THE MINORITY SMALL BUSINESS LAUNCH CENTER

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MINORITY SMALL BUSINESS LAUCH CENTER GOALS

We've helped hundreds of students and community entrepreneurs through this program.
We intend to help hundreds more.
Our initial 2-year goals were to accomplish the following:

100

Certifications Awarded

300

Entrepreneurs Trained

2496

Training Contact Hours

40

Businesses Founded

5

Patent Applications

10

New Products Released

90%

of Participants Who Believe We Helped Their Business

40

Businesses Expanded

WHAT WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED SO FAR VIA THE PROGRAM 

(JULY 2021-JANUARY 2024; LAST UPDATED 1/24/24)

410

CERTIFICATIONS

1,211

ENTREPRENEURS TRAINED

28,708.4 

TRAINING CONTACT HOURS

244

BUSINESSes FOUNDED (*FOUNDED BETWEEN JULY 2021 AND JAN. 2024)

6

patent/TRADEMARK applications

244

new products released

93.55%

% OF PARTICIPANT RESPONDENTS SURVEYED WHO BELIEVE WE'VE HELPED THEM

968

BUSINESS EXPANDED

WHAT OUR CENTER OFFERS

This Go Virginia-funded program was created to increase the self-employment rate of minorities and the performance of early stage minority-led firms in Region 4 via a dedicated program which provides a comprehensive suite of entrepreneurship-facilitating resources and supportive services including:

STUDENT & FACULTY-LED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

Our program gives participants access to business support in key functional areas: marketing-planning, financial statement development, business plan writing, and social media to enable firms to save money on these services and survive their first 1-5 years.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP LAUNCH AND GROWTH CERTIFICATION TRAINING 

Our program provides access to two certification programs—(1) The Business Launch Pad  certification course created by higher education entrepreneurship center founder, ecosystem builder, and entrepreneurship professor, Dr. Patrice Perry-Rivers; and (2) the MBL Entrepreneur Certificate course powered by Start-Up Virginia.

ACCESS TO CO-WORKING SPACE

Participants in our program have access to co-working space by appointment at MBL’s City Point Innovation Center, a 5000-square foot entrepreneurship resource center launched in 2021 resulting from collaborative efforts with the City of Petersburg, corporate, and government partners to serve entrepreneurs in the southern Richmond MSA and Tri-Cities areas.

INVESTOR, VENTURE CAPITAL, AND BANK FUNDING TRAINING

Our program partners with Lighthouse Labs, and the SBA to offer training sessions for entrepreneurs on identifying and securing investors, venture capital, and commercial funding.

REGIONAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP NETWORKING EVENTS 

We host regional networking sessions featuring entrepreneurship support organizations and chambers to facilitate program participants connecting with resource partners and other entrepreneurs to build partnerships and grow their businesses.

TRAINING ON HOW TO DO BUSINESS WITH VIRGINIA AND NAVIGATE SBA PROGRAMS 

We host government agency entrepreneurship resource training sessions where representatives from the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity and the Small Business Administration will train participants on how to access state and federal government resources.

ATTORNEY-LED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION WORKSHOPS & LEGAL BUSINESS FORMATION COUNSELING

Jordan IP Law will provide entrepreneurs with intellectual property workshops over two years focused on when and how to obtain patents, trademarks, and copyrights.
Edmonds Law, PC & Expert Legal will provide entrepreneurs with counseling on business formation over two years to help under-resourced firms overcome costs associated with incorporation or forming LLC’s and enable them to establish structures that better protect entrepreneur assets. 

COLLEGE STUDENT INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP FELLOWSHIPS & CONSULTANCIES 

College student entrepreneurs have the opportunity for small business consultancies and internships through our partner universities through which they are paired with actual small business owners to serve their needs and gain hands-on training working with small businesses on core aspects of operations.

HIGH SCHOOL YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING PROGRAMS 

We provide youth entrepreneurship training for minority middle and high school students and our summer "CEO To Be" summer entrepreneurship immersion camp where urban youth get hands on experiential learning in entrepreneurship for one week with match funds and in-kind donations provided by our regional and national partners.  

MEMBERSHIPS TO REGIONAL CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND ENTREPRENEUR PEER MENTORSHIP

Our program works with regional trade associations and chambers of commerce, including the Metropolitan Business League (MBL), the Central Virginia African American Chamber and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to provide reduced-fee memberships to our program participants. 

PITCH COMPETITIONS TO GIVE ENTREPRENEURS THE CHANCE TO WIN SEED AND EXPANSION CAPITAL

We sponsor pitch competitions to provide certified/trained participants with the opportunity to compete for seed funding for their businesses.

SCHEDULED ACCESS TO MAKER SPACE

We can provide participants with access to product concept development technology, including 3-D printers, for prototyping during scheduled time with one of our resource partners.

For a detailed summary of our program, please select the button on the right. You will be able to download a detailed executive summary of the Minority Small Business Launch Center submitted to GO VA.

Are you interested
in enrolling in our programming

Fill out the Admissions Form at the link below. Training programs are scheduled to start in the Fall and Spring semesters. 


THE MINORITY SMALL BUSINESS LAUNCH CENTER 

Powered by Entrepreneurship for All
Mail: P.O. Box 5635 | Williamsburg, VA 23188

Implemented at the
VCU da Vinci Center for Innovation

 1229 W Broad Street | Richmond, VA 23220
  info@minoritysmallbusinesslaunchcenter.com