• Nurture the creation of legacy wealth among minority and women-owned businesses (MWBEs) by broadening business prospects that are available to them.
• Communicate the business case for minority inclusion and development to the region’s larger business community.
• Provide training opportunities that enhance capabilities within the minority and women-owned
  business community to enable successful participation in partnership opportunities.

Bridging the Gap is one of the GBC’s top priorities. The Bridging the Gap Initiative relates directly
to the GBC’s mission of improving the business climate of the Greater Baltimore region by organizing
its corporate and civic leadership to develop solutions to the problems that affect the region's
competitiveness and viability. The region’s competitiveness would receive a significant boost if full
participation of MWBEs in the regional economy were to be achieved. A study conducted by the Sage
Policy Group found that fully engaging MWBEs in the region’s economy, would generate as much as
$5 billion of additional sales revenue and 32,000 new jobs.






How can your business become involved in Bridging the Gap?

All businesses, majority and minority, large and small must contribute to a unified business community in the Greater Baltimore region. Some of the ways that you can help include:

• Committing to use the Bridging the Gap Online Inventory
• Providing instructional services at a Bridging the Gap workshop
• Participating in Bridging the Gap workshops
• Serving on Bridging the Gap Advisory Council
• Entering into strategic partnerships and alliances
• Volunteering to be a business mentor

One of Bridging the Gap's latest steps is to create an inventory of minority owned businesses.
This inventory will allow you to:

• Help majority businesses identify minority owned businesses with whom they
  can do business
• Provide information on the experience and capacity of your business
• Businesses will use the inventory as a resource in making purchasing decisions

• Successful minority and women-owned business owners
• Majority companies and/or corporate leaders that have demonstrated leadership in an area of inclusive business practices
• Partnerships or strategic alliances between minority business owners or between minority business owners and majority businesses to pursue new business opportunities