As Georgia Tech’s economic development arm, EI2 is comprised of a dozen programs across a host of sectors ranging from manufacturing and technology entrepreneurship, to minority business and community and regional planning and development.

 

“We were really excited about this opportunity and grateful for the support from EVPR’s office,” said David Bridges, EI2’s interim vice president. “We had students from a variety of disciplines including industrial engineering and economics and city planning.

 

“One of our goals with this was to show these students how they could use what they are learning in the classroom and the skills they are learning all have uses and applications in economic development.”

 

The students worked on challenging projects that allowed them to use their skills and classroom learning and apply that to economic development initiatives.

 

Mansi Mahajan, a graduate student studying quantitative and computational finance, interned with the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation, a public-private effort launched in 2020 to lead coordinated, statewide efforts to position Georgia as the technology capital of the East Coast.

 

“We’re building a fund for investing in social impact startups, so I developed the financial model for the process and how it would be forecasted and what the returns would be depending on our investments,” she said. “I hadn’t worked in the finance field as much as I did in this internship, so this I found very rewarding and it was a very great experience working with them.”

 

For Dylan Both, an economics major in the Ivan Allen College for Liberal Arts, the E6 opportunity was his first internship.

 

Both worked with the Center for Economic Development Research (CEDR), which works with local communities, governments, and regional economic development organizations on a variety of initiatives, including impact analyses reports, strategic planning, and professional development.

 

Both researched best practices that communities around the country developed following natural disasters to evaluate for a recovery and resilience plan being created for southwest Georgia.

 

“Southwest Georgia suffered from Hurricane Michael and COVID. I was finding similar areas, similar regions that suffered from a natural disaster. And whatever best practices we learned from those, we gathered them up, chose which ones would be a good fit, and wrote about it,” he said. “My favorite thing was doing actual meaningful work.”

 

See what all the students shared about their experiences as E6 interns:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Georgia Institute of Technology Collaborates with Morehouse College and PRENEURology Global to Boost Minority Innovation in Metro Areas

Initiative is part of a federal push to strengthen entrepreneurship, growth, and sustainability for minority business owners across the Southeast.

 

The Georgia Institute of Technology has partnered with Morehouse College and PRENEURology Global to launch the Southeast Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Business Growth Hub to serve entrepreneurs and innovators in eight southeastern states.

 

The two-year pilot is funded by a $1.4 million cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Commerce MBDA to establish a collaborative support network for minority entrepreneurs in the Hub, which, along with Georgia, includes Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

 

The Southeast MBDA Business Growth Hub will be a valuable resource for programs serving minority business enterprises (MBEs). As a pilot effort, it could serve as a model yielding sustainable economic wealth for minority entrepreneurs in other regions of the country. (For more information about the Hub, please visit: businessgrowthhub.gatech.edu.)

 

Led by the Atlanta MBDA Centers at Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2), the Southeast MBDA Business Growth Hub will operate virtually and in-person as a regional, blended network of entrepreneur spaces, education pathways, and engagement programs. The Hub will also serve as an access point to corporations, financing, and other government programs. This cohesive, blended network will foster MBE participation in ecosystems. It is designed to overcome the limited participation of minorities in local innovation ecosystems while giving them access to a broader regional network of connections, experiences, and expertise in the eight-state region.

 

The Hub will operate as a collective partnership of the Atlanta MBDA Centers, Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), the Morehouse Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center (MIEC), and PRENEURology Global.

 

Donna Ennis Headshot
Donna M. Ennis, C.P.F., is EI2’s director of diversity engagement and program development.

“The goal of the Hub is to connect the ecosystems throughout the Southeast in a way that will provide greater access for all MBEs and entrepreneurs regardless of the stage of their business,” said Donna M. Ennis, C.P.F, EI2 director of diversity engagement and program development and the Atlanta MBDA Centers. “We realized while there are highly effective ecosystems throughout the Southeast, minority entrepreneurs often struggle with making viable, long-term connections to enable the acceleration of their products and services to the market.”

