Columbia Community Business Program - Ccbp

The Columbia Community Business Program is a fairly unique collaboration among the Law School, the Lang Center at the Business School, and the Engineering School to support Harlem businesses. I think the university has a responsibility to the community in the neighborhood within which it's located to make a positive contribution and I think by working with these companies we can do that. I found out about the Columbia Business Program through a business meeting that was set up with the Harlem Business Alliance and the representatives from Columbia came to talk to us about this new program that was going to be established and it was really for mid-level businesses and it was the first time I had heard about a program specifically designed for those types of businesses, which is actually what would fit. We established a program where the businesses could really help each other through their problems with the help of a professional facilitator and drawing on resources of the three schools. And of course perhaps it goes without saying that the services are free to the businesses, so there are no economic barriers to their participation. There was no one who was speaking to our needs in the mid-level as business owners in Harlem who were really in need of substantial information, mentoring, growth, and resources to really help not only sustain but grow our businesses here in Harlem. Being in the Columbia Community Business Program at the Lang Center has really helped me focus on the growth of the business. It provides for me a sounding board, something that most entrepreneurs often times do not have because entrepreneurs, we talk to ourselves Constantly, what-ifs. We're constantly running through analysis in our heads, but in the program we can do it out loud and so we can bounce different ideas off of each other. The kind of projects that we've been working with have been a range. I would say certainly cost controls were number one, just the simple task of looking at exactly how you were spending your money and in this environment what could you do to cut that cost. Second is definitely every way you could keep a client and certainly really understanding who your client was and what they were getting from you and how you were unique was critical. And then the third thing that I think we've really focused with most of the businesses is how to use the Internet better, and I would say just about every business in the program is very much working on developing their web presence and learning how to use that. We're making a two-year committment to work with companies to help them sort of master the challenges of growth. And we're working with these entrepreneurs, we're helping them create wealth for themselves, for their families, and for the community. And understanding that linkage--how those activities lift the whole community and the whole city and the nation-- That understanding that micro/macro link Is just I think very intellectually important. I think the access to help is really particularly important for this group, certainly in these very challenging economic times. It's given me an opportunity to meet different business owners that I would ordinarily not have the opportunity to interact with. They are coming - we have people who've been business owners for twenty years, and we have people who are start-ups, and we have people who have changed careers and so the fact that I am able to rely on them - I mean it's a really supportive network. It's not just that we talk in class, but we have relationships outside of class, and I've visited many of the businesses, and I've actually used many of the business to provide services to the school and those people have given us additional discounts which we would not ordinarily be privy to. So it's just been a really good experience overall and our school has really benefited from that partnership. As an entrepreneur, we have to adjust very quickly to a changing business environment and the Columbia Business Program has that ability - it's almost innate with them. If a group of us come up and it comes up in a meeting that several people are having a challenge - let's say it's in leasing or negotiating - then at that next meeting, there's an expert there, there's people with information, there's the Columbia resource people there because they have the ability to look at what the needs are for this group and adjust and meet our need and when you're an entrepreneur and time is always a factor, that is the absolute benefit that I've gotten from this: that if I bring them a challenge, I know there's going to be answer with some immediacy, and that's so important in business. Each of the participants gets at least one hour of one-on-one coaching from me once a month, which that kind of mix of having pure learning, a guaranteed fantastic presentation each month, plus a one hour coaching - again I know nothing else like that. We're the largest employer in the community and as the University expands and grows there's so many ways that we can be helpful to the community in terms of jobs, in terms of education, and of course the community gives us a lot of benefits too in terms of the exposure that we can give our students to the real problems of people in real communities.