President Bush unveiled a new initiative to support minority entrepreneurship at his address to the National Urban League.. Sadly, it appears that this announcement got lost in the politics of the day by a media uninterested in any of the real substantial public policy differences in this race..
According to the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship:
"Last week, George W. Bush and John Kerry addressed the annual meeting of the National Urban League (NUL). The speeches received a lot of press coverage that was largely focused on how the sessions might affect the Presidential campaign. Lost in the major media coverage was President Bush's announcement of a new initiative to help spur minority entrepreneurship."
Imagine that.. The media ignored a major substantive initiative introduced by the Bush administration.. What makes this particularly troublesome is that this is a program that tackles the problems of minority economic development with a self-sustaining approach, bringing together existing non-profits with the private sector.. It creates a network to provide education, training, and access to key resources for minority entrepreneurs.. These are the key elements that have proven to work for entrepreneurial economic development.
From the program's web site:
"President Bush on July 23, 2004 announced a new initiative to expand business ownership and entrepreneurship among minorities.. The Administration will undertake a unique association with the National Urban League (NUL) to create an entrepreneurship network. Supported by the Business Roundtable and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the NUL network will include one-stop centers for business training, counseling, financing, and contracting.
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), and other Federal entities will combine their resources to help NUL local offices provide sustainable outreach and incubation of minority enterprise."
Rather than pander to the same old perceptions of entitled victimhood, this program provides hope through dignity and self-reliance.