 

ATDC, Georgia Tech’s statewide technology incubator, will host the MBDA@ATDC to attract technology startups and innovators with diverse backgrounds to the program. “The Hub is designed to enhance the reach of services available to entrepreneurs of color by connecting nodes or services like ours together in a more dynamic way through broader regional connections,” said John Avery, ATDC director. “This gives us an opportunity to enhance ATDC’s presence in communities of color while bringing our access to resources and expertise.”

 

The Morehouse Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center (MIEC) at Morehouse College will help the Hub identify minority-serving institutions (MSIs) — Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other institutions of higher education with predominantly Latino or other minority populations — that have programs and resources aimed at fostering entrepreneurship and building wealth for people of color. “We will form a Southeast cluster of MSI innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems to connect and stimulate the growth of each MSI, said Tiffany Bussey, DBA, executive director of the MIEC. “This partnership will further help us accelerate entrepreneurship among students and faculty at MSIs.”

 

PRENEURology Global will establish the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Pathways for new relationships within and among MBEs, collective workspaces (traditional and non-traditional hubs), state, regional, and local governments, corporate partners, financing resources, and accelerators/incubators. This approach will create an integrated network of resources to help MBEs grow and scale their businesses. “We’re seeing a lot of business activity in these ecosystems but there is lack of connectivity,” said Le’Kiesha French, CEO of PRENEURology Global, “Our goal is to create more efficiency by eliminating barriers of access to opportunities and resources within the Southeast region for Black, Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) business entrepreneurs so they can experience equitable pathways to starting and growing their businesses.”

 

About the Atlanta MBDA Centers
As part of a national network of over 40 centers and special projects, the Atlanta MBDA Business and Advanced Manufacturing Centers help MBEs access capital, increase profitability, and scale their businesses. Funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency, the Atlanta MBDA Centers are part of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, the nation’s largest and most comprehensive university-based program of business and industry assistance, technology commercialization, and economic development. To learn more, visit mbdabusinesscenter-atlanta.org.

 

About the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC)
The Advanced Technology Development Center at Georgia Tech is a startup incubator that helps technology entrepreneurs in Georgia launch and grow successful companies. ATDC is one of the oldest and most successful research university-affiliated incubators in the United States and was named by Forbes as one of the “Top 12 Business Incubators Changing the World.” Founded in 1980, ATDC has fostered innovation and economic development by graduating more than 150 companies, which together have raised over $2 billion in outside financing. To learn more about ATDC, visit atdc.org.

 

About Morehouse Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (MIEC)
MIEC is a global model for higher education and industry collaborations to foster innovation and entrepreneurial leadership by promoting local and regional economic growth and development with people of color on and off-campus. The Center was established as a unit of Morehouse College in 2004 and has secured grants and contracts worth more than $20 million, impacted over 2,100 students, partnered with more than 17 large mentoring corporations, and assisted over 120 technology growth companies nationwide. The MIEC also serves as the lead institution in the JP Morgan Chase Small Business Forward Ascend Atlanta program, where it has accelerated 80+ minority tech startups over the past three years and helped them raise more than $5.5 million in funding. Visitmcecenter.com for more details.

 

About PRENEURology Global
As a Social Enterprise serving entrepreneurs around the world, PRENEURology Global has worked with organizations, educational institutions, corporations, and government agencies across the globe for more than 15 years, to support emerging innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems through a human-centered approach. With its team of bilingual professionals (English and Spanish), PRENEURology revolutionizes mindsets within communities at risk by empowering people with tools for innovation and economic growth. For more information, visit preneurology.org.

Siemens to Award $140K in Grants to Black-Owned Businesses Across Seven U.S. Metropolitan Cities

Effort is to support the building of more resilient supply chains and is in partnership
with the Atlanta Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Centers at Georgia Tech.

 

Siemens Logo

Siemens USA announced it will provide a total of $140,000 in grants to Black-owned businesses to support diversity and inclusion in entrepreneurship and business development. Siemens and its partner, the Atlanta MBDA Business and Advanced Manufacturing Centers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, will select businesses to receive the grants across seven U.S. cities including Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, New York, Orlando and Pasadena.

