InnerCity Entrepreneurs




We are excited to announce that on May 8 InnerCity Entrepreneurs was named a winner of the first Innovation Award by the Small Business Association of New England (SBANE)!

About ICE

InnerCity Entrepreneurs (ICE) through practice and applied research promotes job creation, wealth generation, and community building for existing inner-city small businesses and organizations interested in growth. ICE fulfills its mission by partnering with inner city community-based organizations to offer advanced management training, peer-to-peer learning, one-on-one coaching, and networking opportunities to entrepreneurs who want access to new markets, capital, and knowledge to grow their businesses significantly. The graduates then continue to work together as part of the ICE Alumni Network.

Since 2004, ICE has successfully launched three classes working with a total of 41 entrepreneurs in the Boston area. ICE fills a gap in the small business economic development field using an asset based, holistic approach to its programming. ICE’s methodology is based on the premise that entrepreneurs will use their own businesses as the case from which they learn. Upon completion of the program, each entrepreneur has set specific milestones, developed a strategic plan to grow his or her business, and worked with peers, experts, and coaches to gain greater access to new sources of capital, markets, and knowledge. Each entrepreneur receives a Certificate in Small Business Entrepreneurship from Boston University’s Entrepreneurial Management Institute.

In addition, having emerged from Boston University, a world class research institution, ICE is committed to developing a body of research and case studies on inner city economic development that will inform the academic and economic development communities and influence the public policy debate concerning the allocation of resources to start-ups versus existing businesses with growth potential. ICE is in the planning stages of replicating the model in Massachusetts as well as in other states around the country.


Spring has brought significant growth to InnerCity Entrepreneurs!

Spring has brought significant growth to InnerCity Entrepreneurs!
The season began with the launch of our first program in Worcester. With ICE Worcester, we begin a new phase in our development as a state-wide program. Spring also brought our first Massachusetts state government grant in support of our expansion to Worcester.

We also continue to build our board: Georgia Murray, former director of the Inner City Economic Forum, and George Gendron, former editor-in-chief of Inc. Magazine and now entrepreneur-in-residence at the Clark University Graduate School of Management, joined Josh Tolkoff, managing director of Ironwood Equity, and Andrew Wolk, president of Root Cause and ICE's co-founder, as members of the ICE board of directors. Josh has been serving as the first chairman of ICE's Board since January 2007.

As if this news weren’t exciting enough, on April 25 ICE learned that we had been awarded a multi-year capacity building grant from the Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation. Over the next three years, the Smith Family Foundation will support the sustainable growth of ICE as we seek to deepen our impact in Boston and prepare for broader state-wide expansion. This grant builds on the years of funding support that we have had in Boston's philanthropic community. Thank you Citizens Bank, Mellon New England, City of Boston Department of Neighborhood Services, The Boston Foundation, Staples Foundation for Learning, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Bank of America, Boston Private Bank and Trust, Sovereign Bank, NSTAR, and State Street Foundation.

What's next? Fred Follansbee is reaching out to the entire ICE community as we aim to grow to two classes of 32 total entrepreneurs in Boston in 2008. In June we start developing the business plan that will inform our next five years of growth. We will be coming to you all for your ideas—do feel free to send them to us as well.

 

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A Root Cause Initiative