Categories:
Ray Leach of JumpStart shares this good news:
A new minority-focused initiative called the Emerging Market Fund (EMF) received significant support totaling $500,000 from the state’s Third Frontier Program. Darrin Redus, JumpStart’s Chief Inclusion Officer, and I have been working with leadership from the private sector to help get this new for-profit pre-seed fund off the ground.
This fund will operate in a very similar manner to the North Coast Angel Fund but be focused on minority companies and firms in the inner cities of Northeast Ohio. The EMF was the only new fund supported by the Third Frontier in this round. The collaborators in this new Fund include: National City Bank, the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the Commission on Economic Inclusion, the Minority Business Accelerator 2.5+, the Ohio Capital Fund, The President’s Council, TechLift, the Partnership for the Minority Business Accelerator, the Northern Ohio Minority Business Council, the Urban League of Greater Cleveland and Shorebank Enterprise Cleveland.
This new fund is another way for the region to accelerate the growth of minority-owned enterprises. Northeast Ohio must do a better job of providing access to economic opportunities for minorities if our region is to be globally competitive. Our entire economy will be held back if a large percentage of residents are left behind.
Comments
Tim, Thanks for the post. Lots of partners doesn’t necessarily mean the money will be spread among all of them. It more likely means that all of the parties recognize a need, agree on the strategy for meeting that need and are prepared to take action jointly to meet it. But I’ll look into it to see what the next steps are in getting this fund off the ground and will share what I learn.
I count 11 collaborators fussin’ over $500,000. How much of that $500,000, with all this expert help, do you figure will reach the “fundee (-s)?”
This isn’t like one of those Sally Struthers things, is it?