Northwest Milwaukee businesses will get connected to Web thanks to federal grant

The Northwest Side Community Development Corp. in Milwaukee and UW-Milwaukee will help a group of area business reach out to new audiences, thanks to a major grant from the federal government.
The development corporation and UWM partnership was one of 74 groups nationwide, and the only one in Wisconsin to garner a grant from the Telecommunications and Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Congressman Tom Barrett said.
UWM and NSCDC will use the $727,268 grant to help the predominantly small, minority-owned businesses on Milwaukee’s near northwest side tap into opportunities presented by the Internet and Web technology, said William (Dave) Haseman, director of UWM’s School of Business Administration Center for Technology Innovation.
The two entities have collaborated on ReNEW-Milwaukee (Rejuvenating the Northwest Side through Enhanced Use of the World Wide Web).
“As our national economy comes to depend more and more on the Internet, we must ensure that small businesses have the tools to adapt to this new technology,” Barrett said of the grant. He called the NSCDC/UWM partnership “a model for the nation.”
UWM Chancellor Nancy Zimpher said the effort is another expression of The Milwaukee Idea – the university’s outreach into the Milwaukee-area community. She and NSCDC executive director Howard Snyder started discussing ways to collaborate about two years ago, with the idea for the Internet project coming forth about a year and a half ago. The Helen Bader and Bradley foundations also helped get the idea off the ground, Snyder said.
The development corporation and UWM will initially work with companies that have sprung from the CDC’s business incubator, and provide Web-focused tools.
“We will work with those companies that want to grow, and bring them the power of the Web,” Snyder said, noting that, while the CDC has helped in the establishment of many women- and minority-owned firms, the Web allows those businesses to overcome obstacles they might face due to prejudices, “because the Web is color-blind and gender-blind,” said Snyder. “It’s the great equalizer.”
Haseman said the ReNEW would work with one of the incubator companies, Cascade, to use computers that it rebuilds to help get other firms connected to the Web and to get those firms to use the Web for businesses marketing and sales.
“ReNEW will increase the ability of northwest side businesses to compete by upgrading computer systems and training, providing bundled access to the Internet and Web technology, and strengthening and building business relationships via an online cooperative marketplace,” Haseman said. “The online marketplace will help businesses reduce their operating costs by facilitating purchasing through an online cooperative system.”
Haseman said a vendor/purchaser network will be created “that is more efficient and competitive for both current and potential customers to use. It will also expand the marketplace for products and services beyond the Milwaukee area, with the potential to reach global markets.”
ReNEW will also provide services such as Web site maintenance, online catalog posting, online product sales transactions, online service contracting, and the use of software agents to seek business linkages. In addition, clients will receive technical support and the opportunity to participate in collaborative media campaigns, Haseman added.
Snyder said the Web activity will give a boost to businesses in that part of Milwaukee. “This project will seek to reverse the trends of businesses that are either stagnant, experiencing a downturn in business, or contemplating leaving the area,” he said. “The ReNEW approach is unique in offering tiered levels of service, depending on the need. Those companies with the least exposure to technology will receive high-speed, Internet-capable refurbished computers and training on basic computer skills. The project will ensure that all businesses in the area have the potential to jump-start their involvement in e-commerce, dramatically expand their current capabilities, and increase the efficiency of their operations.”
Faculty members from the Management Information Systems and Marketing areas of the UWM School of Business will work on the design and implementation of the project, Haseman added. “A long-term goal is to disseminate the research on how technical knowledge can be developed and implemented to other inner city organizations, within Wisconsin and across the United States,” he said.
Oct. 12, 2001 Small Business Times, Milwaukee