Erika McConduit, Esq
President and CEO of the Urban League of Louisiana

Facebook: @urbanleaguela

As small businesses and startups continue to drive economic growth, the Urban League of Louisiana Women’s Business Resource and Entrepreneurship Center (WBR & EC), as well as our extension, the Contractor’s Resource Center (CRC), continue to provide access to education, capital, and mentorship through a vast array of technical assistance offerings.  As a result of the extensive, one-on-one interactive trainings, long-term professional business advising, and other specialized services clients receive, our program remains one of New Orleans’ most impactful business assistance programs serving the southeast region of our state.

In response to Louisiana’s unprecedented regional growth and development, the CRC was created to expand the Urban League of Louisiana’s efforts to develop economic and inclusion opportunities for small, disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs), certified, minority, and women-owned contracting firms. Historically, access to robust technological tools, programs and training has been an issue for minority businesses, resulting in less profits and limited growth. The Urban League of Louisiana provides clients with access to state-of-the-art, technology-based resources, which include an architectural plotter/printer and a computer lab equipped with contractor-specific software programs to facilitate online training in electronic estimating, project management, construction safety, compliance, back-office structure, commercial licensing preparation, and other related topics.

The WBR & EC and CRC serve as pathways to securing economic parity for African Americans and other underserved communities, ensuring access for these businesses and training on 21st century tools, such as PlanSwift, billed as the number one takeoff and estimating software. These technological investments makes it easy for our clients to adjust cost projections and simplify the recalculating process, thereby allowing our clients to bid more jobs faster and help grow their businesses.  

Not only does the Urban League of Louisiana provide training on these programs for low to no cost, saving our clients thousands of dollars, but we also offer discounts on the software programs, to ensure that our clients have access to best-in-class, industry-specific software. New businesses can become members of the CRC and use our computer lab to learn the software and apply its benefits to growing their enterprises.

To maximize public awareness of our resources and services, we manage robust social media campaigns and amplify our marketing by leveraging relationships with local and state partners, such as Louisiana Economic Development Department.

The economic impact of the WBR & EC and CRC in supporting small business development has been significant. In 2017 alone, the centers provided counseling and training services to more than 600 clients and assisted entrepreneurs in securing: $18.3 million in bonding capacity, nearly $900,000 in financing, and $26.3 million in contracts. We oversaw the creation of 36 new businesses and 80 new jobs, proving that investments in technology can advance economic and entrepreneurial vitality.