 

“To build resilient supply chains, and to expand our own business opportunities, we need a marketplace that’s diverse and inclusive,” said Nichelle Grant, head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Siemens USA. “These grants are intended to help Black-owned companies develop their businesses to be in the best position to compete for contracts and become part of supplier bases like ours.”

 

The minority business community, and Black-owned businesses in particular, have experienced numerous hardships during this time of the pandemic, social unrest and economic downturn. The Siemens grants demonstrate the company’s support of minority businesses and mission to advance supplier diversity.

 

“For many years, Siemens Supply Chain Management has strategically sourced from diverse businesses to benefit from the innovation and creativity these suppliers have to offer.  Any resilient and successful supply chain needs to invest in cultural diversity as part of its vision,” said Patric Stadtfeld, head of Supply Chain Management for the Americas, Siemens USA. “We’re proud to continue supporting and growing our supplier base of more than 6,000 small and diverse businesses.”

Donna Ennis is project director of the Atlanta MBDA Centers’ at Georgia Tech.

 

The MBDA Centers will nominate up to five businesses for the grants in each city based on their financial challenges and alignment with Siemens’ supply chain needs, and all candidates will be entered into Siemens’ supplier database. Grants in the amount of $20,000 will be awarded to each of the seven winners in late February. The seven cities were chosen based on Siemens footprint and supplier partner needs.

 

“The MBDA Centers are proud to partner with Siemens as the company strategically provides financial support to minority-owned businesses during this critical time,” said Donna Ennis, director of the Atlanta MBDA Business and Advanced Manufacturing Centers.  “By providing the support our businesses need during these unique times, Siemens further demonstrates its commitment to greater diversity within the marketplace and an understanding of the importance of Black-owned businesses to the overall health of the today’s business climate and economy.”

 

These grants align with Siemens’ ongoing commitment to drive meaningful, measurable impact towards closing the opportunity gap in the Black business community. The company recently expanded its longtime partnership with the National Center for Civil and Human Rights (NCCHR) in Atlanta by offering guided virtual tours for employees and HBCU students to explore the powerful exhibits of social change. The company and its partners also deployed its air filtration and thermal imaging technology at NCCHR to help them remain open safely to the public during COVID-19.

 

This mission is also advanced through the work of the Siemens Foundation, the non-profit organization established by Siemens USA, and its recent $2 million pledge to Community Development Financial Institutions Funds to support social and economic equity in racially diverse communities. The Foundation, with support from Siemens Healthineers, also committed $2 million to 20 community health centers across the country to help them respond to the COVID-19 crisis and continue to provide care for millions of Americans in underserved populations. Additional donations are supporting historically black colleges and universities in their plans to safely reopen campuses.

 

About Siemens Corp.
Siemens Corp. is a U.S. subsidiary of Siemens AG, a global technology powerhouse that has stood for engineering excellence, innovation, quality, reliability and internationality for more than 170 years. Active around the world, the company focuses on intelligent infrastructure for buildings and distributed energy systems and on automation and digitalization in the process and manufacturing industries. Siemens brings together the digital and physical worlds to benefit customers and society. Through Mobility, a leading supplier of intelligent mobility solutions for rail and road transport, Siemens is helping to shape the world market for passenger and freight services. Via its majority stake in the publicly listed company Siemens Healthineers, Siemens is also a world-leading supplier of medical technology and digital health services. In addition, Siemens holds a minority stake in Siemens Energy, a global leader in the transmission and generation of electrical power that has been listed on the stock exchange since September 28, 2020. In fiscal 2020, Siemens Group USA generated revenue of $17 billion and employs approximately 40,000 people serving customers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

 

About the Atlanta MBDA Centers
As part of a national network of over 40 centers and special projects, the Atlanta MBDA Business and Advanced Manufacturing Centers help minority business enterprises access capital, increase profitability, and scale their businesses. Funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency, the Atlanta MBDA Centers are part of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, the nation’s largest and most comprehensive university-based program of business and industry assistance, technology commercialization, and economic development. To learn more, visit mbdabusinesscenter-atlanta.org.

