Feb. 14, 2017
The Busch School to Host 100 Business and Community Leaders on Feb. 28
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) The Catholic University of America will launch the Inner City Capital Connections (ICCC) program in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 28. Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington and University chancellor, will deliver the opening remarks and will join more than 100 leaders from business, government, and civic groups throughout the area at Catholic University for the informational kickoff meeting. The launch of the ICCC program is part of a unique, multi-year partnership between The Tim and Steph Busch School of Business and Economics and the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) to accelerate small business growth in the metropolitan area.
The informational kickoff meeting also will feature ICCC alumnus Pedro Alfonso, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Dynamic Concepts, Inc. Area leaders have registered to attend and serve as nominating partners, who will help identify qualified entrepreneurs to participate in the program. At the meeting, ICIC will present the program's objectives, content, suggested small business candidate profile, nomination process, and the program's track record of success.
"We are honored to have Cardinal Wuerl join us in the celebration of our launch and to provide his insights into the role of community-based efforts in our inner cities and the noble vocation of business in enhancing such efforts," said William Bowman, dean of The Busch School. "The cardinal's support is important as we have ambitious hopes for our initiative and are aiming to select 75 to 100 small businesses to participate in the 2017 ICCC program cohort.""We are excited professor Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School, founder and chairman of ICIC, has agreed to lead the strategy component in the September [2017] executive education session," said Robert Keith, co-founder of the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship who is spearheading the initiative for Catholic University. "Beyond the core fall program, we intend to extend it into the spring and summer with additional workshops, and to design a student small business 'apprenticeship' course to integrate into the broader program."ICCC is a national program designed to help small businesses in economically-distressed areas build capacity for sustainable growth in revenue, profitability, and employment. Since 2005, small business participants have raised more than $1.4 billion in debt and equity capital and have created more than 12,000 jobs. The Busch School will be the first organization to execute the program locally and the first business school in the country to collaborate with ICIC on a broader vision of the program.
For more information or to register for the kickoff event on Feb. 28, the general public should register online (Media RSVP info below).
#####
About The Tim and Steph Busch School of Business and Economics The Tim and Steph Busch School of Business and Economics at The Catholic University of America serves to provide thought-leading undergraduate and graduate level education and scholarship in business and economics informed by the Catholic social principles of human dignity, solidarity, subsidiarity, and the common good. More information is available at business.cua.edu.
About Initiative for a Competitive Inner City ICIC is a national nonprofit research and advisory organization founded in 1994 by Harvard Business School professor Michael E. Porter. ICIC's mission is to promote economic prosperity in America's inner cities through private sector investment that leads to jobs, income, and wealth creation for local residents. The organization supports urban businesses through a wide variety of Urban Business Initiatives. More information about ICIC and its ICCC program is available at www.icic.org and www.icic.org/inner-city-capital-connections/.
#####
Members of the media are invited to attend the informational kickoff meeting. It will take place Tuesday, Feb. 28, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. in Father O'Connell Hall's Heritage Hall on the Catholic University campus (620 Michigan Ave. N.E., Washington, D.C.).
MEDIA: To schedule an interview or attend the Feb. 28 event, contact the Office of Marketing and Communications at communications@cua.edu or 202-319-5600.
-30-