Stimulus and Minority Firms
I've had to be mum on this news for a little bit, but now it's public: "MBE ARRA Initiative to Match Minority Firms with Funding." Kudos to The Enterprise Center for putting itself in a position that it got the call when the Obama administration decided they needed an agency through which to help minority firms in Pennsylvania access business opportunities represented by stimulus money flowing through the state level. The headline is a bit misleading, as the brokering is not to capital but to contracts, but the article is otherwise accurate in that we are one of seven pilot programs around the country to set up these short-term centers to connect state-level procurement officers to qualified minority firms. Let's hope it's a win-win all around - the Commonwealth accessing good firms it otherwise might not have found on its own, and individual businesses getting connected to revenue generating opportunities it might not otherwise have been aware of.
Comments
Even from a programmatic standpoint, I am usually pretty skeptical about these kinds of efforts, as I have written previously about entire cottage industries springing up to capitalize on perceived or real discrimination; activity which, perversely, derives no benefit from discrimination actually being overcome, since it is its existence that keeps everyone in business.
My pats on the back were more for The Enterprise Center for putting itself in a position, from the standpoint of reputation and track record, to be the obvious choice for such an initiative; and, secondly, for actually doing meaningful stuff in this space to help entrepreneurs of color to earn and deliver on contracts, grow to capacity, and build wealth for individuals, families, and communities.
(Parenthetically, I will also note that the federal funding for this particular initiative is relatively small; barely enough to hire four people for three months on a contractual and pilot basis, and not including any additional money to give directly to minority firms in the form of grants or investments.)
And now that I understand in more detail your celebratory slant, I celebrate with you.
And I need to keep reminding myself of my new insight about big government, which is that it is a collective judgment of God on a society that neglects justice and mercy. The reason I need to keep reminding myself, is because when I think about how hard it would be to roll back the size of the Philly government, I can get angry if I forget that a kind of justice has been served by the bloat, in terms of economic equality.
It's amazing to me how big an elephant in the middle of the room, racial division remains, from a metro region political standpoint.
Here is what is interesting to me - for some, big government is good precisely because it serves as a rebalancer/redistributor, and, in response, one can oppose that perspective in one of three ways: 1) who cares about rebalancing and redistributing, or 2) big government is inherently bad, regardless of what it purports to be about, or 3) rebalancing and redistributing is needed, but not only is big government not the right way to do it, but big government actually gets in the way of it getting done.
I can't speak as much about the Democratic Party, but my fear within the Republican Party is that the overriding perception about us is that we are full of people who are either #1 (we don't care about the poor or about issues of justice and mercy) or #2 (we have a knee-jerk visceral reaction against big government without thinking through the underlying reasons), and therefore those who are #3 get lost and have less voice.
But, again, what is your take?
There is a collectivist/individualist axis, and a centralized/decentralized axis. There is a "live in the present"/"plan for the future by reviewing the past" axis. Etc.
The bible teaches us Shalom-- which is things that are apparently opposite, harmonized in a dynamic and mutually upbuilding relationship. Paul talked about the single body with many members, each needing the others, Peter talked about the building (e.g. a temple) made up of "living stones". So, I am learning that God does not lead us to take sides in "the world's" political strife, but to offer a peaceful alternative, in which we see both individual responsibility, and collective charity, working together, not in opposition.
I am working on an idea for a mutual aid society. More will be coming, on that-- but I don't know how much I'll be writing on it during the initial planning phase. I may be meeting with you again sometime soon though, to pick your brains about non-profit board development. :-)