“font-family: Verdana; line-height: 13px;”>When the St. Louis Minority Business Council changed its name to the St. Louis Minority Supplier Development Council this year, it signaled a focus on grooming more productive relationships between minority-owned business enterprises (MBEs) and the area’s large corporations that hold and distribute most of the region’s wealth.
“font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>Today, the council will intensify this focus with the announcement of the Billion Dollar Impact, a new initiative in which area businesses pledge to do an additional $1 billion of business annually with MBEs. The goal, said James Webb, president and CEO of the council, is for St. Louis corporations to upgrade the collective value of their contracts with area MBEs from $3 billion to $4 billion annually within the next three years. The council will track the effect of these voluntary corporate pledges in quarterly reports.
“font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>A voluntary pledge is anything but a binding agreement, but Webb is confident that the initiative will produce results based on the commitment of the council’s Board of Directors – in particular its leadership, board chair Dennis W. Weisenborn, vice president of Ameren, and board vice president Steve Cockerham, a BJC Health Care vice president who has transformed the process of mandating minority inclusion in subcontracting. The council’s board also includes top executives at Laclede Gas, U.S. Bank, Metropolitan Sewer District, Boeing, Monsanto, Express Scripts, World Wide Technology and Enterprise Holdings. “We are going to start with the commitment from our board and add corporations as we go,” Webb told The American. Walgreens, to name one corporation not represented on the council’s board, has made the pledge.
“font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>The initiative is a public/private partnership. Webb will announce the Billion Dollar Impact today at its Business Opportunity Fair alongside Gov. Jay Nixon and Mayor Francis G. Slay, who are fully supportive, as is County Executive Charlie A. Dooley and – a key player in statewide efforts at minority inclusion – Kelvin Simmons, who directs the state’s Office of Administration.
Webb emphasized that this is not a zero sum
game, where money is transferred from majority-owned firms to MBEs,
though it seems impossible for the initiative to succeed without
some transfer of capital being spent in the region. “We’re not
swapping dollars,” Webb said. “Our goal is to increase employment
through minority businesses. The data show that 77 percent of new
hires in Missouri are from small and minority-owned firms.”
“font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>We applaud Webb, his board leadership, their bosses (very much including Tom Voss, CEO of Ameren, who deserves special recognition for his substantial and unprecedented commitment to minority inclusion at the utility giant) and the elected officials who have offered their support. Although there is a moral imperative to act fairly, it is only recognition of their enlightened self interest that will grow and sustain this initiative. Whether or not the initiative succeeds in generating new jobs and wealth, even “swapping dollars” would improve the region in this case, given the crippling race-based disparities that face St. Louis by every measure: wealth, employment, health, education. As Aristotle said, poverty is the father of crime and revolution. The violent crime that disproportionately plagues the African-American community in St. Louis, and spills over to impact everyone, is keyed directly to the entrenched poverty in many of our black neighborhoods.
“font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>Part of the solution is through enhanced economic opportunity. This new initiative focused on improving economic opportunities for African Americans in St. Louis is a step in the right direction. “It’s a beginning,” Webb said, and we agree – a positive beginning.
