New Vision of Ethnic Capital Part of State of MN Policy

The State of Minnesota adopted this new vision for Minnesota...now we hope they will take it to the implementation phase....

State agency personnel: Please take note of the following excerpts from the Commissioner's Order regarding state agency purchasing:

1. Businesses owned and operated by minorities, women, veterans and disabled individuals make significant contributions to Minnesota's economy.
2. Small businesses are major contributors to jobs and revenue growth in Minnesota.
3. Public spending can leverage small business development which in turn can help address issues such as job growth, increased tax revenue, increased human capital and reduction in dependency and crime.
4. Public spending to leverage small business development is a priority for Minnesota's executive branch leadership and part of a larger strategy to make Minnesota globally competitive.
5. State and local government agencies are strongly encouraged to develop programs to help build the capacity of Minnesota's small businesses.
6. State executive branch agency purchasing and contracting conducted under the authority of Minnesota Statutes Chapter 16C must, at minimum, comply with this order.

State of ALANA Business, 2009

State of Minority Businesses in the Economic Downturn in Minnesota, 2009 – “Glimmers of Hope” Saint Paul, MN: The 2009 survey results on the State of ALANA Businesses 2009 was presented at a packed town hall meeting focusing on the Economic Recovery Act at St. Paul College attended by senior policy leaders such as Congresswoman McCollum, Mayor Coleman of St. Paul and DEED Commissioner McElroy and others. “The key insight from the 2009 survey is that we can see “Glimmers of Hope” in the experiences of ALANA (African Latino Asian and Native American) businesses as they weather the economic downturn,” said Dr. Bruce Corrie, Dean, College of Business and Organizational Leadership at Concordia University-St. Paul. The online survey was sent to over 500 businesses and had an 11 percent response rate or 64 firms. These firms reflected a wide range of industries whose sales ranged from $10,000 to $20 million. Among the key findings of the survey: • 40 percent of the firms expected to increase employment in 2009. 24 percent reported reduction in employment in 2008. • 56 percent expected sales in 2009 to be average or above average while 44 percent expected sales to be below average. • Strategies used during the economic downturn included the following – o Finding a core stable financial base to weather the storm o Increased networking for new sources of revenue o Analyzing the customer base to find important market segments. o Analyzing the product base to find out products whose demand increases during the downturn. o Experimenting with innovative ideas and new products. Survey results can be found at www.ethnictrends.info. The survey follows a similar survey in 2008. For more information contact Bruce Corrie – 651 641 8226 or corrie@csp.edu

Impact of California 209 on Minority Firms

Bruce P. Corrie, PhD A recent study evaluates the the impact of Proposition 209, the California Civil Rights Initiative, in 1996 which ended programs to provide greater access and use of minority firms in public projects.

In 2006, the Discrimination Research Center (DRC) issued a report on the impact of Proposition 209, the California Civil Rights Initiative that ended race-conscious goals and affirmative action programs on minority businesses. Major findings of the report were:

1. Only a third of the certified MBEs in California’s transportation construction industry are in business now.
2. Existing MBEs reported a greater than 50 percent reduction of total awards and contracts from Caltrans.
3. MBEs reported that the aspects of the federal race conscious efforts such good faith efforts by prime contractors and pre-bidding conferences were less helpful after 1996.
4. Among the surviving firms, African American and minority female owned firms were the most negatively impacted.
5. The surviving MBEs could not have initially succeeded or maintained their success without the incentives that helped provided them equal access to bids. http://drcenter.org/studies/free_to_compete_06.pdf