Minority Business Development
The Minority Business Development Agency targets firms with annual revenues of over $1,000,000 or are on track for rapid growth. Boston minority businesses may pursue procurement status with corporations as a minority business enterprise because there are perks to receiving the designation. One reason is limited competition when competiting on bids and prime vendor status. Minority business certification in Massachusetts is a plus but it is not required to become successful in your industry sector. Certification is recommended if your goal is to focus on large corporate and government procurements because those institutions track diversity spending. There are many flavors of certification for business types. The letters MBE WBE PBE and DBE represent a few of them.
Minority Business Enterprise Certification is processd by State, City and Local government offices. The Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council is also a certifying body as are the Federal Government agencies and other national minority purchasing councils and organizations. Boston based organizations such as BECMA - the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts, the Collette Phillips Global Agency, The Boston Chamber of Commerce and Color Magazine hold events designed to help companies meet c-suite influencers: CEOS, Chief Diversity Officers, Presidents and Vice-Presidents, who champion diversity and service contracts with minority-owned businesses.
The Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council - gnemsdc.org - The GNEMSDC is an effective, certifying minority enterprise development agency. The GNEMSDC connects large corporate buyers with minority business owners and sellers via hosted meetings, briefings and funtions. We've attended GNEMSDC events held with the Boston Red Soz, North Eastern University and Boston Scientific and found them to be effective at expanding your business.
Massachusetts SDO - Supplier Diversity Office - mass.gov - The Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office investigates and certifies companies for the state MBE, WBE, M/WBE certification program. These certified MBEs and WBEs participate as vendors, contractors, and professional service providers to the state of Massachusetts and their certification is honored at the state's largest corporations and institutions. Most contracts and purchase orders from governnment offices have minority business participation language.
5 Ways to get funding nobody talks about
- Buy Lottery Game Tickets until you win big enough.
- Make something out of thin air that cost practically zero and sell it.
- Rather than ask crowdfunders for donations, sell crowdfunders something.
- Ask a customer to pay in advance.
- Ask your customer for funding
Great companies to know
construction management - JANEY COMPANY
A black-owned OPM or owners project manager specializing in building construction and managing projects from soup to nuts. Their impressive portfolio has that WOW factor. JANEY COMPANY recently built and opend a new Teen Center in Mattapan. The firm has erected structures for NorthEastern University, Whittier Health Clinic, Mattapan Community Health buildings, hotels, office parks and more. Call JANEY at (617) 267-6200. view their impressive portfolio online at www.janeyco.com.
CPA Accounting - Sambookolo, CPA
A black-owned professional accounting and CPA licensed firm lead by principals who do the work and sign off on your financials. They are representing for profits, non profits, individuals with tax return needs and corporations. Sambookolo and Associates CPA LLC is an expert auditing firm and conducts contract compliance auditing and other forms of sophisticated auditing for Fortune 1000 sized firms. Learn more online at www.sambookolo.com
30 years of Black Boston Business History:
The printed edition of The Black Pages of New England directory published by Thelma Sullivan was an important Boston area Yellow Pages style directory of businesses in a print format ( 1990 - 2008), that made it simple to shop with black-owned businesses in New England. Affectionately, known as The Black Pages (BPO), but not longer in print, it was a platform for small and large Black-owned companies to be seen, and for regional corporations to make their brands known to readers of the book.
The BlackPages reached out to others across the United States about providing Black-Owned business listings in other cities and regions." Now there are Blackpage versions everywhere in the USA.
The Negro Motorist Green Book, (1936-1964) was a model Black business directory in print that became the bible of travel for Black motorists. Made by a mailman and published when society separated Blacks from whites at drinking fountains, bathrooms, housing and public establishments, the Green Book provided Blacks with places to eat, stay and buy from that welcomed them. Over 50 locations were in Massachusetts at the time. The Green Book covered much of North America, including most of the United States and parts of Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda.
MARLEY BRAND STORY
AboutBlackBostonOnline examined the (BOB) Marley Brand company startup history and this is what we found. "JAMN JAVA, Inc." leveraged the Bob Marley name brand, coffee and the social value of organic sustainability to build a business and monetize coffee and cannabis brands.
Read our Marley Brand funding article
MBE Enterprises have big construction project plans for the Seaport District, the South End and Dudley Square. Skyscraper hotels, tall luxury apartment buildings, and residential complexes complete with artists performance halls are on the table. with over $2 Billion allocated for greenlighted projects. A 25-foot residential tower is planned for Roxbury, a $550 million, 1,054-room hotel has been approved for South Boston’s Seaport District. African American art gets boosted at The Tremont Crossing Project where a brand new museum for the National Center for Afro American Artist is going up with vertically-stacked retail stores, restaurants, 200,000 square feet of office space, 300 market rate apartment units, and 800 beds of University Housing, and a 175 room hotel.