Minority Business Accelerator 2.5+
The Minority Business Accelerator 2.5+, funded by the Fund for Our Economic Future and the Cleveland Foundation, is an initiative of the Commission on Economic Inclusion, which is a program of the Greater Cleveland Partnership.
It focuses on growing the size, scale and infrastructure of African American- and Hispanic-owned enterprises (MBEs) with annual revenues of at least $2.5 million in a 16-county area of Northeast Ohio. It works with the corporate community and the public sector to determine the demand for business-to-business opportunities. It then uses that demand to identify MBEs for participation. Economic indicators suggest these opportunities are likely to be in construction, manufacturing, IT, financial services, and healthcare.
Ultimately, the MBAccelerator 2.5+ serves as a matchmaker by identifying business opportunities, preparing participating MBEs for business deals, and working to build win-win business relationships for those MBEs, the corporate community and the public sector. For more information, please download our brochure.
Results to date
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54 deals valued at $131.6 million have been closed since April 2008. Of these, 49 deals were closed with African American MBEs and five deals were closed with Hispanic MBEs in Cuyahoga, Stark and Summit counties. Contracts included printing, HVAC, data cabling, fiber optic installation and flooring and general contracting with these additional results:
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249+ jobs created
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$2.2 million in lines of credit and bonding secured
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Over $793 million in business opportunities identified
Recent news
Class of 2011 honored at Commission on Economic Inclusion Annual Meeting
The Commission recognized five Minority Business Accelerator 2.5+ portfolio companies that have received financial, technical and/or consultative services from the program at its 2011 Annual Meeting. Based on growth in number of employees and revenue, these MBEs were named to the Accelerator’s graduating Class of 2011:
- HotCards.com
- Key General Contractors
- MAC Installations & Consulting LLC
- Ralph Tyler Companies
- Start to Finish Construction Co.
Service area
The Northeast Ohio service area of the MBAccelerator2.5+ is composed of these 16 counties: Ashland, Ashtabula, Carroll, Columbiana, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Richland, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, and Wayne.
Getting started
If you're an African American or Hispanic MBE with at least $2.5 million in annual revenue and meet the above criteria, click here to learn more about participating in the MBAccelerator2.5+.
Success stories
View our slide show to learn about the success stories of our 2008 MBE portfolio companies.