SPECIAL EDITION - MBEConnect

Many alumni speak highly of their experience with
the Kellogg School of Management program, including
Lenora Payne, President of Technology Group Solutions
in Lenexa, Kansas. “The Kellogg School of Management
helped me to grow and build a strong business foundation
for success. The financial awareness, how to analyze and
record transactions, along with the solid understanding
of corporate practices was very helpful," says Ms. Payne.
"What a tremendous experience to have professors that
were entrepreneurs; it helped the program’s objectives to
identify and chart profitability for new businesses."
NMSDC also provides the Biz-Fit Challenge which is
available “free of charge” to all NMSDC certified MBEs.
NMSDC has teamed with NuLevel Solutions to offer a series
of online tools to help MBE business
owners assess the health of their business.
This tool helps assess how well
your business is performing among your
industry peers, profitability, liquidity,
solvency and efficiency. It helps you to
assess minimum revenue requirements,
and the market value of your company.
Taking the challenge can help guide
your business in the direction
of profitability.
MAMSDC also has educational
opportunities for their certified minority
businesses. One educational program is
available through the Tuck Executive Education program
at Dartmouth College. Tuck has been ranked the #1 business
school in the nation by both The Wall Street Journal
and Forbes Magazine. This program places emphasis on
strategic leadership. Since 1980, Tuck has been a pioneer
in helping minority business leaders succeed through its
Minority Business Executive Program (MBEP).
The framework for MBEP includes structured class
sessions, case discussions, small group activities, and
simulations. There are two different week-long sessions
within the MBEP: Building A High-Performing Minority
Business and Growing the Minority Business to Scale. Both
programs focus on the needs of established minorityowned
businesses looking to grow and develop. The
classes are tiered, with Building a High Performance
Minority Business serving as the first step in the program.
Application requirements for each session include proven
experience and annual sales targets. All Tuck MBEP classes
are held at the main campus of Dartmouth College in
Hanover, New Hampshire.
“The kellogg School of
Management helped me
to grow and build a strong
business foundation for
success. The financial
awareness, how to analyze
record transactions, and
the solid understanding
of corporate practices was
very helpful,”
—Lenora Payne, President of TGS
Building a High-Performing Minority Business offers
step-by-step guidance that helps minority businesses
survive and prosper. Participants use evaluation tools to
become a self-diagnosing consultant and work through a
customer-focused strategy to improve essential business
functions. Core topics addressed in the session include
planning; organizational leadership and performance
inspiration; cash and human resource management; and
systems and process implementation. Two sessions in 2012
are scheduled for May and June.
Tuck's Growing the Minority Business to Scale
session outlines three pathways for achieving scale:
organic growth, growth through mergers and acquisitions,
and growth through strategic alliances. Topics within these
pathways include Growth Strategy and
Implementation; financial analysis and
preparation for growth, growth through
innovation, planning a market growth
portfolio; and lean operations. This
advanced program is designed for
senior executives who have already
attended the Building a High-Performing
Minority Business program, or have
equivalent experience and business
growth. A single session of this program
will be held in July.
The enthusiasm of program
participants echoes the benefit of both
programs. “I can’t say enough good things about the Tuck
Program, it’s a wonderful experience,” explains Noelle
Scaramucci, President of Athena Communications in
Overland Park, Kansas. “I’m in telecommunications, so accounting,
business tactics, and economics are not what I’m
really enthralled with. They have a teaching staff that keeps
the whole class involved and talking and making topics
relatable. The Tuck Program takes things that you
might not normally be interested in and
makes them exciting.”
The benefits to participating in these
prestigious programs extend
beyond sales figures. Both the
Tuck and Kellogg minority
business education programs
have active alumni
communities that become
a valuable resource for
program participants
after the course is
MBEConnect Profiles | MAMSDC SPECIAL EDITION 23