BUSINESS SUPPORT

MINORITY BUSINESS ACCELERATOR

The primary focus of the Rhode Island Minority Business Accelerator initiative is to address historical and current inequities in business ownership in Rhode Island. There are ample data to support the finding that Minority and Woman Owned Businesses (M/WBEs) and communities of color are historically underserved, marginalized and adversely affected by economic downturns.

Intermediaries

For more information on FREE Technical Assistance please contact one of the following intermediaries.

CIC Venture Cafe Global Institute
venturecafeprovidence.org
Reilly Kons
Director of Venture Café Providence
207-837-8111
reilly@venturecafeprovidence.org

EForAll – RI
www.eforall.org/rhode-island
Laura Guillen
Executive Director
(833) 336-7255 Ext. 7054
rhode-island@eforall.org

Innovation Studio, Inc. (Biz Bodega)
bizbodega.org
Amy Erickson
Director of RI Programs
Amy.erickson@innovationstudio.org

New England Medical Innovation Center (NEMIC)
Nemic.org
Tara Maey Petrie
Director of Programs
401-450-0733 Ext. 3
Taramaey.p@nemicenter.com

RI Builders Association
ribuilders.org
Teresa Terrien
Program Manager
401-438-7400 Ext. 113
tterrien@ribuilders.org

Rhode Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
rihispanicchamber.org
Oscar Mejias
Executive Director
401-400-1340
mejiasalex@hotmail.com

RI Small Business Development Center
University of Rhode Island
https://web.uri.edu/risbdc
Diane C. Fournaris
State Director
401-874-5965
Diane_fournaris@uri.edu

RWU Minority Business Law Collaborative
The MBLC website is under “construction”
Miriam A. Ross, Esq.
Director
401-254-4578
mross@rwu.edu

SCORE RI
https://score.org/ri
Deborah Pannullo
Chapter Co-Chair
401-486-3646
Deborah.pannullo@scorevolunteer.org

Skills for RI/ RIBBA
RI Small Business HUB (risbhub.com)
Tania Quezada
HUB Senior Director
401-249-2222
tquezada@skillsforri.com

Social Enterprise Greenhouse
segreenhouse.org
Stefanie Engelhardt
Director of Later Stage Programs
401-383-3760 Ext. 807
sengelhardt@segreenhouse.org