Diversity MBA Magazine - April 2008 - (Page 9) BUSINESS BRIEFS - DivMBA - BUSINESS n September 2007, the American Indian College Fund was granted $500,000 for Mellon Faculty Research Program by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to address the acute lack of academic research conducted by Native people. Although American Indian people are one of the fastest-growing populations in America, they are often deemed statistically insignificant, resulting in their voices and perspectives being excluded. The nation’s tribal colleges and universities are taking hold of the research agenda in Indian Country to serve as a voice for native communities. The three-year Mellon Faculty Research Program will permit selected faculty to complete research sabbaticals to strengthen intellectual capacity at the nation’s tribal colleges and universities. Over the three-year grant period, a total of eight tribal college faculty members will be awarded one-year research fellowships valued at $34,000 each. ■ n September 2007, The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) and GlaxoSmithKline announced the results of a comprehensive Supplier Business Initiative study aimed at helping Corporate America assist small disadvantaged businesses (SDBs). The goals of the research findings are to close the gap and help minority businesses achieve the size, scale and capabilities necessary for global competition. The results reveal the following: • Small disadvantaged businesses still experienced an annual disparity in revenue of $900,000 in comparison to non-minority owned small business concerns with similar characteristics. • The $750,000 personal net worth ceiling of the SDB program has not been adjusted for inflation in nine years. Therefore, the current real value of the ceiling is $558,070. • The capacity of small disadvantaged businesses and the personal net worth of their owners are closely related. • A personal net worth ceiling that is set too low causes other economic hardships. Copies of the study are available online on the CBCF Web site at http://www.cbcfinc.org ■ he 2006 American Community Survey recently released by the US Census Bureau issued new population estimates for the nation’s multicultural populations. The new data highlights the dramatic rise of diverse communities across the United States, and within key regions of the country. M arch 2008 Top 5 0 Co m p ani e s I The recently released Census estimates include data reflecting the growth of our nation’s largest multicultural populations in aggregate, as well as specific updates for each of the key racial and ethnic groups. Some of the most interesting new Census statistics include: • Four states - California, Texas, Hawaii, and New Mexico - are already ‘majority-minority’ states. • Nearly one in every 10 of the nation’s 3,141 counties has a population in which multicultural groups comprise more than 50% of the total. • Within just a few years, the New York metropolitan region — which includes the nearby counties in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey — is projected to become the first large metropolitan area outside the South or the West where Non-Hispanic whites are a minority. ■ he U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has teamed with Dun & Bradstreet to launch a suite of resources for small business owners to better understand and use business credit. The package includes an online webinar, CD-ROMs, and printed material (Spanish translations will be issued later this year). The goal is to help entrepreneurs keep good business credit by taking five basic steps: start a business credit file; establish a credit history; pay bills on time; keep track of their credit file; and monitor customer and supplier credit. More information is available at www.sba.gov. ■ lanning for business ownership and need to learn things in a hurry? The Cheap Revolution, an entrepreneurship resource website, lists 99 free online courses designed for people starting or running a business. The courses cover marketing and sales, management, legal, finance, and technology topics, and are offered by MIT, Tufts, University of CaliforniaIrvine and other schools. Sixty-two firms have received awards from the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) under the Alliant Small Business contract. The awards are worth up to $15 billion. This is the first small business set-aside government-wide acquisition contract awarded by GSA. It will provide federal agencies streamlined access to innovative IT support solutions from the private sector. The contract has a five-year base period with one five-year option. ■ I T P T 9 http://www.sba.gov http://www.cbcfinc.org
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