The launch of the Georgia Tech Health IT Cluster Partnering Program on August 22 drew more than 50 participants.  They represented health information technology (HIT) and information technology companies, Georgia Tech, the Small Business Administration (SBA), the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), and other health IT stakeholders.  Jointly managed by MBDA Business Center and the Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Program at Georgia Tech, the program’s mission is to bring emerging businesses into the health IT arena so that they can collaborate with established health IT businesses in support of the industry’s efforts to build a more integrated and efficient health care system.

Stephen Fleming, vice president and executive director of the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute, opened the event and highlighted Georgia Tech’s long involvement in the healthcare industry.  “Most people don’t know that the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), the industry trade organization, was founded on Georgia Tech’s campus almost 50 years ago,” Fleming said.

Cassius Butts, SBA Regional Administrator for Region IV, stressed SBA’s commitment to the program and to the support of businesses and entrepreneurs in the health IT space. “It is great to see health care IT stakeholders and business owners coming together to move health care and our region forward,” Butts said.

Representing MBDA was Patricia Hanes, director of global supply chain; she commented that she is excited about the part minority business enterprises will play in helping to move the nation forward through innovation and job creation.  Donna Ennis, project director of the MBDA Business Center, and Marla Gorges, associate director for the Health@eI2, provided an overview of the program.

Three companies that have set the bar for the industry and have been very active in the health IT innovation space — Holon Solutions, the Dossia Consortium, and Vitalize Consulting Solutions (a SAIC Company) — shared their successes with the group.   Roundtable discussion provided opportunities for the emerging and established health IT companies to begin building connections and exploring opportunities.

The Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Program is a tri-agency grant from the U.S. Economic Development Agency, the Employment and Training Administration, and the SBA to create jobs, produce a stable workforce, and advance commercialization in the health IT sector.   The SBA portion of this program is focused on connecting traditionally underserved and underrepresented businesses directly to technical resources and expertise they need to participate and be successful in the health IT sector.

For more information on the Health IT Cluster Partnering Program, go to:  http://health.ei2.org/sba/

On March 27, 2012, the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) hosted a Young Entrepreneur Summit (YES) at the Georgia Tech Research Institute Conference Center. The summit was designed to connect successful young entrepreneurs with young people interested in starting a business or those currently owning a business but needing assistance.  With nearly 300 people attending, the audience included aspiring young entrepreneurs, high school and college students, and business owners, all taking the opportunity to gain insight and to network. The event also highlighted small-business resources and programs available to the entrepreneur community.

The YES events were launched by the White House and the SBA at the end of 2011 and subsequently have been held in several states across the nation.  Atlanta was selected by the SBA because of its strong entrepreneurial base and success of startups awarded financing.  The MBDA Business Center-Atlanta at Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute collaborated with SBA on this summit. 

Frank Ski, radio personality for Atlanta station V-103 FM, moderated the event.  An entrepreneur himself, Ski recently opened a restaurant in Atlanta, Frank Ski’s Restaurant & Lounge, with the backing of an SBA loan.

The keynote speaker was Michael Tavani, co-founder of Scoutmob, an Atlanta-based company that brings mobile deals to consumers. Scoutmob was launched two-and-a-half years ago and currently has more than 1 million users. Tavani told the audience that one cannot start a business by just reading a book, but that one must take that initial jump and get it going. He said, “Now is the best time in the history of the world to start a company.”

The SBA recognizes the need to encourage and support the efforts of young people creating jobs for themselves and others. SBA’s Regional Director Cassius Butts and District Director Terri Dennison welcomed the audience on behalf of SBA and briefly discussed the agency’s services and its role in ensuring that small businesses get the assistance they need. Financing remains a critical factor for startup businesses, and according to Butts, the SBA has assisted entrepreneurs in obtaining more than $100 billion in small-business financing.

Stephen Cross, executive vice president for research and innovation at Georgia Tech, welcomed everyone to the campus.  Cross said, “Economic development is something we take seriously here at Georgia Tech.” He added that the Institution has a long legacy of being involved with entrepreneurship and economic development and has helped Georgia manufacturing companies reduce operating costs and increase sales by millions of dollars in addition to creating thousands of jobs.  It also helped minority businesses and other Georgia companies win millions in government contracts and financing. The institution fosters hundreds of technology startup companies and research innovations.

The summit presented a panel of five successful entrepreneurs, including Kenneth Canty, president and CEO, Freeland Construction Company; Alok Deshpande, founder and president, SmartPath; Cori Fowler, president and CEO, American Technologies; Caroline Van Sickle, CEO, Pretty in My Pocket (PRIMP); and Robert Knowles, CEO and managing partner of ODHR Consultants and a business advisor at Georgia Tech’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Business Center-Atlanta. The panelists shared their experiences in starting and growing their businesses and discussed challenges they faced along the way.  They all agreed that to succeed with any business one must have passion, patience and persistence.

