EDITORIAL Small businesses need a break By: Pauline Thomas Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder Originally posted 3/3/2004
City can do much to help them survive and grow We understand that the mayor�s office in Minneapolis is aggressively moving forward to select a new director of the Civil Rights Department. The Collaborative commends the mayor and his staff for taking a deliberate and thoughtful ap-proach to filling this critical position. The director position protects the civil rights of 13 distinct categories into which Minneapolis citizens fall. Every citizen falls into one or more of these categories. One among many of the crucial responsibilities of the director is ensuring that there is broad inclusion of businesses in the City�s purchasing and contracting opportunities. Creating diversity in its business opportunities should be the ongoing objective of all organizations, whether government, for-profit, nonprofit or philanthropic. Inclusion has to encompass not only women and minority businesses, but small and micro-sized women and minority businesses as well. These businesses traditionally have been disadvantaged in the marketplace not only due to their ethnic and gender status, but also because of their size. The combination of those two factors makes it extremely difficult for these businesses to survive, let alone grow into successful medium- and large-size businesses. When larger businesses owned by women and persons of color receive contracting opportunities to the exclusion of smaller women and minority businesses, the small businesses, the communities in which they operate, and the City as a whole suffer. Small businesses account for a disproportionately large share of new jobs. In the African American community, contracts received by minority-owned businesses can be critical to the hiring and training of employees of color. Data shows that minority-owned businesses tend to hire workers of color at a higher rate than majority-owned businesses. It seems to make good common sense that small minority businesses, which by the way are the vast majority of businesses of that size, have the maximum opportunity to gain their share of business allocated by government agencies. Although the City of Minneapolis spends $40 to $50 million a year in contracting with businesses, the data we have viewed from the City show that businesses owned by persons of color constitute less than three percent of the total dollars. When one looks at the percentage of minority businesses receiving City contracts, the reported number is less than one percent. In addition to the abysmally low number of contracts going to minority firms, the figures demonstrate that the relatively larger minority firms are receiving a disproportionate share of the City�s business. This occurs in spite of the fact that the City has had a �Small Underutilized Business Program� in place since 1999. http://www.spokesman-recorder.com/News/Article/Article.asp?NewsID=39648&sID=16 http://www.spokesman-recorder.com Posted by Shawn Lewis, Field Neighborhood -- ___________________________________________________________ Sign-up for Ads Free at Mail.com http://promo.mail.com/adsfreejump.htm REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
