Image Source: Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, 2019
Key Facts
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Partners: Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber
Summary: The Cincinnati Chamber’s Minority Business Accelerator highlights the power of leveraging existing anchors to yield more significant equity impacts. The Accelerator provides individually-tailored advisory support and coaching to help Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs) acquire what they need to excel.
About
The Minority Business Accelerator housed within Cincinnati’s local Chamber of Commerce is an impressive and multifaceted program designed to help grow minority businesses of size in Cincinnati. The program provides tailored advisory support and connections to the region’s corporate giants, like Proctor & Gamble and Kroger Company. Though most small cities will not have as many large corporations and anchor institutions to draw from as Cincinnati does, the example of the Cincinnati Chamber’s Minority Business Accelerator highlights the power of leveraging existing anchors to yield more significant equity impacts.
The Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber has adopted the moniker, “The Inclusive Chamber.” Chamber leaders have determined that equity is so vital to the region that they have deliberately baked it into all their work. One of the Chamber’s marquee efforts in this area is the Minority Business Accelerator. “The Accelerator provides individually-tailored advisory support and coaching to help Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs) acquire the things they need to excel: A strong business strategy, access to capital, and connections within corporate organizations.” (Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, 2019). The Chamber also connects MBEs to corporate leaders for business opportunities. The leaders also benefit because the Accelerator acts as an extension of the corporation and helps them meet their diversity and inclusion goals. With shifting demographics, there is a business case to be made for inclusion since major corporations are seeing diversification among their customer base as well. For working with the Accelerator, these corporate leaders also receive public praise and are celebrated by the Chamber.
The Accelerator currently has 35 MBE firms participating—representing a variety of industries including construction, facilities management, packaging, and consulting. Currently, those firms employ over 3,500 workers—50% of whom are minorities, and 40% are women. Many studies speak to the fact that MBEs have a higher propensity to hire minority workers—supporting the idea that the city needs larger MBE companies to deliver additional equity benefits. Firms that qualify for the Accelerator program are sizeable, have high-growth-potential, and are African-American and Hispanic owned companies. The firm must also have 1) annual revenues of $1 million or more; 2) a business plan that includes the strong potential to grow in the next two to five years; 3) certification as an MBE by a third-party agency; and 4) headquarters or a significant presence in the Cincinnati Region.
The Accelerator began work in 2003—on heels of civil unrest regarding the shooting of an unarmed motorist—and resulted as a recommendation from the Cincinnati Community Action Now Commission. It was created to address the racial disparities in business ownership in the region, drive economic activity, and increase employment in underemployed segments.