MWBE Business Growth Accelerator Program

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Objective

The Division of Minority and Women’s Business Development launched the second edition of the leading-edge immersive Business Growth Accelerator (BGA) Program to provide certified and growth-oriented minority and women-owned business enterprise (MWBE) firms with intensive technical assistance and business development training to accelerate and sustain their business growth.

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Overview

The Empire State Development's Division of Minority and Women's Business Development (DMWBD) mission is to promote equality of economic opportunities for Minority and Women-owned Businesses (MWBEs) and to eliminate barriers to their participation in state contracts. To support MWBEs' economic contribution and employment offerings in New York State, the Division launched the BGA program in 2017. The program aims to strengthen MWBEs operational and development capacity and skills for growth and sustainability.

From 2017 to 2019, the first edition of the BGA program (BGA 1.0) successfully enhanced the capacity of 52 MWBE firms in several business areas, including credit, marketing and business growth.

The second edition, the BGA 2.0, will build MWBEs' capacity to gain access to high-value bids as primes and sub-contractors and serve as a template to address the underutilization of MWBEs in specific industries in subsequent BGA editions.

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Program Structure

  • The duration of the program is 12 months:
  • Month 4 - 6: Curated business development curriculum design and delivery.
  • Month 6 -8: Implementation of individualized MWBE business growth plans, mentoring, and technical assistance.
  • Each incubator will train a cohort divided into two (2) tiers (construction services and construction consulting firms) based on the firms’ construction project experience and business size.
  • Training topics include but are not limited to Business to Business/Business to Agency, Technology and Financial Acumen, Access to Capital, Insurance, Bonding, Marketing, Advertising, Branding, Scaling and Market Growth, Project Management, and Human Resources Management.
  • The BGA Program covers New York City, Long Island, Mid-Hudson, Central New York, Mohawk Valley, and Capital Region economic development regions.
  • The subsequent BGA program editions will cover additional regions.
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Eligibility

  • Must be a construction service and or construction consulting firm
  • Be a currently certified NYS MBE, WBE or MWBE
  • Must be in business for at least two (2) years
  • Must have at least two employees
  • Demonstrate annual revenues between $500,000 and $5 million during the most recent year
  • Business located in the incubator region
  • An application submitted to one of the selected incubators
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How to Apply

Is your business in the construction services and/or construction consultancy industry? Interested in participating in BGA?

Please complete the online interest form below, and our team will contact you with application details.

BGA Interest Form

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Additional Resources

MWBE Business Growth Accelerator 2.0 Program Fact Sheet

Contact Information
For additional information, please contact the Business Development unit: 212-803-2433 or email [email protected].