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November
15, 1999
COBB
MICROENTERPRISE CENTER WINS NATIONAL AWARD: UNITED WAY
INITIATIVE SHOWING EARLY RESULTS; PROVIDING “ROAD MAP FOR
OTHER COMMUNITIES”
ATLANTA,
GA – When the U. S. Small Business Administration’s Office
of Advocacy announced that the Cobb Microenterprise Center
is a recipient of its “Vision 2000 Models of Excellence
Award” this week, it was not only recognition for the
program, but also an endorsement of United Way’s
results-oriented approach to community building.
The Cobb
Microenterprise Center (CMC) is a partnership between United
Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, Kennesaw State University’s
Small Business Development Center (SBDC), Cobb Family
Resources, and YWCA of Cobb County to help entrepreneurs in
low –income communities to attain economic self-sufficiency
and give them pride in being business owners. The program
offers more than simply access to a small business loan,
providing life skills management, technical assistance and
ongoing support for program graduates. Typical
micro-enterprise businesses include hair salons, lawn care,
auto mechanics, caterers, day-care providers, woodworkers,
seamstresses, sign makers and a variety of crafts.
In 1998,
United Way provided $210,000 in grants to three micro
enterprise programs in the metro Atlanta area: Goodwill
Industries of North Georgia, Cobb Micro Enterprise Council
and Atlanta Housing Association of Neighborhood-based
Developers (AHAND).
Bonnie
Cole, Cobb Count area director for United Way of
metropolitan Atlanta, said initiatives like these came about
“because Atlantans told us that United Way’s work should be
to help build stronger and safer communities.
Microenterprise development is part of our strategy to help
people gain economic self-sufficiency. It also strengthens
neighborhoods where these businesses locate.”
The SBA
Vision 2000 Models of Excellence Awards for Small Business
Development are given to services or programs (such as tax
credits, home-based micro-enterprise, workforce development)
that bring enhanced assistance to small firms, and may be
tailored to the needs of special markets or businesses of a
specific geographic area, industry, or size.
More
than half of the participants in the Cobb program have
either started or expanded a business, or enrolled in school
and found employment, according to Patricia Harris, CMC
executive director. “This is great success considering that
we are dealing with people who are poor and have a lot more
than purely business issues to overcome.”
Harris
said the rapid success of the CMC program is largely due to
the collaborative approach taken by United Way, and by
brining together resources already present in the community
rather than starting from the ground up. “The SBA award
clearly exemplifies the essence of community capacity
building,” Harris said. “Our partnership model clearly
provides a road map for other communities to replicate
economic self-sufficiency program for poverty and low income
persons.”
Cole
says such efforts are really made possible by the more than
300,000 metro Atlantans who contributed to United Way’s
Community Fund. “When people entrust our community experts
to use their donations in ways that meet our strategies for
improving human health and safety, it opens up opportunities
to fund programs like microenterprise development. The
results speak for themselves.”
United
Way is a powerful force bringing metro Atlantans together to
build stronger, safer communities. For a complete list of
investments and initiatives, visit United Way’s website at www.unitedwayatl.org or contact United Way by dialing 211
(or 404-614-1000 outside of metro Atlanta).
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