Upstate Minority Economic Alliance readies 1st awards program

SYRACUSE — The Upstate Minority Economic Alliance (UMEA) will host the inaugural Minority Women Business Enterprise (MWBE) Community Engagement Awards May 24.

The awards are a way to recognize individuals, companies and organizations that are working with minority-owned businesses, says UMEA Executive Director Rickey Brown.

The keynote speaker for the event will be Vaughn Irons, a Syracuse University (SU) graduate and CEO of APD Solutions, an Atlanta–based economic development firm.

Brown says the UMEA has grown rapidly, adding 100 new members since he became executive director in May 2017.

In a conference room at CenterState CEO, where his organization has its office as part of a shared services agreement, Brown explains that the UMEA helped minority-owned businesses put together applications for the state’s regional economic-development program. 

“We helped with $15 million in consolidated funding applications” in the last year, he says.

Brown, a Syracuse native who grew up in Florida but returned to Central New York to attend college at SU, says that UMEA’s work has helped land nearly $300,000 in Regional Economic Development Council funding for projects on South Avenue, Hawley Avenue, and on South Salina Street.

In addition, he says he has assisted businesses as they go through MWBE certification, a move that makes them eligible for preference in some government contracts.

The winners for the MWBE Community Engagement Awards have not yet been selected, Brown says, though the nominees have been whittled down to finalists. Categories include executive of the year, procurement professional of the year, community development project of the year, municipal procurement of the year, and MWBE business of the year.

Brown hopes that the awards event itself, to be held at the Marriott Syracuse Downtown, will help bring together minority business people as well as others who want to work with them. “It’s a platform to give regional presence to our members,” he says.

UMEA is an independent chamber of commerce, Brown says, covering a 16-county area, including Monroe and Onondaga counties. Its focus is on helping minorities as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, he notes. “A minority is anyone who is not single-race white and not Hispanic,” according to a 2012 information sheet from the Census Bureau. 

The MWBE Community Engagement Awards will be held from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at the Marriott Syracuse Downtown. For more information, email: rbrown@upstatemea.com

SYRACUSE — The Upstate Minority Economic Alliance (UMEA) will host the inaugural Minority Women Business Enterprise (MWBE) Community Engagement Awards May 24.

The awards are a way to recognize individuals, companies and organizations that are working with minority-owned businesses, says UMEA Executive Director Rickey Brown.

The keynote speaker for the event will be Vaughn Irons, a Syracuse University (SU) graduate and CEO of APD Solutions, an Atlanta–based economic development firm.

Brown says the UMEA has grown rapidly, adding 100 new members since he became executive director in May 2017.

In a conference room at CenterState CEO, where his organization has its office as part of a shared services agreement, Brown explains that the UMEA helped minority-owned businesses put together applications for the state’s regional economic-development program. 

“We helped with $15 million in consolidated funding applications” in the last year, he says.

Brown, a Syracuse native who grew up in Florida but returned to Central New York to attend college at SU, says that UMEA’s work has helped land nearly $300,000 in Regional Economic Development Council funding for projects on South Avenue, Hawley Avenue, and on South Salina Street.

In addition, he says he has assisted businesses as they go through MWBE certification, a move that makes them eligible for preference in some government contracts.

The winners for the MWBE Community Engagement Awards have not yet been selected, Brown says, though the nominees have been whittled down to finalists. Categories include executive of the year, procurement professional of the year, community development project of the year, municipal procurement of the year, and MWBE business of the year.

Brown hopes that the awards event itself, to be held at the Marriott Syracuse Downtown, will help bring together minority business people as well as others who want to work with them. “It’s a platform to give regional presence to our members,” he says.

UMEA is an independent chamber of commerce, Brown says, covering a 16-county area, including Monroe and Onondaga counties. Its focus is on helping minorities as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, he notes. “A minority is anyone who is not single-race white and not Hispanic,” according to a 2012 information sheet from the Census Bureau. 

The MWBE Community Engagement Awards will be held from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at the Marriott Syracuse Downtown. For more information, email: rbrown@upstatemea.com