The
Minority Business Accelerator (MBA) has just included two more companies in its portfolio:
KANU Investments, Inc. and
Focus Solutions, Inc. This brings the total roster of minority owned companies in the MBA portfolio up to 30.
As the premier minority-owned business initiative of the
Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, the MBA has made great progress since its inception in 2002.
"The MBA has done a phenomenal job," says MBA vice president Crystal German.
The combined revenues of the firms in the MBA portfolio started at $95 million in 2003 and exploded to $375 million in 2007.
The companies in the portfolio have burgeoned too. Since the MBA's start in 2002, the average firm has grown from $4.8 million to $8.2 million. And employment has increased by 36 percent.
Its goal is simple: to help well established minority-owned businesses grow and bring new players into the field. This results in minority businesses playing a larger role in the economy, thus increasing employment and economic growth in the region.
German explains that, essentially, this is done on both the demand and supply sides to ensure that the minority businesses involved are fully plugged into all aspects of the economy.
To gain entry, a business must be minority-owned and generate a minimum revenue of $1 million; something both KANU Investments and Focus Solutions have no problem doing.
KANU Investments, a certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) under the name L.A. Scott Trucking, plies its trade as a DOT-registered truckload contract carrier, led by president and CEO I. Enyi Kanu.
Focus Solutions, also an MBE as well as a Women's Business Enterprise (WBE), performs three main functions: process management, property management and temporary staffing. President and CEO Zola Stewart holds the reins at Focus.
KANU and Focus are in good hands with the MBA.
In 2008 the MBA convinced local businesses to spend $400 million in goods and services with local area MBEs – a 30 percent increase in spending.
With this track record, the MBA is poised to play an important part in bolstering Cincinnati's economy in the economic climate of 2009.
"This is an important thing for Cincinnati to have because there are so many residual benefits," says Chamber PR director, Chris Kemper. "It's a national leader for what we do. It's [something] Cincinnati should be proud of because it's been so successful."
To learn more about the MBA, visit
here.
Writer: Jonathan DeHart
Source: Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, Chris Kemper, Crystal German
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