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Making True Progress
Mentoring program serves both participants.
by Mary Welch
May 30, 2008
W
hen Gov. Sonny Perdue wanted to create a program for companies to work with minority- and
women-owned businesses, he went to Rosemary Jones, then with IBM, to help set it up. Interestingly,
when she approached Atlanta-based corporations for moral support and a $10,000 financial
commitment, only one stepped right up to the plate – Turner Broadcasting System.
“That was very telling to me. It showed how much Turner supports diversity; they’re
visionaries,” she says. Jones is now in charge of TBS’ diversity
program.
“We’ve done a good job, but we need to step it up and make it more measurable,” she says
simply.
Since that first year, the Governor’s Mentoring Protégé Program has grown considerably. The
first-of-its-kind program teams prospering companies that have proven competencies in business,
technology and the development of sophisticated business solutions with smaller, emerging
Georgia-based businesses to increase the odds for the latter’s success. Entrepreneurs gain the
tools and techniques to improve their operations, create valuable business alliances and accelerate
growth; in turn, the established companies find new opportunities, partners and
markets.
The program is primarily sponsored by the state, but eight companies provide financial and
in-kind support for the program and serve as corporate sponsors. The eight are GE Infrastructure,
Georgia Power, Hardin Construction Co., Lockheed Martin, The Coca-Cola Co., The Home Depot, Turner
Broadcasting System and UPS. These companies and others have helped more than 125 small businesses
meet their specific challenges and develop the tools they need to
succeed.
“It’s quite a commitment. It’s 18 months of working with a company to take them to the next
level,” she says. TBS asks the mentored company to answer 25 questions designed to ascertain where
the company is financially, what resources it has, and what are its challenges. “Our goal-setting
is around growing their revenue and capacity. It’s not necessarily giving them contracts but making
sure they can go after contracts outside of TBS. We also serve as a referral, which is important.”
TBS has mentored two companies: All(n)1 Security and BeardDaily
Advertising
On a broader scale, Jones is committed to measuring the economic impact such diversity
programs have. “These small companies will be the business partners of the future,” she says. “It’s
critical that we collaborate with them, because they are our consumers, our employees and our
suppliers. Many of these companies may not be able to compete on scale and price like major
corporations can, but they are notoriously lean, creative and can do the job. These businesses come
up with creative ways to compete, and we desperately need that with our business partners."
Jones recognizes that small companies may have difficulty’t do a good job, it becomes harder
for the others. But I say they should bundle their services with other companies and then they have
more capacity. Build your own capacity and go after the big contract!"
TBS is trying to expand its definition of diversity by going out into the Asian, Native
American and Hispanic business communities. “I want to establish a program that will be the
industry benchmark,” she says firmly. “I want to increase our spending by 300 percent in the next
five years. The question for all of us is: How can we truly make progress and help women- and
minority-owned businesses?”
