News

Milwaukee has a rare opportunity to boost the local American Indian business community through the 2010 Emerging 200 Initiative, officials said at the kickoff Wednesday afternoon.

A small group of business and American Indian leaders gathered at Potawatomi Bingo Casino’s Tribal Room to discuss the program from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The Emerging 200 Initiative helps small businesses poised for growth realize their potential through a series of free classes. This year, it will focus on American Indian-owned businesses in 12 communities, including Milwaukee.

Fifteen slots are available for established small businesses that generate about $300,000 a year or more in sales, said Eric Ness, Wisconsin SBA director. The program started taking applications Wednesday.

This is the third year Milwaukee will participate in the Emerging 200. Previously, the program focused on inner-city businesses.

The Potawatomi Business Development Corp. is thrilled that Milwaukee is participating and has signed on as a sponsor of the program, said Kip Ritchie, chief operations officer and a member of the Forest County Potawatomi Community.

“Any time that the federal government recognizes there’s a community like Milwaukee that’s growing and relevant, and they support the Native American community, that’s something we should all celebrate,” he said.

Business owners meet for 13 sessions over 26 weeks. They learn about topics such as hiring, accounting, building a Web site and planning future growth.

“We’ve seen some graduates really grow their businesses,” Ness said.

Jeff Dretzka, vice president of sales and marketing at UPI Manufacturing in Eagle, hopes the program can help him improve his family’s business and eventually start a business of his own.

He and his family are members of the Lac Courte Oreilles, a band of the Chippewa tribes. The company, with 70 employees and $18 million a year in revenue in its manufacturing and construction divisions, just started leveraging its status as a minority-owned business a few years ago, Dretzka said.

Dretzka hopes to learn more about accounting from the program.

“Being in sales, it would be very helpful to (be more familiar with) financial statements,” he said.