A Resource for Minority Businesses

The Greater Philadelphia Minority Business Strategic Alliance (GPMBSA) is a non-profit organization founded by CEO/Principal of Milligan & Company, LLC, John Milligan. The mission of the GPMBSA is to bring existing economic development agencies, service providers, and financial institutions together to grow and retain minority businesses within the greater Philadelphia region. The goal is to ensure that all of the available resources and organizations that service the small business community are communicating, working synergistically, and are in alignment to create a critical mass of services that will better assist the entrepreneurial community. www.gpmbsa.org

Marjorie Anderson is the Executive Director of the GPMBSA. The organization’s current initiative is to assist maturing minority firms with succession planning so that these critical employers and contributors to the tax base do not fade from the regional economy. GPMBSA is in the process of producing a study on this issue, utilizing graduate students from The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School--African American MBA Association, to determine the impact that the potential loss of mature minority businesses would have on the regional economy. Anderson cited that the issue is very basic--minority firms that have been built up during the Civil Rights era, with twenty years of infrastructure and investment (which have also made it past the vulnerable business start up failure window of five years of establishment), are significant employers and tax base contributors. These minority enterprises are the foundation in stemming urban blight, as these firms generally employ from within the local minority community. But, as minority firms, the true value of their business lies within their minority status and ability to bid on and win large set-aside contracts. If, upon the owner's retirement, mature minority-owned and operated firms cannot sell to another minority owner--significant business value is lost, thus the founder of the firm may be forced to simply liquidate and shut down the business. In exploring the extent of the challenges, the GPMBSA is working with The Minority Supplier Development Council (PA-NJ-DE), as the MSDC is the oldest minority certification agency in the city with the most significant database of mature, certified minority firms. In addition, GPMBSA has partnered with area banks to better understand what specific financing issues surround the minority community, and what programs need to be developed in order to offer appropriate financial vehicles that would allow young, minority professionals to acquire maturing minority firms. One additional by-product of this initiative that the GPMBSA expects is a reduction of "brain drain," young people leaving the region in search of opportunities elsewhere. If young minority professionals can find real opportunities within the framework of entrepreneurship, not only will established firms (thus employment and taxes) be strengthened, but the greater Philadelphia area may also be able to retain some of its best and brightest talent.

The PA State Secretary of Commerce for the Department of Community and Economic Development--Dennis Yablonsky--was the keynote luncheon speaker for GPMBSA’s August 18, 2004 quarterly strategic alliance luncheon that was hosted by Verizon. At this event, the State Secretary unveiled the Rendell administration's key economic stimulus package, with emphasis on minority and women owned businesses, as well as the Governor's plan to revitalize urban landscapes.

For additional information on the GPMBSA, please visit the website at www.gpmbsa.com or contact Marjorie Anderson, Exec. Director, GPMBSA, 105 N. 22nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103 Phone: 215-399-0062 Fax: 215-399-0063