Nominations close next week for the Greenville Chamber of Commerce one-year Minority Business Accelerator (MBA) program set to launch in the fall. The program is seeking high-potential minority-owned businesses in its 10-county service area.
The MBA will include business development services, mentoring and connections to help participants do business with large corporations.
The Chamber said similar programs in other cities such as Charlotte and Cincinnati have reported favorable results. Cincinnati’s program has run for 10 years through the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber. That program has 34 firms in in its portfolio worth an average of $29 million, up from an average of $7 million when the program began.
Preferred industries for the Upstate are manufacturing, professional services, transportation, construction, IT, energy and healthcare. Among the criteria, companies must be in the $100,000 to $5 million range with a positive historical growth trend. Organizations should have two or more fulltime employees, and should not be home-based. Other programs are available for organizations that do not meet the criteria or who do not make it into the first group due to size limitations.
Nominations close August 16. Full information and nomination forms are available at greenville chamber.org/minority-business- accelerator.php.
