Milwaukee Professionals Association

ABC'S OF INNER CITY COMPETITIVENESS

Basic 101

Reprint
February 9, 2004

ABC's OF INNER CITY COMPETITIVENESS
.........................Mary Glass

For Inner City neighborhoods to grow "self-sustainable" and gain in “net worth”, it is mandatory that the businesses and leaders of the neighborhood control the comings and goings of wealth; its land, people and government subsidies.

HIRING FROM-THE-NEIGHBORHOOD is one of the first steps to growing the workforce in the Inner City. Once you have committed to hiring from the neighborhood, it is important that Operation Standards and Staff Training are implemented.

STAFF AND STAKEHOLDER TRAINING provides the template for how a business is ran. From the Investor to the Board Member, to the Receptionist who answers the telephone, to the person watering the plants, knowing what is expected, knowing how to do what is expected, and ongoing monitoring of expectations are invaluable keys to a successful business in Inner City.

Staff training on all levels, including owners and managers, can play a big role in the growth curve. In fact, it's mandatory.

Ongoing training and monitoring helps to ensure “Customer Service”. And, “great” customer service should be the standard for each business in the Inner City.

TECHNOLOGY HOOK-UP is an added-value to Inner City businesses and it can promote “Capacity Building” in Inner City businesses. It is a way of jump-starting revenue streams and improving services to the merchant and the merchant’s clients.

In today’s environment, a business can lose its edge and/or prevent market share due to not having some of today’s electronic devices such as: a computer, software packages that help guide and operate the business, fax, email, website, palm pilot, cell phone, voice mail, paging, surveillance systems, security-weapon monitors, credit and/or debit options.

INCREASING WAGES and a growing Benefit Package tied to growth of the business should be part of the ongoing strategic planning of management in Inner City businesses.

IMAGING is creating a certain type of picture that represents the business in a positive and customer-friendly way. Imaging is also a perception of how the businesses of the Inner City conduct business. How the physical structure looks. What the business sells and the quality of the items for sale.

PARTNERING, INVESTING, and RE-INVESTING in the Inner City can be a new way of leveraging the playing field. A way of engaging micro businesses, creating bulk volume for big bucks. It increases the participation ability and buying options of the employers in the Inner City.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY is one form of "accountability" that is “paramount” in the Inner City. It is necessary for neighborhood governance, neighborhood growth, and partnering.

Social Responsibility is the “business etiquette” and “business goodwill” that will set the tone in Inner City neighborhood wealth-building. It is each business taking ownership in “giving back” for sustainability of ALL. It is a paradigm shift. It is a "mind-set" for all.

It provides the “safety net” that is needed to provide seed money, capital improvement, taxes, volunteerism, mentoring, and civic mindedness vital to short- and long-term growth.

ACCOUNTABILITY is a uniform expectation. No one is exempt. It is a “zero tolerance” policy that is known and expected of all who live, invest, grow families. It is the reason for electing and re-electing a representative for the Inner City.

It is commercial. It is retail. It is light industrial. It is residential. It is government. It is the church. It is our public and private schools. It is the library. It is law enforcement and the judicial system. It is the leader. It is leader-groups. It is unions. It is all service providers. It is the developer. It is the investor. It is the financial institutions. It is the young. It is the old. It is all ethnic groups. It is the employed. It is the under-employed. It is the un-employed. It is the homeless. It is the "voter". IT IS THE NON-VOTER.

TOURISM can be an Inner City “neighborhood revenue-builder. It is the “payola” for “Show and Tell” of the Inner City Neighborhood in a bragging fashion. It is the doorway/gateway to global commerce.

It is being a year-round Welcome Wagon/host and hostess for the Inner City Neighborhood.

It is sharing “goodies” – services, products, crafts, skills, ideas and stakeholders with the intent of trade.

COMPETITIVENESS is an “under-utilized” revenue stream for Inner City Neighborhoods of Milwaukee.


SMART GROWTH COMPREHENSIVE INITIATIVES across the country must “embrace” education/ training and communication to/from its stakeholders.

It should be a GOLDEN RULE, 24/7/365-366, promise from the public servants that are elected, appointed and hired to represent them.

It should be part of the policies and procedures of the Community Block Grant dollars, city planning, economic development, and the annual and/or biennial budgets.

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