Our Partners

Roxbury Community College (RCC) Small Business Development Institute (SBDI)

In October 2001, Roxbury Community College established the Small Business Development Institute to meet the needs of small businesses in the Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan and Jamaica Plain communities of Boston. Initial funding for SBDI is from RCC Foundation, federal, Commonwealth and other sources. Since its inception, the SBDI has:

Hosted a grand opening to formally announce the opening of the Institute to the business community. The event was keynoted by two prominent and successful minority business owners and also featured a marketplace for local businesses to sell their products and services.

Convened and hosted start up of the New England Chapter of the National Association of Minority Contractors and guided it through chartering process by the national office in Washington. The establishment of this organization is an acknowledgement that collective action to address fairness is more effective than a business acting alone. The Institute will host and cultivate this organization over the next two years, providing administrative support, workshops, training and technical assistance as requested.

Worked with several small business community leaders towards establishing an Urban Chamber of Commerce. This initiative is being driven by the desire of the small business owners to identify opportunities that will benefit a broad membership, from group purchasing of goods and services to developing a stronger voice on issues in the city that affect them. SBDI will serve as the base organization and will provide education, training and networking and has the endorsement of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.

Other current partnerships and collaborations with ICE include:

Initiative for a Competitive Inner City: partnering with SBDI/ICE to conduct research

Peabody & Arnold, LLP, a leading Boston based law firm providing pro-bono legal services to all ICE clients

Economic Justice Project and Neighborhood Business Builders of JVS assisting in identifying small businesses suitable for ICE programming.

In addition, ICE is in discussions with the Community Business Network, a network of ten Community Development Corporations, on how best to work together.