If you
took the minority-business community out of the United
States and called it a country,
it would be the 17th richest country on Earth, said David Hinson,
national director of the Minority Business Development
Agency.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;”> On Nov. 4, Hinson spoke to more than 150 businesses at the St. Louis Council of Construction Consumers’ “Diversity in Design & Construction” workshop, held at Ameren Corporation headquarters.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;”> America “font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;”>’s minority business community provides nearly six million jobs directly and over $1 trillion in economic output to the national economy.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;”> “You may not be aware but the minority business community is the fastest job creator in America,” he said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;”> In the last Census track, minority-owned business were creating jobs at a 27 percent growth rate, as compared to non-minority-owned firms that were growing jobs at a mere .03 percent growth rate, he said
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;”> “Minority-owned businesses are also a source of tremendous innovation,” he said. “From the creation of peanut butter and the electric light filament in years past to the creation of the PC Sound Card and I-Phone applications in modern times, minority entrepreneurs have been leaders in developing innovations that have changed the world.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;”> In the area of global trade, minority-owned businesses are twice as likely to export as non-minority owned businesses and three times as likely to be pure exporters – those companies that gain 100 percent of their revenue from exporting.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;”> “There is no doubt that the minority business community is a powerful contributor to the U.S. economy, but this sector has the potential to do much more,” he said. “And for the minority business community to be more productive, some things must change.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;”> First, think bigger, he said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;”> The average Asian-American owned business generated over $330,000 on one end and the average African-American owned business generates a mere $71,000 in gross revenue on the other end.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;”> And while there are over 5.7 million minority-owned businesses, only 786,000 have employees. He said this situation is exacerbated in the African-American community, where a mere 5 percent have employees.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;”> “To win our future, minority business owners must embrace the growth models of the future,” he said. “These growth models include growth through merger or acquisition, joint venture or strategic partnership. It is much more difficult to go it alone than to go with a strategic partner.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;”> And it is much more difficult to grow organically – one client at a time – than to acquire an existing client base, he said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;”> The second thing that must change is that large corporations here in St. Louis and across the nation must expand their efforts to embrace the minority-business community as a viable economic partner.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;”> “Far too many large corporations make the same old and tired excuse that they can not find any ‘capable’ minority-owned firms that are ‘qualified’ to do business with them,” he said. “This was not true 40 years ago when my agency was founded …. and it is not true today.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;”> Hinson called on every major corporation in St. Louis to meet with leaders from the minority business community and develop a plan to increase spending with minority-owned firms in the State of Missouri by $3 billion over the next five years.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;”> “This means aggressively engaging minority-owned firms in construction and contracting, manufactured supplies and professional services,” he said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;”> “I urge the political leadership in the city and state to support this effort and my agency, the Minority Business Development Agency, will work with the leadership to get it done.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;”> The last thing that must change is the volume of our voices, he said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;”> “We need your voices to be heard in support of the American Jobs Act,” he said. “The American Jobs Act will create 2 million new jobs in the next 12-months. We don’t have time to talk about taking our country back, because we need to focus on moving our country ahead.”