Atlanta MBDA Advanced Manufacturing Center to Host Minority Business Enterprises at Fourth Annual National MBE Manufacturers Summit August 11-13

Summit’s 2019 focus: Technologies driving “Intelligent Manufacturing Reality.”

 

Attendees of the 2018 National MBE Manufacturers Summit learn how the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute’s Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility allows teams to incorporate academic, industrial and/or government expertise to develop, scale, and deploy next-generation technologies.

Robotics, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality drive today’s advanced manufacturing businesses.

 

How can minority business enterprises (MBEs) in the manufacturing sector harness these technologies to grow, attract customers, and become more efficient?

 

Find out Aug. 11-13, 2019 at the Atlanta MBDA Advanced Manufacturing Center’s fourth annual National MBE Manufacturers Summit 2019, the only event of its kind that caters to minority manufacturers. (REGISTER HERE)

 

The Summit gives leading MBE manufacturers the opportunity to assemble, build connections, and create new business opportunities. More than 600 attendees from 28 states, Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C., and Canada have experienced the impact of participating in this national gathering of the manufacturing community.

 

Josh Ghaim, Johnson & Johnson’s CTO, is the Summit’s lunch keynote speaker.
Amir A. Ghannad, leadership development specialist and culture transformation catalyst of the Ghannad Group, will open the conference with a morning keynote.

Launched in 2016, the Summit offers educational workshops, one-on-one meetings with large corporations, showcases innovation, and brings visibility to MBE manufacturers.

 

This year’s theme, “Creating the NEXT: Intelligent Manufacturing Reality,” centers on robotics, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and other systems that drive manufacturing.

 

“The National MBE Manufacturers Summit has grown tremendously these past three years as we strive to help minority business enterprises to scale and present the latest technologies,” said Donna Ennis, Atlanta MBDA Advanced Manufacturing Center director.

 

“As the must-attend event of the year for MBEs, the Summit is the opportunity for them to fully have an immersive experience in technology and innovation, network to expand, learn, and to do business with international conglomerates.”

 

Among this year’s event highlights:

  • Morning Keynote: Amir A. Ghannad, leadership development specialist and culture transformation catalyst of the Ghannad Group, will open the conference with a captivating discussion on transformative leadership and the use of innovation to transform and improve daily company processes.
  • Lunch Keynote: Josh Ghaim, Johnson & Johnson’s CTO, will give a thought-provoking conversation on innovation and how technology drives business.
  • TAG Innovation Pod Showcase:Powered by the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), the Showcase consists of 16 to 20 companies highlighting leading technologies designed to transform manufacturing processes and improve production.
  • Summit Fast Pitch 1-on-1: Ingersoll Rand, Siemens, BMW Group, WestRock, Coca-Cola Co., and other large corporations return for one-on-one meetings where MBEs give a15-minute pitch on how they can help these multinational firms solve corporate challenges.
  • Technology Innovation Experience: See the latest technologies in manufacturing at the Plant Manufacturing Technology Tour of Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia.

 

The opportunities afforded to attendees have been invaluable,” said Joe Lewis, CEO of Flentek Solutions, an Atlanta MBDA Advanced Manufacturing Center client and past Summit participant. “All these people in one place, one meeting, I am able to build connections with all of them at one time.”

 

James Thornton, Siemens Mobility’s’ head of procurement, echoed those sentiments. “The Summit’s fast pitch one-on-one meetings allow Siemens Mobility to meet with potential suppliers, attendees, subject matter experts and discover their capabilities,” he said. “We get to share our culture and pain points while building future partnerships.”

 

About the Atlanta MBDA Centers

As part of a national network of 42 centers, the Atlanta MBDA Centers help minority business enterprises (MBEs) access capital, increase profitability, scale and grow their businesses. Funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Atlanta MBDA Business Center and Advanced Manufacturing Center are part of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, the nation’s largest and most comprehensive university-based program of business and industry assistance, technology commercialization, and economic development. To learn more, please visit mbdabusinesscenter-atlanta.org.

