The Urban Entrepreneur Partnership is an unprecedented national partnership to encourage minority entrepreneurship. The Kauffman Foundation joined the White House National Economic Council, Business Roundtable, and federal government programs to expand entrepreneurship and jobs in historically neglected and economically underserved urban areas. Unveiled in October 2004, the partnership will encourage minority entrepreneurship by providing business training, coaching, procurement opportunities, and access to financing nationwide.
The initiative provides for the development of one-stop in-take centers to assess entrepreneurs' needs and refer them to appropriate services such as business training, counseling, financing, and procurement opportunities to minority and urban business owners. Kansas City, Atlanta, and Cleveland serve as the pilot cities with the UEP program to encourage minority entrepreneurship and business development nationwide. The program also is operating in Milwaukee, and the UEP Gulf Coast program has offices in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, La.
President George Bush announced the initiative in 2004 following nearly a year of development between the White House, Democratic and Republican Congressional leaders, the Kauffman Foundation, Business Roundtable, and a broad nonpartisan group of business owners, experts, community leaders, and other supporters of minority entrepreneurship across the country.
The Urban Entrepreneur Partnership mobilizes resources of corporate America, major service organizations, the non-profit sector, and federal, state and city governments. The Kauffman Foundation and Business Roundtable, an association of 150 CEOs of major firms, will provide expert guidance, impress private sector standards and create partnership between large firms and urban entrepreneurs, including mentoring and identification of corporate contacts and private sector contracting opportunities at the centers. The Federal government will facilitate the establishment of centers and assist their operations through the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency, SCORE and other Federal entities.