DIVERSITY BRIDGE YOUR BUSINESS RESOURCE SOMERS L. MARTIN, MS, DIRECTOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SERVICES

DIVERSITY BRIDGE YOUR BUSINESS RESOURCE SOMERS L DIVERSITY BRIDGE YOUR BUSINESS RESOURCE SOMERS L. MARTIN, DIRECTOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SERVICES COLUMBUS CHAMBER

Chamber’s Mission To help businesses thrive Provide business services Comprehensive local business intelligence Business connections Resources Benefits Advocacy Solutions We help connect businesses to their next customer; assist you in locating the right resources; advocate on your behalf and provide you the comprehensive intel and solutions to your business questions. If we don’t know it, we have an integrated network throughout the region where we can find you the right answer.

What is Diversity Bridge? Economic development initiative Catalyst for economic opportunity and prosperity Goal: creation of jobs & wealth in the minority community Diversity Bridge is an economic development initiative of the Columbus Chamber that is designed to assist in the creation of jobs and wealth in the minority community. Over the past decade, racial and ethnic minorities account for half of the total population growth in Columbus. To achieve its goal of continued economic growth and prosperity, Columbus must develop and implement a strategy that captures the talent and skills of this increasing diverse population.

Need for Enhanced M/WBE Initiative? Changing demographics – capture talent & skills of diverse population Better serve stakeholders Business ownership – primary means to wealth creation Strengthen economic well being of community Business ownership is one of the primary means to wealth accumulation in American. According to the Small Business Administration, minority-owned businesses employ a higher percentage of minority employees. It is hypothesized that as minority businesses grow, this growth will result in additional jobs and career options within the minority community which will strengthen the overall economic well being of our region.

Business owners must connect with multiple organizations in order to be successful. From the completion of multiple minority business certifications to determine what resources are available to assist their growth to discovering what activities, meetings, and engagements, business owners must decide on a daily basis how to best maximize this information in order to increase their own efficiency and effectiveness.

Where We Have Been Solicited feedback from 150 stakeholders Identified needs of minority business owners and private & public sector buyers Created a Comprehensive Minority Business Plan A group of invested stakeholders met to identify needs of the minority business community and created a two-year comprehensive business strategic plan that focused on job creation, wealth building in the Columbus minority community, and fostering a positive economic impact.

Identified Needs Access to capital Relief from multiple certifications Access to decision makers Resource that facilitates identification of M/WBEs Access to information regarding available resources Needs identified include: access to capital, relief from multiple certifications, access to decision makers, identification of resources, and access to information.

Six Solutions Portal Web Capital Access to Certification One Stop Decision Makers Relationships Building Strategies Growth Six solution teams were established that focused on various parts of the strategic plan to address each need identified by the stakeholder groups.

www.DiversityBridge.com launched May 1, 2008 Enhanced site launched April 4, 2011

Web Portal Creates a virtual one-stop www.diversitybridge.com Engages buyers, service providers, certifying agencies, and M/WBEs Provides access to resources & opportunities The Diversity Bridge web portal is a virtual one-stop that facilitates minority business growth and development.

DiversityBridge.com Registered Users Total registered users – 838 W/MBEs – 732 Buyers – 56 Certifying Agencies – 6 Service Providers - 44 To date, there are a total of 838 registered users broken down by the categories shown here.

One-Stop Certification Creation of common M/WBE certification application Reduces burden of completing multiple applications Sends application electronically to certifying agencies who retain the approval authority Relief from multiple certifications was a major concern to business owners. As a result, the certifying agencies partnered and created a common certification application that encompasses the majority of the items required on their certification forms. A user can register on Diversity Bridge and complete information for up to 4 certifying agencies that is then sent electronically to the certifying agency in their format, the user and Diversity Bridge. Certifying agencies retain their approval authority in this process; the Diversity Bridge application is a conduit to help ease the burden.,

Facilitate coordination/collaboration Business Resource Provider Network (non-profit organizations that serve W/MBEs) Facilitate coordination/collaboration Provide information regarding available business assistance resources Service providers are listed with links to their websites on Diversity Bridge to help increase access to those organizations by Diversity Bridge users and to help facilitate the coordination and collaboration by, between and among these organizations.

Where We Are Headed… DiversityBridge.com Ongoing recruitment of M/WBEs, agencies and corporations Establish Diversity Bridge Advisory Committee Provide input/feedback on next steps We strive to increase the number of users that are registered on Diversity Bridge and that those users increase their engagement to each other as well as the resources that are available to them on the web portal. We will continue to meet with stakeholders to discuss Diversity Bridge and how to improve the work and provide additional outreach in order to grow the initiative. We are currently working with other organizations who wish to develop similar initiatives.

Where We Are Headed… DiversityBridge.com Providing more jobs and building wealth in the minority community by… Creating a more efficient and effective service delivery network Building capacity within the minority business community An increase in perception that the Greater Columbus community is a place to do business because of its inclusiveness It is our belief that by increasing jobs and building wealth, we will create a stronger service delivery network and increase the capacity that exists within the minority business community. At the end of the day, we belief we can increase the perception that this is the place to do business because we are so inclusive.