Foundation Nashville is an initiative developed by the Legacy Makers Non Profit organization to support Small and Minority Business Growth in the Nashville and Middle Tennessee communities. You are cordially invited to join them to learn about how to financially participate in the billion-dollar renovation of the Nashville airport. The event will be held on Thursday, November 10 from 5:30 – 7:30 pm at the Waller Lansden offices in Nashville City Center at 511 Union Street, Suite 2700. The event is hosted by Waller and co-sponsored by the Maynard Group. Please RSVP to attend by sending an email to: RSVP@www.foundationnashville.com/billiondollarnetwork
Foundation Nashville is hosted and located inside of the Intelligence Office in downtown Nashville in the former offices of the Nashville PRIDE newspaper / Pride Publishing Group in the former home of Regions Bank, 315 Deaderick Street, Suite 1500. The stated mission of the Foundation is to provide the Nashville Minority and Small business community with a resource center to learn about, grow and start their businesses. The Foundation was created with the purpose be an effective voice and vehicle for the social and economic advancement of Small and Minority owned business and minority culture in Nashville.
“The Foundation is a minority business resource center I started to help people who want to be in business,” says Shawntaz Crawford. “If you’ve got an idea or a business you are trying to start or grow, we can help you get the resources you need to do it. We do educational classes and workshops, we have office facilities and advisors that can help support you through the process.”
There is no denying that Nashville is one of the hottest cities in the country. With over 80 people moving here a day, Nashville is becoming rich with opportunity for business growth. With this business growth will come new jobs and an overall higher quality of living. It is important that every individual who wants to capitalize on this growth is afforded every opportunity to do so. However, certain sectors of the population are sometimes left out. These sectors usually tend to be African Americans or foreign Americans. There is no one necessarily to blame for this phenomenon, these communities just have not traditionally had the access to the resources necessary to start and grow businesses.
Foundation Nashville seeks to create a centralized destination for the support and development of small businesses in these sectors. There are plenty of scattered resources throughout the city, but because those resources are scattered, it creates difficulty for an already struggling, strapped for time and cash, small business owner to access and leverage. Foundation Nashville will be a one stop go to for the needs of small and minority owned businesses. Foundation Nashville will create relationships with the various other Nashville resource centers and do the work of staying current with what they have to offer to give high value to our clients by saving them time and energy.
“We are very far behind economically because we have not been taught how to build businesses that scale,” says Crawford. “This is my initiative to combat this issue.”
Among the programs available at Foundation Nashville are Entrepreneur Anonymous, a bi-weekly opportunity for entrepreneurs to get together with other entrepreneurs for emotional support and to simply vent frustrations to a group of like minded individuals; Young CEO Roundtable, a monthly meeting for aspiring CEO’s to meet with current successful CEO’s to discuss leadership best practices and provide young leaders with an opportunity to learn from people who live in the shoes they want to fill; Monthly Business Workshop, a training course designed to enhance business skills and workshops on a variety of topics; Contract Prep, to prepare business owners to take advantage of opportunities; Members Network (a Members Only monthly gathering); Mentor Match (Members Only) to match qualified individuals with mentors to help develop their skill sets; and Intern Match Making (Members Only) to help your business find qualified very talented college student interns to help your company grow.
The Nashville Airport Authority is in the midst of launching a billion-dollar renovation of the airport that will dramatically increase its footprint and present an amazing opportunity for qualified contractors, construction companies, suppliers and vendors to bring their businesses to the airport terminals. Join the Nashville Airport Authority Billion Dollar Network—a program created to celebrate the diversity of Nashville’s business community and ensure companies are well prepared to bring their businesses to a global marketplace— contractors who meet a standard set of qualifications will receive information to successfully win airport contracts and will help position your business to take advantage of the opportunity during the airports billion dollar expansion.
For more, go the the website: http://www.foundationnashville.com/billiondollarnetwork
Shawntaz Crawford
Meet Shawntaz Crawford
Shawntaz Crawford is a native of Atlanta, Georgia. He was educated at Tennessee State University where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Art with a minor in English. While at Tennessee State University he was the President of the Student Government Association, President of the College Democrats and President of the Collegiate 100 Black Men. He was one of 61 students selected by the President of the University, the late Dr. James Hefner, to be considered “Who’s Who among College Students”. He has also studied and taught graphic design, digital media and marketing at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York.
After college, Crawford went on the publish Stayonthego Magazine, an online and print publication focusing on millennial minorities and founding the Nashville Small Business Expo. Crawford enjoys long walks along Jefferson Street, watching old episodes of Star Trek the Next Generation, reading movie reviews, listening to Drake and sarcasm.
“Foundation will also cater to the specific needs of each of our clients providing customized solutions to their business needs. Foundation is a center created by Entrepreneurs for Entrepreneurs. We seek to create a lifestyle environment which caters to the millennial mindset which is more fluid, more diverse, leverages technology and values purpose over profit.
“Without a center like Foundation, diversity in the business community will continue to just be a buzzword. Foundation will demonstrate Nashville’s commitment to supporting and developing small and minority owned businesses. We feel we will be in better position to service the needs of our clients because we will be solely focused on small and minority owned businesses whereas these sectors of the community are usually given a program or department of larger organizations. This will be THE destination for small and minority owned businesses.”
