The mission of the Capital Summit is to increase the presence
and/or scale of Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs) in non-traditional or
under-represented supply industries - - delivering against corporate America's
Supplier Diversity agenda.
Through a more efficient flow of demand-side information and access to investment
capital, the Capital Summit will engage MBEs, corporate buyers and minority
investment companies (private equity and venture capital firms) in building a
pool of well-managed, well-capitalized competitive MBEs able to compete for
global contracts over the long-term.
So, Why a Capital Summit?
U.S. Corporations having active supplier diversity initiatives have been limited
in their ability to consistently engage minority business enterprises (MBEs) in
high-barrier-to-entry industries due to the limited pool of available &
certified minority suppliers with scalable capacity. Scalable capacity can be
limited by the managerial and/or technical skill gaps of the management team
and/or by the knowledge and ability of the team to access investment/growth
capital.
Competing against other publicly traded or well-capitalized, privately-held
businesses, some MBEs have wrestled with the intricate balance of seemingly
competing objectives: that of raising outside capital to grow the firm but not
too much so as to lose MBE status. The limited number of options they often have
to select from are generally:
- settling for an outside investment ceiling of 49%
- heavily leveraging the business through debt financing or
- exceeding the 49% non-minority investment threshold and losing MBE status.
Here is where the Capital Summit provides value
The Capital Summit Committee - - comprised of several leading national
organizations dedicated to the creation, growth and development of minority
businesses, has worked together to create a Capacity
Building System for MBEs. The system coordinates "money, markets and
management" (the 3-M's) into a fluid system that creates the connectivity
necessary to meet the needs of supplier diversity initiatives.
The Capital Summit 2008 event will focus on highlighting marketplace
opportunities where investment potential exists for MBEs - - competing in
industries cited by corporate America as needing greater MBE representation or
scale.
While we plan to expand the scope and target audience for this event in
subsequent years, the inaugural event will be limited to MBEs and minority
investment companies in these products and services
To learn more about "what's in it for you" or to submit your credentials, use
the links in the navigation section for the appropriate audience type.
|