FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 20, 2021
MARTA PARTNERS WITH GMSDC
ON MENTOR PROTÉGÉ CONNECTION PROGRAM
Regional
Transit Authority to Support Georgia’s Leading Small Business Mentoring Program
ATLANTA - The
Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), Georgia’s largest
regional transportation authority, announces a new partnership with the Georgia
Minority Supplier Development Council (GMSDC) to participate in the Georgia
Mentor Protégé Connection (GMPC). The GMPC is the state of Georgia’s top small
business mentoring program, now in its 20th year of serving
Georgia’s business community.
The GMPC is a
program under GMSDC’s educational arm – the Georgia Education Foundation. Small
business enterprises that are accepted into the program are matched with a
corporate mentor for a targeted one-year partnership that focuses on business
practices, infrastructure and other areas of opportunity for the small
business. MARTA will take a leadership role in the next class of the GMPC by
supporting a cohort focused specifically on industries related to
transportation.
MARTA General
Manager and CEO Jeffrey Parker sees the tremendous potential in this new
partnership. “The GMSDC and the Georgia Education Foundation have been doing
amazing work in small business development for many years. MARTA is committed
to helping small and minority businesses to thrive, and the Georgia Mentor
Protégé Connection is the perfect platform for us to do that. We can’t wait to
get started.”
MARTA Board Chair
Rita Scott has high expectations for the partnership. “This kind of
collaboration is exactly what we should be doing here at MARTA,” Scott says.
“We have a sacred obligation to help small and minority businesses to thrive in
our service area. This is an excellent way for MARTA to show leadership as a
community partner.”
The global
COVID-19 pandemic has hit communities of color the hardest, in particular the
minority business sector. The GMSDC – Georgia’s premier supplier diversity and
small business development organization – has been hard at work in this space
for over 45 years, leading the charge in creating programming that will help
sustain businesses that are now at risk.
Stacey Key, the
President and CEO of the GMSDC, sees the MARTA partnership as a game changer.
“It is so vital for Georgia’s corporate community to step up in this
challenging business climate, and we are thrilled to see this level of
leadership from MARTA,” said Key. “MARTA knows the importance of helping to
build wealth and sustainable legacies in traditionally disadvantaged
communities. Their involvement will be key in expanding the knowledge base of
the GMPC and helping our participants to win in the end.”
The GMPC has a
well-documented track record of success that spans two decades. Founded in 2001
as the Governor’s Mentor Protégé Program by then Georgia Governor Roy Barnes,
the GMPC was the first state-sponsored mentorship program of its kind in the
nation. The corporations who have served as mentors include nearly all of the
global brands headquartered in Georgia as well as the many Fortune 100 entities
who have a significant presence in the state.
Alumni of the
program are among the most successful small businesses anywhere, frequently
garnering such prominent recognition as the EY Entrepreneur of the Year, Inc
Magazine’s List of the fastest growing US small businesses, and national
Supplier of the Year awards from numerous small business development and
diversity procurement organizations. Program alumni have gone on to win huge
corporate contracts, create tens of thousands of jobs and transact billions of
dollars in revenues. For more information on the GMPC, please visit georgiampc.org.
About MARTA
Established
in 1971, MARTA is among the largest transit agencies in the U.S. and provides
95 percent of the public transit trips in the metro Atlanta region with 110
fixed bus routes, 38 heavy rail stations, 2.7 miles of light rail, and
on-demand paratransit services. MARTA is primarily funded by a 1 percent sales
tax in Fulton, DeKalb, and Clayton counties and a 1 1/2 percent sales tax in
the City of Atlanta. MARTA’s FY2020 operating and capital budgets of $1.1
billion resulted in a total of $2.4 billion in economic output. To find out
more visit www.itsmarta.com.
About The GEF
The Georgia Education Foundation (GEF) is the educational non-profit of the
Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc. (GMSDC), a not-for-profit
organization that fosters value-driven business partnerships between corporate
entities, ethnic minority-owned businesses and government entities in the state
of Georgia. The GEF assists small business owners and emerging entrepreneurs in
their efforts to drive business growth, create jobs and strengthen communities
in Georgia. The GEF offers a variety of educational program, including the
Georgia Mentor Protégé Connection, a one-year premier small business mentoring
program. For more information, contact Vanessa Lane at 404-589-9224 or vlane@gmsdc.org.
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