By : James Dowd
Source : http://www.commercialappeal.com
Category : Small Business Grant
The mayor of Memphis has a new plan to streamline city government and boost entrepreneurship.
Speaking to more than 100 minority and women business owners and executives Wednesday, A C Wharton introduced his administration's Memphis Office of Resources and Enterprise (MORE) initiative, a new effort to make it easier for small businesses to bid on, and win, local government contracts.
Previously, Wharton said, the city had no centralized system to assist entrepreneurs with issues such as how to obtain business licenses or how to bid on city contracts, or even how to grow their companies.
But with the MORE program, under the direction of Alandas Dobbins, small-business owners will be able to contact one person, who in turn will offer assistance and referrals to the appropriate resource.
Dobbins, who previously served as president of management consulting and systems integration and installation firm Nsight Communication, reports directly to the mayor, a practice Wharton said will boost efficiency.
"It's not business as usual. It's changing things from the top down and taking away some of these layers of bureaucracy," Wharton said.
"I want to make it easier for entrepreneurs to do business with the city and not have to go through so many channels."
Retired Circuit Court Judge George Brown Jr., who bought Memphis Chemical & Janitorial Supply Company in 2000, praised Wharton's focus on small businesses.
"For sustainable success, it's important to develop an entrepreneurial initiative rather than a social initiative," Brown said.
"I think this proposition advances that proposition by promoting a positive business climate," Brown said.
In addition to MORE, Wharton said he is working to promote entrepreneurial development in areas such as Hickory Hill and Orange Mound that are underserved.
To do that, he urged business leaders to explore creative and nontraditional opportunities in those communities and to apply for city contracts to complete them.
"We're committed to cleaning up blight, and that means creating safe and vibrant neighborhoods. We're encouraging entrepreneurs to create businesses that address those issues," Wharton said.
"We need people to prepare food and cut weeds and pave roads and deliver fuel, so there will be opportunities for entrepreneurs who want to bid on those projects."
The mayor's plan to strengthen local minority and women-owned businesses is a step in the right direction, said Darrell Cobbins of Universal Commercial Real Estate. And he hopes it becomes widespread.
"I'm glad to see that increasing the number of successful minority and women-owned businesses is a priority for Mayor Wharton and I hope our private sector follows suit by increasing their minority vendors," Cobbins said.
"Promoting minority and female entrepreneurship will lead to greater economic development, and that's a win-win for everyone."
Source : http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/feb/08/memphis-mayor-c-wharton-launches-new-initiative-he/?CID=happeningnow
Source : http://www.commercialappeal.com
Category : Small Business Grant
The mayor of Memphis has a new plan to streamline city government and boost entrepreneurship.
Speaking to more than 100 minority and women business owners and executives Wednesday, A C Wharton introduced his administration's Memphis Office of Resources and Enterprise (MORE) initiative, a new effort to make it easier for small businesses to bid on, and win, local government contracts.
Previously, Wharton said, the city had no centralized system to assist entrepreneurs with issues such as how to obtain business licenses or how to bid on city contracts, or even how to grow their companies.
But with the MORE program, under the direction of Alandas Dobbins, small-business owners will be able to contact one person, who in turn will offer assistance and referrals to the appropriate resource.
Dobbins, who previously served as president of management consulting and systems integration and installation firm Nsight Communication, reports directly to the mayor, a practice Wharton said will boost efficiency.
"It's not business as usual. It's changing things from the top down and taking away some of these layers of bureaucracy," Wharton said.
"I want to make it easier for entrepreneurs to do business with the city and not have to go through so many channels."
Retired Circuit Court Judge George Brown Jr., who bought Memphis Chemical & Janitorial Supply Company in 2000, praised Wharton's focus on small businesses.
"For sustainable success, it's important to develop an entrepreneurial initiative rather than a social initiative," Brown said.
"I think this proposition advances that proposition by promoting a positive business climate," Brown said.
In addition to MORE, Wharton said he is working to promote entrepreneurial development in areas such as Hickory Hill and Orange Mound that are underserved.
To do that, he urged business leaders to explore creative and nontraditional opportunities in those communities and to apply for city contracts to complete them.
"We're committed to cleaning up blight, and that means creating safe and vibrant neighborhoods. We're encouraging entrepreneurs to create businesses that address those issues," Wharton said.
"We need people to prepare food and cut weeds and pave roads and deliver fuel, so there will be opportunities for entrepreneurs who want to bid on those projects."
The mayor's plan to strengthen local minority and women-owned businesses is a step in the right direction, said Darrell Cobbins of Universal Commercial Real Estate. And he hopes it becomes widespread.
"I'm glad to see that increasing the number of successful minority and women-owned businesses is a priority for Mayor Wharton and I hope our private sector follows suit by increasing their minority vendors," Cobbins said.
"Promoting minority and female entrepreneurship will lead to greater economic development, and that's a win-win for everyone."
Source : http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/feb/08/memphis-mayor-c-wharton-launches-new-initiative-he/?CID=happeningnow