Canty, a client of the MBDA Business Center, said he thought the event went very well.  He believes that the time frame was adequate so that anyone who really wanted more information could reach out to the panelists as well as MBDA and SBA staff to seek assistance. Knowles said, “Wonderful event! It was extremely gratifying to see so many young people taking a serious look at becoming entrepreneurs. They asked great questions and are well on their way to becoming part of our solution to continuing our economic recovery.”

The MBDA Business Center-Atlanta is funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency.  As part of a national network of centers established by MBDA to increase the number of Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs) and strengthen existing ones, the Center provides a full-range of services to assist MBEs experience significant growth. These include access to capital and markets, strategy, organizational structure, infrastructure, policies, procedures and technology, and process improvement through the implementation of environmental management, sustainability programs, and ISO 9001 and 14000 certifications.  Established in 2004, the center has assisted thousands of entrepreneurs and has helped clients secure nearly $500 million in financing, bonding and contracts and create more than 3,500 jobs.

On Friday, March 9, 2012 an Atlanta delegation of 30 people including eight organizations and 18 businesses organized by Invest Atlanta attend the Ringing of the Bell at NASDAQ.  Donna Ennis, project director at the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Business Center located at the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute will be among this delegation.

Ennis has been working with Invest Atlanta on initiatives relating to entrepreneurship.  CEOs of companies associated with the MBDA Business Center was a part of the Atlanta delegation to including Adam Walker from Homestead Packaging Solutions, Dolan Falconer with ScanTech Holdings and Lisa Jones from Eyemail, Inc.

The Bell ceremonies at NASDAQ MarketSite in New York’s Times Square serves as a platform to create exposure for companies, make news announcements or to celebrate milestones of corporations.

The MBDA Business Center is funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency.  Its mission is to provide business and technical assistance that help existing minority businesses experience significant growth and sustainability and have a long-term economic impact through the creation of jobs and revenue.  Since its establishment in 2004, the Center has assisted thousands of minority businesses, created over 3,500 jobs and assisted companies with obtaining financing, contracts and sales close to $500 million.

Donna Ennis, project director for the MBDA Business Center at EI², represented Georgia Tech at the South African Summit Oct. 4 -16, 2011. The mission of the summit was to promote the growth of U.S. manufacturing exporting and U.S. minority business enterprises (MBEs) by helping them to learn more about opportunities in South Africa.

The goals of the summit were to (1) help create jobs in the U.S. economy, (2) provide MBEs with direct market exposure for contracting opportunities with U.S. automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in South Africa, (3) identify business opportunities for MBEs with South African business enterprises in the automotive industry and (4) provide market information for a successful entry into the South African market from government agencies. The automotive sector in South Africa is regarded as the leading manufacturing sector and contributed to 5.9 percent of the country’s gross domestic product in 2009.

The Summit was promoted by Navistar, Cummins, the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), the National Minority Supplier Development Council and the Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council, and representatives from those organizations also attended the summit. While in South Africa, the summit attendees met with delegates from the South Africa Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and representatives from the Automotive Industry Development Center.

The summit included meetings and presentations in Pretoria, Johannesburg and Cape Town. In Pretoria, the group met with DTI Director Charles Manuel and DTI Gauteng Tooling Initiative President Henk Snyman. The group also toured Navistar’s truck assembly facility located outside Johannesburg. An overview of the operations was discussed and procurement opportunities available were outlined to the group. The Navistar tour was followed by a brief tour of the Cummins engines facility.

In Johannesburg, the South African International Motor Show was the main attraction. The show was organized by the National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers, which was established to represent the interests of the automotive components industry. The association includes 190 national member companies with 230 regional manufacturing sites.

Following the trade show, the group visited Cape Town where they met with South African delegates including Laura Peinke of the Western Cape Investment and Trade Promotion Agency and John McEvan of the National Secretary of the Tool Making Association in South Africa. The discussions and presentations centered on investment options in the Western Cape and identification of primary industries in the area, specifically in the automotive industry. A business matchmaking session was held in Cape Town with one-on-one business meetings and a business opportunity fair with suppliers.

The summit resulted in matchmaking opportunities with more than 50 South African suppliers and the introduction to four incentive programs by the South African government for the automotive industry. Several companies, including Georgia-based Dover Staffing, a client of the MBDA Business Center, discovered potential business opportunities in South Africa.

Since the summit ended, a debriefing meeting with MBEs and corporations was held at the MBDA’s Atlanta National Enterprise Office. In addition, several meetings have been held with representatives of the South African government and the organizations that promoted the summit as they discuss and develop ways in which interested parties will forge ahead with this partnership between U.S. and South African companies.

While the automotive industry was the focus of this summit, the need exists for U.S. companies to do business in South Africa in other industries, such as pharmaceuticals, technology, workforce development and training.