Brief History
The Minority Small Business Launch Center (MSBLC) is an academic research-based pre and post launch accelerator program founded with a GO Virginia grant in 2021 to help minorities in the Richmond Metropolitan Area (GO Virginia Region 4) start and grow traded sector businesses that contribute to the Virginia economy.
The program was created at Virginia State by entrepreneurship professor Dr. Patrice Perry-Rivers whose goal was to create a system that provides what academic research on entrepreneurship indicates minority and other under-resourced entrepreneurs often lack to be successful. The MSBLC sought to help increase the self-employment rate of minorities in Richmond Region 4, as the region’s disproportionately high % of under-resourced minorities and their very low entrepreneurship rate, including among educated minorities, could inevitably have a long-term adverse impact on regional economic development and growth if not addressed.
Societal Impact
Initial goals for the MSBLC were to create 40 new businesses, expand 40 businesses, create 40 jobs, train 300 entrepreneurs, provide 100 certifications, and deliver 2,496 training hours. From 2021 to 2023, the program exceeded expectations, creating over 240 businesses (610% of the goal), expanding 968 businesses (2420%), creating 244 jobs (610%), training 1,211 entrepreneurs (403%), issuing 410 certifications (410%), and delivering over 28,708 training hours (1150%) with many enrollees from throughout the state. The program resulted in a significant, positive impact on the state and region.
The Program's Mission: To assist Central & Eastern Virginia's large minority, veteran, and student populations with launching and operating successful, socially-responsible ventures that lead to innovation, economic growth, and economic opportunity for the regions we serve.
Regional and International Awards
The Center's efforts had such an impact that Dr. Perry-Rivers was awarded a Community Transformers Award for Finance in 2022 by the Richmond Community Transformers Foundation because of the program's positive economic impact in the Richmond region. Further, in 2023, the Minority Small Business Launch Center's team was selected by an international committee of entrepreneurship educators and scholars to win an international entrepreneurship award for their efforts--5th Place in the Global Awards Category for the Triple E Award for Excellence in Entrepreneurship Higher Education, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Team of the Year. For the same competition, the MSBLC team won 1st place for the "People's Choice Award" for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Team of the Year based on receiving more votes from our supporters than any other finalists in the world in that category.
Our Educational Programs, Resources & Services
With the initial program’s success, the founder of the program relocated in Fall 2024 to Virginia Commonwealth (VCU), a larger institution in central Richmond that could facilitate the expansion of the program statewide.
The program is now administered from VCU's award-winning da Vinci Center for Innovation.
To engage with existing and aspiring entrepreneurs in the community, the MSBLC offers certification programs, a fall and spring small business academy, student internships and fellowships, small business resources with regional entrepreneurship support organization partners, and has, in the past based on available funding, provided seed funding grants, business license grants, pitch competition awards, and entrepreneurship student scholarships.
Through 2024-2025, the program is seeking funding to expand its successful business model throughout the state in partnership with several municipalities, state universities, regional entrepreneurship support organizations, and government agencies.