By Cara Baruzzi, Register Business Editor
cbaruzzi@newhavenregister.com

A free program that aims to connect inner-city companies from across the country with potential investors is seeking nominations and applications as it prepares for its sixth annual investment “matchmaking” program this fall.

The Inner City Capital Connections program, run by the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, announced this week it has the backing of Bank of America and the U.S. Small Business Administration in its effort to offer training to owners of urban businesses.

ICIC, which works to educate inner-city businesspeople about equity and other forms of growth capital, will hold its sixth annual Inner City Capital Connections program Nov. 15 and 16 in Las Vegas.

The event will feature a full day of matchmaking between companies and potential investors, as well as workshops and assessments of companies’ investment portfolios.

Leading up to the main event in Las Vegas, there will be preparation sessions in New York City and Los Angeles. The New York session will be Oct. 11. The program was established in 2005.

To be eligible, a business must be: headquartered or have at least 51 percent of its physical operations in an economically distressed urban area; and be a for-profit corporation, partnership or proprietorship that had revenues of more than $2 million in 2009.

More information is available through links at ICIS’s website, www.icic.org.

Last year, more than 75 companies participated, from throughout various industries.

“(The program) opens the door to a network of financial options that these firms had limited or no access to previously,” Mary Kay Leonard, ICIC’s president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. “For many inner-city entrepreneurs, the executive education around the options that exist for growth capital is as important as the investments their companies may ultimately receive.”

SBA Administrator Karen Mills agreed, saying, “Access to capital is critical to small-business growth and job creation in America’s inner cities. SBA is proud to play a role in facilitating connections between investors and emerging inner-city entrepreneurs, and to accelerate opportunities for small businesses in these markets.” Continued...

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Contact Cara Baruzzi at 203-789-5748.

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