MBDA Centers at Georgia Tech win Century Awards

Staff Award Photo
The staff of the Atlanta Minority Business Development Agency Business Center accepts its MBDA Century Club Awards.

The Atlanta Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Business Center and the Atlanta MBDA Advanced Manufacturing Center — two programs at the Georgia Institute of Technology — were both given Century Club Awards at the MBDA’s National Training Conference held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Aug. 20-23.

The MBDA, a program of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is charged with promoting the growth of minority-owned business through public and private sector programs, policy, and research. More than 40 such centers exist across the country, including the two that are part of Georgia Tech’s economic development arm, the Enterprise Innovation Institute.

The Century Club Awards recognize those MBDA centers across the country that exceed the federally program’s success metrics — scoring above 100 — in a number of areas including job creation or retention, access to financing and capital, and clients served.

The Atlanta MBDA Business Center and Atlanta Advanced Manufacturing Center received scores of 120 and 106, respectively.

In Fiscal Year 2018, the two centers reported more than $550.4 million in the value of new contracts, increased sales, bonding and financing to assisted firms, 893 jobs, and served more than 332 minority entrepreneurs served.

“Our goal is to expand business opportunities for our clients, connect them with capital to sustain and fuel their growth and help them increase their bottom-line profitability,” said Donna Ennis, who serves as director of both centers at Tech.

“These awards are a recognition that we are one of the top performing centers in the country and that we’re really focused on strengthening and growing our minority-owned businesses and making a difference.”

Minority business enterprise manufacturers to meet in Atlanta August 15-16 for second annual National MBE Manufacturers Summit

Networking MBDA Summit 2016
Attendees of the inaugural National MBE Manufacturers Summit in Atlanta in 2016 discuss issues affecting minority business enterprises. (FILE PHOTO)

More than 250 minority business enterprise (MBE) manufacturers from across the country will be in Atlanta August 15 and 16 for the second annual National MBE Manufacturers Summit 2017.

 

The Summit, which is hosted by the Atlanta Minority Business Development Agency’s (MBDA) Advanced Manufacturing Center at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Global Learning Center, brings together world-class leaders in manufacturing and is the premier event that brings industry peers together, facilitates networking and procurement opportunities, and highlights innovation.

 

BMW Group, Enhanced Capital, FORCAM, Grady Health System, Ingersoll Rand, Novant Health, Siemens, and WestRock are Summit sponsors.

 

Among the highlights for attendees of the 2017 Summit:

  • One-on-one fast pitch meetings with corporations and original equipment manufacturers.
  • Experiencing the most cutting-edge technologies through on-site “innovation pods.”
  • High-level exposure for companies participating in the second annual “Poster Walk Competition.”

 

Featured speakers include:

 

“We are building on the success of last year’s inaugural program, and a critical focus of this effort is innovation because it remains a key issue, according to our MBE manufacturers,” said Donna Ennis, Atlanta MBDA Advanced Manufacturing Center director. “Our Summit is designed to facilitate critical one-on-one meetings between our attendees and corporations, as well as provide the opportunity for our MBE attendees to network with one another.”

 

The Atlanta MBDA Advanced Manufacturing Center is a program of the Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2), Georgia Tech’s chief economic development and business outreach arm. A sister program to the Atlanta MBDA Business Center, the Atlanta MBDA Advanced Manufacturing Center was created via a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce MBDA awarded to Georgia Tech in 2016.

 

One of four such centers across the country, Tech will receive $1.25 million over a five-year period to operate the Center, which is charged with providing targeted assistance to MBE manufacturers. The funding is designed to help identify, screen, promote, and refer MBEs to specialized advanced manufacturing programs, and provide technical and business development services and assist with access to capital, opportunities and markets.

