Area corporations and financial institutions which support minority business development will be cited today in an effort to reveal one of Chattanooga's "best kept secrets," an official says.
"Minorities can be so small that sometimes they don't get recognized," said Charles Payne, an organizer of the annual Minority Enterprise Development Week conference to be held at The Chattanoogan hotel.
Payne said the event emphasizes efforts to build relationships with minority business owners and local residents. Recognized are people and businesses in five categories representing young entrepreneurs, philanthropic businesses, corporations, trailblazers and the minority business of the year.
ABOUT MED WEEK* Minority Enterprise Development Week is the largest federal government-sponsored program on behalf of minority business enterprises across the country.* This year's local conference will be held today at 11 a.m. at The Chattanoogan hotel where Patricia Hanes, Southeast regional director of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency, will speak.Source: Chattanooga Minority Enterprise Development WeekFAST FACTS* The number of minority-owned firms throughout the nation increased by 45.6 percent from 2002 to 2007.* In Tennessee, the number of minority-owned firms increased by 66 percent from 2002 to 2007.* In 2007, minority-owned firms accounted for 21.3 percent of all nonfarm businesses in the U.S. and 5 percent of total employment.Source: U.S. Census Bureau's survey of business owners
"We're making people more aware that there are a lot of minority-owned businesses in this area," said Payne, who has been involved with Med Week for 17 years.
Med Week board member and chairman of the award selection committee, James Miller, said it's becoming more important to let minorities in Chattanooga know the opportunities available to them so they stay in the city. He said as new business opportunities and industries come to the area, the city has the chance to become more diverse.
"Just about every other month, you pick up the paper and some company is moving their headquarters here, and that's bringing people from outside that may have a different cultural background which can add to what we might not have had before," Miller said.
He said though he's been involved with Med Week for 20 years and right now it's "not as big as we'd love for it to be," he sees a real need for the service and hopes it will flourish with aggressive promotion.
"We've got to spend a little money to market our clients in order to show them that marketing pays off," he said. "That's going to be our biggest projection for activity for the coming years."
Contact Brittany Cofer at bcofer@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/brittanycofer.