Entrepreneurs in Jacksonville, FL will soon get assistance as Jacksonville, FL based North American Small and Emerging Market Business Association (NASEMBA) is now providing funding to low-income individuals seeking assistance in starting a business by participating innovative NASEMBA initiative entitled C.R.U.M.B.S. -- Creating Relationships Utilizing Micro Business Services.

Now that federal programs have begun to provide targeted assistance to low-income individuals all over the country through Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), $1 million in funding is now available to assist in the development of low-income start-up businesses in the Jacksonville area. IDAs are matched savings accounts that reward the monthly savings of working-poor families who are trying to start a small business, pay for post-secondary education or job training, or buy their first home.

JACKSONVILLE, FL (PRWEB) August 31, 2003 -- Entrepreneurs in Jacksonville, FL will soon get assistance as Jacksonville, FL based North American Small and Emerging Market Business Association (NASEMBA) is now providing funding to low-income individuals seeking assistance in starting a business by participating innovative NASEMBA initiative entitled C.R.U.M.B.S. -- Creating Relationships Utilizing Micro Business Services.

The purpose of the C.R.U.M.B.S. Initiative is to establish and maintain relationships between major corporations and burgeoning businesses in order to network with each other while offering much needed support and encouragement through out a three-year developmental process.

NASEMBA is leading the effort to increase awareness among the faith-based community nationally and develop corporate partnerships to raise the local match required so all participants would receive at least a $2 contribution for every $1 saved during the three years in the IDA program. As federal funding and sources for matching funds increase NASEMBA will begin to expand this initiative to Tampa, Tallahassee, Orlando, Miami, and Atlanta, GA as early as January 2004.

To help meet the matching fund requirements, Cuff and other NASEMBA volunteers are asking major corporations to consider redirecting a portion of their routine marketing budget to cover the fee for three of their executives to become NASEMBA Corporate Executive Members in order to help sponsor a low-income individual participating in this three-year program.

We seek to partner micro-enterprise startups with corporate sponsors under the IDA initiative because this will foster the rapid growth of small businesses at the micro-enterprise level helping them to avoid failure while assisting them in obtaining much needed start-up capital," says Richard Cuff, founder of NASEMBA.

Cuff is President of CTI Marketing; a Jacksonville, Florida-based marketing firm specializing in enhancing its clients traditional marketing budget by showing them how to best shift funds to create a strategy of altruism and benevolence, through community development venture capital alliances. The inspiration for his unique approach to marketing and business development came in 1996 when Cuff was President and Marketing Director of Ferrell Travel and Limousine.

When we became the official limousine service of the Jacksonville Jaguars the benefits of that marketing relationship were many," says Cuff. However, the greatest reward came from knowing that Dr. Ernest Ferrell was inspired to make a sizable donation to the Jacksonville Jaguars Foundation. I saw, first hand, the immeasurable impact that altruistically redirecting marketing dollars can have." The Jacksonville Jaguars in turn named its practice fields in honor of Dr. Ferrells father.

For years to follow, the Jacksonville Jaguars would practice on Ferrell Fields. Hoping to share the success principals of this marketing strategy with executives of other major corporations, Cuff left Ferrell Travel and Limousine and started CTI Marketing. In October 2001 he founded NASEMBA and immediately began developing the C.R.U.M.B.S. Initiative.

Participants in the C.R.U.M.B.S. initiative must complete a series of seminars and workshops including a financial literacy program developed by the FDIC entitled Money Smart. This program has 10 different modules that ensure that they understand money matters by covering subjects ranging from how to choose and keep a checking account to why you should pay yourself first. They will also attend a 13 week workshop entitled 'Understanding the Basics of Business Ownership which will teach them to how to write a business plan, the importance of credit, and help them create a marketing strategy to acquire new customers early on.

Im so excited about what Richard is doing with this IDA program. There are so many people who are frustrated by trying to start a business, and they need to know that there is someone who cares enough about their entrepreneurial spirit to seek help on their behalf," says Arlene Bethel, an IDA candidate and NASEMBA volunteer.

Entrepreneurs opening IDA accounts must also complete a mentor training program conducted by the Jacksonville, Florida based Kesler Mentoring Connection and give back up to two hours a week mentoring a child. With the assistance of the Kesler Mentoring Connection the C.R.U.M.B.S. initiative will enable NASEMBA to encourage entrepreneurs to volunteer to assist their corporate sponsor in meeting their mentorship and community re-investment goals by becoming mentors to children within communities where the need for mentors is so great.

The powerful impact that a caring adult can have in a young persons life generates tremendous benefits," says Lucretia D. Simmons Director of Community Outreach for the Kesler Mentoring Connection. Perhaps this generation of mentored youth will be the next wave of entrepreneurs for the future of Jacksonville" says Simmons.

NASEMBA will continue to serve as an advocate for the development of tools and resources to assist small and emerging market businesses. To further assist participants in this program, NASEMBA also provides a micro-loan to back a secured line of credit in order to help them cover the cost of first year operating expenses and to establish a business banking relationship prior to seeking any additional loans. Cuff feels that Jacksonville, FL is the perfect place to launch this IDA initiative but believes that one area of business development which causes the City of Jacksonville to lag way behind other cities like Miami, and Atlanta in the development of successful minority-owned businesses is in establishing minority business banking relationships early on.

Even though the minority population in Duval County is 36.5 percent, it makes up only 11.8 percent of the businesses. IDAs present one of the most promising tools to enable low-income American families to save, build assets, and enter the financial mainstream. IDAs will certainly soar in more progressive cities like Miami and Atlanta but will enable the City of Jacksonville to close the gap in minority business development and in the process bring real accountability to those organizations entrusted to help low-income individuals," says Cuff.

Already, evidence shows that IDAs change the way people think. The Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) estimates that every dollar invested in IDAs would yield over five dollars of returns to communities all over the United States in the form of new businesses, additional earnings, new and rehabilitated homes, reduced welfare expenditures, and more adults obtaining high school, vocational, and college degrees. Thereby they reconnect low-income individuals to the mainstream economy and most importantly they also become producers, savers, investors, owners and tax payers.