 

According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2012 Survey of Business Owners, the number of minority-owned manufacturers increased 30 percent between 2007 and 2012 to nearly 107,000. These firms generated $80 billion in annual revenue in 2012. More than 25,000 minority manufacturers employ almost 332,000 workers.

The Summit is an outgrowth of the Atlanta MBDA Business Center’s Connecting Advanced Manufacturing Program (CAMP), which is now the Atlanta MBDA Advanced Manufacturing Center, Ennis said. “The vision behind CAMP and what led to us creating the Summit is to connect MBE manufacturers in the ecosystem to business opportunities, research, innovation, funding, and critical information they need to grow and thrive as businesses,” she said.

 

To register for the Summit and for more information, please visit mbemanufacturersummit.com.

 

About the Atlanta MBDA Advanced Manufacturing Center:

Focused on building a national ecosystem of minority business enterprise (MBE) manufacturers, partners, and stakeholders, the Atlanta MBDA Advanced Manufacturing Center creates expansion opportunities for MBE manufacturers by facilitating their growth through innovation and technology, training and education, as well as advocating inclusiveness with corporate suppliers.

 

About the Atlanta MBDA Business Center:

As part of a national network of 42 centers, the Atlanta MBDA Business Center helps minority business enterprises access capital, increase profitability, create jobs, and become sustainable. It is part of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2), the nation’s largest and most comprehensive university-based program of business and industry assistance, technology commercialization, and economic development. For more information, please visit mbdabusinesscenter-atlanta.org.

U.S. Commerce Department awards 5-year grant to MBDA Business Center-Atlanta

Georgia Tech President G.P. "Bud" Peterson, left, and Donna Ennis, director of the Minority Business Development Agency Business Center-Atlanta.
Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson, left, and Donna Ennis, director of the Minority Business Development Agency Business Center-Atlanta.

The U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) named Georgia Tech Research Corp. as a grant recipient to continue to operate an MBDA Business Center in Atlanta.

The federal funding will be distributed during a five-year period that ends in 2021. The funding amount per year is $298,255 for a total of $1.49 million.

The grant program is designed to help minority-owned firms across the nation create jobs, develop their business, and compete in the global economy.

“We are extremely pleased and honored the U.S. Department of Commerce has renewed our funding for another five-year term,” said Donna Ennis, director of the MBDA Business Center-Atlanta. “Our team has been busy working with businesses across Georgia and the Southeast helping to build not only the strength of minority-owned businesses, but the state’s and region’s economy as a whole.”

A key component of MBDA’s Business Center Network is providing minority firms with access to technical expertise and resources to grow their businesses.

In the five-year period ending in 2015, MBDA Business Center-Atlanta helped 462 minority-owned businesses:

  • secure more than $577 million in contracts and procurement
  • access $177 million in capital
  • create or save 4,987 jobs

Ennis leads the MBDA Advanced Manufacturing Working Group, which is building a nationwide community of Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) manufacturers through its national network of 44 MBDA Business Centers. As part of that initiative, she launched the Connecting Advanced Manufacturing Program (CAMP) focused on providing contracting opportunities; assistance with launching new technologies, and building a nationwide ecosystem of MBE manufacturers. That led to the National MBE Manufacturers Summit 2016 at Georgia Tech this past March 24.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2012 Survey of Business Owners, minority-owned firms in the United States increased to 8 million in 2012 from 5.8 million in 2007. Those 8 million businesses employed 7.2 million Americans.

In Georgia, there are 371,588 minority-owned firms that contribute more than $38.4 billion annually in economic output. These firms employ more than 202,000 Georgians.

Since 2009, MBDA Business Centers have assisted minority firms with gaining access to more than $31 billion in capital and contracts, while creating and retaining nearly 142,000 jobs.

About the MBDA Business Center-Atlanta

Established in 2004 and part of the Georgia Institute of Technology, the MBDA Business Center-Atlanta is a member of the national network of the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency. The MBDA Business Center-Atlanta provides business and technical assistance to help emerging and existing minority business enterprises achieve significant growth and sustainability and create long-term economic impact through increased jobs and revenue.