GBC to launch accelerator for women- and minority-owned businesses

The Greater Baltimore Committee is set to launch an accelerator program to help small businesses owned by women and entrepreneurs of color, GBC President Donald Fry wrote in an op-ed published Thursday on Center Maryland.
The program will be called “Bridging the Gap Academy,” and will launch in about 45 days, Fry writes. Here’s how he describes it:

It’s a business accelerator program for minority and women-owned businesses under which the GBC will offer small business owners, operators and executives four-weeks of classes and training in such key “getting started” fundamentals as developing a business plan, business finance, tax regulations, and human resources.
An advanced track will provide training in such areas as access to capital, strategic partnerships, joint ventures and contract law.

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The program will also include a mentor match program that connects graduates with businesspeople in their field.
Fry writes that the new program is part of a wider GBC initiative called “Reconnecting Baltimore,” which seeks to address the economic “disadvantages” in the city in the wake of the riots and unrest that followed Freddie Gray’s April funeral. Other programs will include an effort to educate businesses about hiring ex-offenders, and facilitate discussion about the underlying issues feeding into inequality.