Grant Award Announced to Support Northwest Side Milwaukee Businesses
MILWAUKEE - Tom Barrett, United States congressman from Wisconsin's fifth congressional district, announced today the award of a $727,268 grant to support the ReNEW-Milwaukee (Rejuvenating the Northwest Side through Enhanced Use of the World Wide Web) project. This project will help the predominately small, minority-owned businesses in Northwest Milwaukee tap into the opportunities presented by the Internet and Web technology.
This award is one of 74 Technology Opportunities Program grants (and the only award made in Wisconsin), totaling $42.8 million, which were recently awarded by the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The ReNEW project has two partners: the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Business Administration's Center for Technology Innovation (SBA-CTI), and the Northwest Side Community Development Corporation (CDC).
"As our national economy comes to depend more and more on the Internet, we must ensure that small businesses have the tools to adapt to this new technology," said Barrett. "The Northwest Side CDC's partnership with UWM is a model for the nation as they work together to improve the economic vitality of our community."
Nancy Zimpher, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, explained how this partnership between UWM and the Northwest Side CDC exemplifies the goals of The Milwaukee Idea-a collaborative approach that brings together people from the community and the university to address challenges in education, the environment, public health and economic development.
According to William (Dave) Haseman, director of the UWM School of Business Administration Center for Technology Innovation, ReNEW-Milwaukee will use e-business solutions to help retain small and large businesses and jobs in the Milwaukee area.
"ReNEW will increase the ability of Northwest Side businesses to compete by upgrading computer systems and training, providing bundled access to the Internet and Web technology, and strengthening and building business relationships via an online cooperative marketplace. The online marketplace will help businesses reduce their operating costs by facilitating purchasing through an online cooperative system.
"A dynamic vendor/purchaser network will be created that is more efficient and competitive for both current and potential customers in the area. It will also expand the marketplace for products and services beyond the Milwaukee area, with the potential to reach global markets. ReNEW-Milwaukee will also provide a variety of services such as maintaining a web presence, posting online catalogs, conducting online product sales, contracting services online, and using software agents to seek business linkages. In addition, clients will receive technical support and the opportunity to participate in collaborative media campaigns," says Haseman.
Howard Snyder, executive director of the Northwest Side CDC, says: "The Internet has opened up the marketplace worldwide, and small, predominately minority-owned, and other businesses in Northwest Milwaukee are falling victim to unforeseen technologically advanced global competition. This outside competition is eroding the markets for the products and services that these small businesses have been providing to the larger businesses in the area. Without access to e-business technology, Northwest Side businesses find it difficult to reach new markets."
Snyder continues: "This project will seek to reverse the trends of businesses who are either stagnant, experiencing a downturn in business, or contemplating leaving the area. The ReNEW approach is unique in offering tiered levels of service, depending on need. Those companies with the least exposure to technology will receive high-speed, Internet-capable refurbished computers and training on basic computer skills. The project will ensure that all businesses in the area have the potential to jump-start their involvement in e-commerce, dramatically expand their current capabilities, and increase the efficiency of their operations."
Haseman explained how e-business faculty members from the Management Information Systems and Marketing areas in the School of Business Administration will be instrumental in the design and implementation of the project. "These faculty members will provide the technical expertise needed to design and implement an online marketplace. They will also provide Internet training skills to Northwest Side businesses. A long-term goal is to disseminate the research on how technical knowledge can be developed and implemented to other inner city organizations, within Wisconsin and across the United States."
Snyder described the importance of the ReNEW-Milwaukee project as a long-term goal of the CDC. He stated: "Our efforts to date in the supplier-linkage project using the face-to-face approach have generated over $3 million in contract revenue for our businesses. This grant award will be instrumental in the continuing support of these Milwaukee businesses, as they strive to compete with larger, more technologically advanced global companies."
CONTACT: Howard Snyder, Northwest Side Community Development Corporation, (414) 438-8336, hsnyder@nwscdc.org; Dave Haseman, UWM, (414) 229-3333, daveh@uwm.edu.
The faculty affiliates participating from the UWM School of Business Administration's Center for Technology Innovation are W. David Haseman, Derek Nazareth, and Purush Papatla.
