PROGRAM SUCCESS – AUGUST 2010 PAGE 33
The First Coast African American Chamber of Commerce
The Chamber On The Move
Dr. Carlton Lamar Robinson
President - FCAACC
The First Coast
African American
Chamber of
Commerce is on
the move.
Effective June 1,
2010 the chamber
will enter a one
year pilot as a
Business Mentor
& Exchange
Center in beautiful
downtown
Jacksonville, FL.
In this new role
Dr. Robinson &
the chamber can
be reached at:
The First Coast African American Chamber of Commerce,
841 Prudential Drive, 12th Floor
Jacksonville, Florida 32207
(904) 371-1979
Purpose: The purpose of this initiative is to help increase the
business participation rate and sustainability of entrepreneurs within
the First Coast region through mentoring and information exchange.
Why now? Funding is a major issue in all communities and
declining quickly. When funding becomes restricted the emphasis
on how we support entrepreneurs, as a community, shifts.
Unfortunately, that normally spells bad news for aspiring business
owners and entrepreneurs. For example, in the state of Florida
nearly 92% of all businesses are either self-employed or Stage One.
And yet, the grant deliverables are shifting towards creating more
Stage Two businesses.
perspective which can be different from reality) than it is
to develop an effective business environment that creates
opportunities for “all qualified” businesses. These might
be good talking points for your political leadership as we
near upcoming elections.
For these reasons and many more we must begin to
develop more Business Mentor & Exchange Centers
throughout the community. This means partnering and
delivering relevant small business solutions through
existing individuals and entities. On the First Coast we
have a wide range successful executives, entrepreneurs,
and professionals who have pledged their support to Dr.
Robinson in an effort toward building a stronger
entrepreneurial framework at the center.
Other news and highlights:
June 17, 2010: Come and out and network with us to
discuss upcoming business opportunities, community
development, and future events. Be one of the first to see
the new portrait of Jacksonville.
July 27-August 2, 2010: Jacksonville-Benin Business
Conference
August 1-31: Black Business Month (First time in Florida
as we join national initiative. The founder of this
initiative spoke at our summit in 2009.) Details at
networker.
September 10/11, 2010: Join us for the 3rd Annual
Northeast Florida Economic Opportunity Summit hosted
by the First Coast African American Chamber of
Commerce. (Sponsorship opportunities remain
available)
To make matters worse there is a strong push towards race-neutral
programs in public contracting. When you review the totality of
“most” race neutral programs it has more to do with legalese than
business practice. Think about it, if segments of your business
population struggled to get 10% or less of available contracts with
supporting programs what will happen without them? Some have
successfully argued that it is cheaper to “purchase” an inaccurate
disparity study that implies no disparities exist (from a legal