Citi Foundation Awards MDC School of Business its Third Grant to Help Strengthen Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners
Miami, August 25, 2009 - Miami Dade College’s (MDC) School of Business has been awarded its third grant in two years from Citi Foundation in the amount of $50,000. This is almost triple the amount first awarded to the College in 2007.
This grant will be used to establish the Small Business Education Program: Opportunity for Success, a viable training project for entrepreneurs and small business owners.
It will help the college’s business program extend its community outreach efforts by recruiting participants from low income areas and offering seminars in both English and Spanish. In previous years, the Citi Foundation has awarded the College grant dollars to be used for similar entrepreneurial-based programs that were mostly targeted to minority business owners in inner-city neighborhoods.
This year’s project, which is scheduled to begin in late 2009 or early 2010, will target participants from various communities throughout Miami-Dade.
“Diversity and growth is our focus this year,” said Dr. Ana Cruz, chairperson of the business department at MDC’s Wolfson campus. “We’re hoping to reach more people this time around by extending invitations to business owners from Little Havana, Flagami, Overtown, Liberty City, Allapattah and Little Haiti.”
Under this grant, the College will specifically offer two business seminars, in both English and Spanish, covering topics such as government contracts, public and private funding sources, sales and marketing, and taxes.
The activities will also include a community forum in collaboration with local government agencies; a financial literacy event, in partnership with the Center for Financial Training; and a QuickBooks workshop.
“Last year we had a combination of different types of businesses,” added Dr. Cruz. “We had family-owned and operated, husband-and-wife teams and sole proprietors. Our hope is to interest small business owners in a variety of industries; because diversity helps participants learn from one another, and it allows for networking, which could lead to future partnerships.”
The Citi Foundation grants awarded to MDC since 2007 have enabled the College to train more than 65 budding and existing entrepreneurs in the fundamentals of starting and owning a business.
For more information on the Small Business Education Program at MDC, contact Pierre Carrasquilla at 305-237-3498 or Nancy Ng at 305-237-7083, or visit www.mdc.edu/business.
Media-only contacts:
Juan Mendieta, 305-237-7611, jmendiet@mdc.edu, MDC communications director
Tarnell Carroll, 305-237-3359, tcarroll@mdc.edu, Media Specialist
Alejandro Rios, 305-237-7482, arios1@mdc.edu
Sue Arrowsmith, 305-237-3710, sue.arrowsmith@mdc.edu, media specialist