{"id":699,"date":"2020-09-20T11:51:44","date_gmt":"2020-09-20T15:51:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/poiseddevelopers.com\/vertex-old\/?post_type=case_study&p=699"},"modified":"2023-02-28T10:52:02","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T15:52:02","slug":"economic-empowerment-marketplace","status":"publish","type":"case_study","link":"https:\/\/poiseddevelopers.com\/vertex-old\/resources\/case-studies\/economic-empowerment-marketplace\/","title":{"rendered":"Economic Empowerment: GCP Marketplace Connects Minority Business Owners with Regional Resources"},"content":{"rendered":"

Greater Cleveland Partnership (GCP) Launched Marketplace, a Digital Portal that Connects Northeast Ohio MBEs and Large Companies<\/h2>\n

\"illustration<\/p>\n

The Problem and Background<\/h3>\n

Minority-owned businesses have a unique set of challenges. Workforce diversity, equity, and inclusion issues have long persisted as MBEs seek opportunities to market themselves. Northeast Ohio minority businesses possessed a wealth of talent, ideas, products and services but ensuring that buyers could find them proved difficult.<\/p>\n

Our client, the Greater Cleveland Partnership<\/a> (GCP), represents the collective voice of more than 12,000 members, serving as a catalyst for business growth, development and economic inclusion. Their Equity and Inclusion Department works to engage the region\u2019s employers to address systemic racial inequalities which hinder economic growth. This team had been focusing on two parallel and equally important areas:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Growing businesses owned by people of color and increasing workforce diversity, equity and inclusion through high-quality and effective initiatives, workshops, and conferences<\/li>\n
  2. Providing consulting services to stimulate minority business growth and increase workforce inclusion<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The Equity & Inclusion Department needed a digital tool to enable its key mission of enhancing the economic opportunities for minority businesses. Additionally, the portal needed to provide a means for large corporations in the region to find and identify minority businesses with which to do business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    See how GCP Marketplace, a digital portal developed by Vertex for Greater Cleveland Partnership (GCP), connects Northeast Ohio MBEs and large companies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":903,"parent":0,"template":"","categories":[114,115,116,117,118,137],"acf":{"is_a_flyer":false,"additional_information":"

    We Got IT: Marketplace Portal Provides a Showcase Venue for Companies to Share Their Offerings<\/h3>\n

    Vertex Computer Systems built Marketplace, an online portal for the GCP to connect corporate buyers in the region with MBE suppliers. A custom .NET solution<\/a> hosted on Azure, Marketplace connects MBEs with demand for their goods and services. It is a virtual space that serves as a searchable database of MBEs, service providers, buyers, and capital to connect.<\/p>\n

    Marketplace allows an interchange for MBE suppliers to accelerate their growth via access to opportunities, services, and capital. The portal has four functional quadrants to achieve its key missions:<\/p>\n