Money and mentorship: a new initiative provides four fledging business owners with $10,000 grants and the counsel of experienced entrepreneurs - Schieffelin and Somerset Co.'s Tanqueray division sponsors Emerging Entrepreneurs Program

Black Enterprise, April, 1994 by Alfred Edmond, Jr.

A new initiative provides four fledgling business owners with $10,000 grants and the counsel of experienced entrepreneurs.

Capital and information are the two most desperately needed resources of the new entrepreneur. The Tanqueray Emerging Entrepreneurs Program, now in its first year, is among the rare programs that provide both of these commodities to new business owners. The goal: to put the new firms on course for long-term business success.

The Emerging Entrepreneurs Program is sponsored by Tanqueray, the gin brand of New York-based Schieffelin & Somerset Co. The year-long project, facilitated by Chicago's Cosmopolitan Chamber of Commerce (in association with BLACK ENTERPRISE), supplies four African-American entrepreneurs with professional, personalized guidance from established entrepreneurial mentors, and the equivalent of $10,000 each in cash, equipment and services to further the development of their new businesses.

"This program represents a rare opportunity to gain the seed money that can vault a new business onto the success track," says Chamber President Consuelo Pope. "More important, it allows the up-and-coming entrepreneur to have one-on-one interaction with a business person with a proven track record."

The four emerging entrepreneurs participating in the program are Dr. Carol A. Tucker of Tucker Podiatry; Gwendolyn Hudson Tate, founder and publisher of The Good News Journal; Keith E. Miller of Thumbs-Up Lawn Care; and Frederick D. Garth, president of Garth Electric Inc.

These entrepreneurs have earmarked their $10,000 grants for everything from advertising and computer equipment to site relocation.

The mentors paired with these businesses are Clay Jones, president of Claybon Jones & Co Inc., general contractors and environmental specialists (Garth); Leon Jackson, president of Bill's Shades and Blinds (Miller); Ken Smikle, president and publisher of Target Market News (Hudson Tate); and Barbara Jackson, managing partner of Jackson & Associates (Tucker).

The first year of the program was limited to applicants in the Chicago metropolitan area who had been in business for at least one year, could demonstrate a need for the grant and were willing to commit to participating in a mentor/protege relationship for at least one year. A panel of area business leaders was convened to choose the four business owners admitted to the program. If the Emerging Entrepreneurs Program proves effective, it could provide a model for similar initiatives across the nation.

In addition to providing the grants, Tanqueray is hosting monthly events for entrepreneurs to network, discuss problems and share information with other owners. The company will also sponsor quarterly seminars targeted to first-time entrepreneurs, during which established. business owners will share information on management strategies.

The Cosmopolitan Chamber of Commerce is a business trade association founded in 1933 to address the concerns of African-American business owners. It's membership comprises major corporations, small and minority-owned businesses, minority- and majority-controlled banks, cultural and educational institutions and aspiring entrepreneurs.

For applications or more information about the program, contact the Cosmopolitan Chamber of Commerce at 312-786-0212.