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Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce programs

Access, retention, and diversity

by Jonathan Gramling

In order to remain a vital, healthy urban area, Madison will need to draw upon a diverse array of people who will want to work, do business, and remain in the Madison area. Otherwise, as the demographics in the U.S. continue to evolve, Madison will not be able to attract and retain the best and brightest to fuel its economic growth and vitality.

Since he began working at the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce last year as its vice president of economic development & public policy, Henry Sanders Jr. has been working on these issues. Two of the areas that have drawn the lion's share of Sanders' time and attention is strengthening minority-owned businesses and retaining the best and brightest of his generation in the Madison area.

During the past year, the Chamber has been listening to the concerns of minority-owned businesses through meetings of the Latino and African American chambers that have formed since last year and focus groups sponsored by the chamber. "They told us they were looking for access to capital and access to markets," Sanders said during an interview with The Madison Times. "So, this is the first step for us to assist them based on what we heard."

"This" is a nine-week course on accessing public and private sector markets specifically designed with minority and women-owned businesses in mind. The program, "Get Ready, Get Set, Compete,' will meet on Monday mornings, 8-11 a.m. at the TEC Center Building, 3591 Anderson St., across from MATC beginning June 9. While enrollment is free, it is open only to the first 30 businesses that sign up.

One of the biggest problems that the chamber has identified is that minority-owned businesses don't know how to interface with and do business with government. "Even when I was with the city Affirmative Action department, we would only talk to people briefly about what it means to be certified," Sanders said. "These workshops will go into detail about the process, which has never been done before. The city, county, state, and feds are coming under one roof to educate people." A Spanish language translator will be available for all sessions.

In addition, the training will talk about how to respond to RFPs and RFQs - Request for Proposals and Request for Quotes - that are issued by governmental entities. And it will give instruction on how to write a winning proposal.

And while the public sector, taken as a whole, is still the dominant force in Madison's economy, the private sector continues to grow while the public sector shrinks with each round of budget cuts. The ending session will discuss the supply chain and how to network with the larger firms in the Madison area. At the end of the training, the businesses will be offered a heavily discounted Chamber membership.

To enroll in the program, call Henry Sanders Jr. at 443-1947 or Connie Shomberg at 443-1953.

For the past year, Sanders has also bee spearheading the development of MAGNET, which stands for Madison Area Growth Network. While similar organizations in other cities may be perceived as clubs for young professionals, Sanders stresses that Magnet is for every young person who wants to get involved. "We want to include the taxicab drivers and the janitors," Sanders emphasized. "We want the teachers and the young execs. We want to be as inclusive as possible."

Magnet has grown during the past year, where it now has over 300 members and is serviced by paid staff: an executive director and an administrative assistant.

In addition to its regular networking meetings and trainings, Magnet participated in a study last year that documented the existence of the "brain drain" out of Madison, the migration of young people out of Madison to seek opportunity elsewhere. The bad news is that they are, indeed, leaving. "The younger folks, 21-22 years old, are moving to Minneapolis, Chicago, and the bigger cities," Sanders observed. "If you look at a lot of the state schools like Whitewater, their college graduates want to come to Madison. Our graduates want to go to bigger cities."

The good news is that many of them have a tendency to move back to the area - if not to Madison - as they start to have families and want to live closer to their families. "People in the 20-35 year old demographic are moving back to outside areas near here," Sanders said. "It's important for us to get the 20-35 year olds because wherever they move, that's where they tend to stay. We need to get the young kids who move to come back here. We call them 'boomerangers.'"

Magnet will be celebrating its one year anniversary June 2 at the Overture Center's Promenade Terrace from 7-9 p.m. Special guests will include Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton, Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, and Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz. The event is free to members and costs $10 for non-members - they can become members at the door.

"It's an exciting time for Magnet," Sanders said. "We're going in the right direction." And he's inviting young people of all ages to come along. Henry Sanders Jr. can be reached at 443-1497.