TSABCC

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The Tucson Southern Arizona Black Chamber of Commerce (TSABCC) focuses on encouraging shopping and networking with African American businesses in our community because this will allow our dollars to circulate within our community. Greater circulation creates stronger economic power within our community.

As we focus on working to establish stronger businesses and entrepreneurship we must not be oblivious to the social issues that prevent economic growth and development. As we look close at our city we must give our attention to those issues that are problematic for our community. Education, unemployment, low marketable skills, high incarceration, and high school graduates ill prepared to go to college or any other institution of high learning. Each of these challengers positions our community to become the permanent underclass. We cannot allow this to happen.

Our agenda for 2008 is to create a stronger partnership with organizations like the Tucson Urban League, LULAC, PPEP, TREO, Multi-Chamber Alliance, local School Districts, Pima College, and the University of Arizona to address four key issues; entrepreneurship, workforce development, education, and advocacy.

Through this partnership we will provide training and in some cases one on one coaching to enhance business operational skills. We will work with the City, County, and State to increase supplier diversity efforts opening more opportunities for government contracts. We will work with our banking partners to provide greater access to needed capitol for African American businesses. We will work with labor to create more job opportunities.

A tremendous impediment to economic growth is education. We must work with our partners to address our low education and workforce skills. Graduation rates are low but drop out rates are high. We understand that everyone is not going to go to college but that should not deny those who don’t attend college the right to a good paying job. We will work with our partners to address this issue.

We have expanded our mission so that we will grow Together STRONGER