A new business development group in Cape Girardeau aims to help establish and support a network of minority-owned small businesses in Southeast Missouri.

The Multicultural Business Development Alliance (MBDA), founded in October, will launch a series of workshops beginning Thursday, July 18, to provide information on financial and marketing services to interested entrepreneurs.

The group’s origins arose through conversations between Cape Girardeau residents Lloyd Williams and Robert Gentry about the dearth of businesses operated by African Americans in Cape Girardeau. They invited a handful of other local business owners, as well as a few interested then-Southeast Missouri State University students, to create the organization.

“It’s people from our community, people who have lived in this community for a lot of years. … I think that it would be important for people to know this is an organization made up of people from the community to serve that community,” MBDA vice president Brock Freeman said.

Williams and Gentry serve as the MBDA’s president and treasurer, respectively, with Freeman as vice president and Renata Cole as secretary rounding out its leadership.

The MBDA has partnered with SEMO’s small business startup course, Launch U, to help prepare interested individuals in accruing business acumen.

“It goes through all kinds of scenarios and workshops and different programs to help you think out what you need to do with your business … it’s a very comprehensive course,” Williams said.

The Launch U course commences Monday, Sept. 30, with preceding workshops scheduled for Thursday, July 18, July 25, Aug. 1, Aug. 15 and Aug. 22. Entrepreneurs are required to attend all the workshops to be able to take the 13-week Launch U course for free. All workshops will occur at Catapult SEMO, 612 Broadway in downtown Cape Girardeau.

After the Launch U classes have concluded, the MBDA will offer three participants $1,000 apiece to help them get their businesses started.

“We’re setting a goal of starting with at least 20 people and hoping to end up with at least 10 at the end of the program, so we know there’s going to be some attrition,” Williams said.

The course would make sure the people advancing through it are those who are serious about starting or expanding a business rather than those who are merely curious about it, he added. At the end of the program, should they complete the course, participants will have a usable business plan they can present to financial institutions. Williams said the MBDA plans to partner with Launch U for several sessions of courses.

Williams said two of the biggest drawbacks banking representatives mentioned for those interested in creating a business are a lack of a clear business plan and a lack of clean credit. He aims for the MBDA to offer programs to help people in these regards.

The MBDA is available for entrepreneurs of various backgrounds — racial, religious and sexual minorities, individuals with disabilities or from rural areas, and those in poverty. Freeman said the multicultural aspect of the group helps expand its potential reach.

“After I got more acquainted with (Williams) and what this organization could do for our community, I also saw what it could do for our students on campus,” Freeman said. “… I see my role as helping to establish our campus presence for this organization, but overall one of the biggest goals I have is to see one new business on the south side of Cape Girardeau.”

Helping students start businesses could help keep them in Southeast Missouri instead of leaving for more competitive economic markets, Freeman added. Since joining the MBDA, he said he has launched his own not-for-profit and political consulting firm.

Williams said Freeman will start promoting the MBDA more often on social media as the workshop dates draw closer. The group hosts meetings from 10 a.m. to noon on alternating Mondays at Catapult SEMO.

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