The New Orleans Business Alliance (NOLABA) is pleased to announce that recruitment for the 2nd cohort of InvestNOLA’s Executive Education initiative, a component of a comprehensive ecosystem for high growth-potential business owners of color, is open. As the nation prepares to begin restoring its infrastructure, this cohort will
InvestNOLA is part of a larger, national business growth program, Ascend, that is sponsored by the JPMorgan Chase Foundation. Both programs target progressive business owners of color that are ready to scale ventures that they have already grown to $1M in annual revenue. The program’s goal is to prepare InvestNOLA businesses to accelerate scale up to $10M+. The programming is robust and focuses on three strategic areas that help prepare you to accomplish this.
- Management
Together with Tulane University (our executive education partner), and other local and national industry experts, we have developed an exclusive high-level, advanced business management education program designed expressly for construction companies that are ready to scale. These sessions will assist you in identifying new opportunities for expansion and developing a customized, comprehensive growth strategy to implement with intentionality toward acceleration of becoming a prime construction firm.Additionally, we have assembled a network of successful entrepreneurs and business executives, many with knowledge in the construction industry to mentor InvestNOLA participants, to further increase your capability for success.
Some of the topics covered :
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- Financial Management (Construction Accounting principles; Project Finance Structure; Financial Forecasting; Budget Tracking)
- Strategic Management (Expansive Growth Opportunities; Targeted Communication/Marketing, Contract Negotiations; Building a Growth Strategy)
- Marketing for Construction Industry (Communications Management; Presentation Deck Preparation and Delivery; Capability Statements; Effective Networking strategies and much more)
- Personal and Business Financial Advising (Tax Considerations; Business Credit Building. Assigned Personal Financial Advisors)
- Pre and Post Award:
- Effective Proposal Writing
- All-inclusive Estimating
- Assessing Profitability
- Sub-contractor Selection
- Project Scheduling
- Risk Management
- Legal and Project-based Compliance
- Case Studies
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- Markets
Our InvestNOLA team hosts a group of procurement officers, facilities managers and supplier diversity professionals from local private and public sector organizations and anchor institutions. This group of highly-dedicated representatives are proactively working together with intentionality to increase contract opportunities for businesses and construction contractors of color. Many of the participating professionals are in the construction industry.
- Money
The InvestNOLA Growth Capital Consortium, comprised of three local Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) represent the funding component of the program. Through the InvestNOLA programming, each of the CDFI partners have access to an exclusive, national Entrepreneurs of Color Loan Fund which increases their capabilities to deploy larger loan amounts that are conducive for implementing strategies for scaling.
A network of financial professionals, angel investors and other experienced business executives are available to review growth plans of participating businesses ensuring favorability for debt and equity investments.
NOLABA’s small business team has worked arduously assessing the local small business ecosystem to identify gaps, and just as diligently to seek out solutions where the most substantial impact could be accomplished. We earnestly believe the resources we’ve developed to provide access to advanced management education, market opportunities and sufficient capital will build larger and stronger businesses that create wealth for entrepreneurs of color, jobs for local residents and overall economic prosperity for our city.
For this cohort of the executive education component, we are seeking 20 progressive construction firms that are owned by entrepreneurs of color whose business models demonstrate a high potential to scale quickly. The education program will begin in March and run through July, 2022 including a graduation celebration. A high-ranking executive in the organization may be designated to participate if the owner or head of the company cannot. Additionally, we encourage staff persons to attend specific sessions that pertain to their job focus.
The application process is highly competitive, as we are seeking business owners who will exemplify the best potential for success. Please circulate the flyer among your networks of construction-related businesses. Interested businesses may use the link below to complete the InvestNOLA application by 11:59 pm on Friday, February 4, 2022. https://www.nolaba.org/investnola/