The Enterprise Innovation Institute at Georgia Institute of Technology recently won renewed funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce to continue operating the Georgia Statewide Minority Business Enterprise Center (GMBEC). Since its inception three years ago, GMBEC has helped its clients secure nearly $70 million in financing and create more than 240 jobs.
The GMBEC is part of a national network of centers established to increase the number of minority-owned businesses and strengthen existing ones. Its services are designed to improve access to capital, make business more profitable, create jobs and make companies sustainable. It is funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency.
One such client is Lord and Dominion, a corporate housing and relocation company that landed a $3 million contract with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development shortly after becoming a GMBEC client. It has since won two additional contracts.
“My company definitely would not have had this growth spurt without GMBEC,” said President and CEO Mary McFaddin. “They are the best thing around for the small businessperson.”
Stephen A. Dawkins, M.D. is medical director of Caduceus Occupational Medicine, a practice founded in April 1999 that provides services such as drug screens, physical exams, workers compensation services and injury treatment. He has also experienced the benefits of GMBEC’s financial expertise, and is currently working with the Center on organizational and lean process and site selection projects.
“I have been impressed with the range of services they offer,” said Dawkins. “And I have significant expectations of how the Center will be able to help us.”
Donna Ennis, project director for the GMBEC, noted that customers like Dawkins and McFaddin have made the Center what it is today.
“Our clients’ support of our efforts and belief in our abilities to deliver were the key ingredients to our success,” she said. “Winning the re-bid means we can look forward to taking the GMBEC to the next level. We’ll continue to provide one-on-one management and technical assistance and we’ll add new programs that will bring value to our clients’ efforts to grow their businesses.”
For more information on minority business services offered by Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, contact Donna Ennis (404-894-2096); E-mail: (donna.ennis@innovate.gatech.edu).
Enterprise Innovation Institute
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Contact: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (john.toon@innovate.gatech.edu).
Writer: Nancy Fullbright