Embracing Diversity: the Emergence of Women and Minority Owned Business Cooperatives
The Small Business Partnership for Prosperity (SBPP) recently sponsored its annual Small and Minority Business Conference to address issues facing Washington’s women and minority owned business enterprises (WMBE’s). Thriving small and minority businesses are seen as essential in the new regional economy. A recent study (the Washington Minority Small Business Survey, April 2010 by the University of Washington Business and Economic Development Center) provides hope that new jobs will be created by small businesses, with minority-owned businesses anticipating significantly more robust hiring than their Caucasian-owned counterparts over the next three months (36%, as compared to 20% of Caucasian-owned businesses).
I had the honor of presenting the SBPP conference’s closing remarks, where I introduced the concept of women- and minority-owned business enterprises forming business cooperatives as a viable alternative to compete against bigger, more established companies bidding on large enterprise and government contracts.
The number one challenge for minority-owned businesses continues to be a lack of customer demand for services. At the same time, major companies in the private sector as well as state and local government entities with supplier diversity and outreach programs continue to have trouble identifying and hiring qualified WMBE’s to meet their diversity objectives. According to the Washington State Office of Minority and Women Business Enterprise Performance Report for the Department of Social and Health Services, W/MBE participation accounts for only 3.23% ($3,135,655) of total expenditures of $104,521,848 during the second half of 2009. How can WMBE’s have trouble finding customers when at the same time major corporations and state and local government entities are having trouble finding WMBE’s to hire, despite having aggressive supplier diversity and outreach programs to increase WMBE participation?
Many WMBEs lack the size and sophistication to compete with larger non-minority-owned businesses for major client projects. Responding to RFP’s is a significant investment of time and money for the typical WMBE, and most RFP’s are not written in a way that encourages WMBE participation. From the point of view of the company or state and local government entity issuing an RFP, valid concerns over viability and capacity are difficult obstacles to overcome when evaluating even the most qualified WMBE against larger non-minority owned competitors, assuming that a viable WMBE even participates in the RFP process to begin with.
I’ve attached the presentation I delivered at the SBPP conference. It outlines my thoughts on how a collaborative platform that provides a shared infrastructure, partnering and marketing and business development opportunities could enable WMBE’s to competitively bid upon, and win, large-scale client engagements in the public and private sector.
Our regional economy depends on the success of small businesses, and women and minority owned businesses in particular, to continue to be the engine for job growth.
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[...] region. The article references the recent conference sponsored by the SBPP and the concept of a women and minority owned business cooperative referenced in an earlier [...]
[...] region. The article references the recent conference sponsored by the SBPP and the concept of a women and minority owned business cooperative referenced in an earlier [...]