AMAC, Morehouse College and Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs Partner to Increase Learning Opportunities for Future Minority and Women-Owned Airport Concessionaires

The Airport Minority Advisory Council (AMAC) is partnering with Morehouse College and Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs (ACE) to pilot AMAC’s new Business Capacity Accelerator Program. The initiative will increase training opportunities and capacity-building for minority and women-owned business enterprises interested in launching airport concessions.

The partnership is being managed by the Morehouse Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (MIEC), a global model inhigher education and industry collaboration that provides programs and services focused on helping Black businesses to grow and thrive. MIEC is grounded in the Morehouse legacy of producing leaders committed to service, diversity, inclusion and equity. Its programs have helped participants to create 823 jobs, secure 363 new contracts and experience $82 million in revenue growth.

“AMAC is thrilled and honored to partner with an institution as prestigious as Morehouse,” says Eboni Wimbush, AMAC President & CEO. “This purposeful partnership addresses many goals in our Strategic Plan, one of which is fostering the next wave of airport industry entrepreneurs.”

The Business Capacity Accelerator Pilot Program develops a pipeline of minority and underserved small business concessionaires in the Atlanta region. It will increase business owners' understanding of the requirements and strategies for operating concessions in airports, provide resources to secure access to capital and foster relationships with industry stakeholders.  

Under the agreement, AMAC, Morehouse and its partner ACE will work to develop a network of potential concessionaires of color and provide them with support services as they prepare to compete for contracts. Those services will include advising potential concessionaires about the feasibility of operating in an airport setting, facilitating engagement with industry-leading prime concessions companies, securing capital, exercising strategic agility and assisting them with business marketing.

 “This partnership with AMAC extends the work the MIEC is building alongside ACE in scaling diverse businesses, “said Dr. Tiffany Bussey, Executive Director of MIEC. “Our research indicates that intentional collaborations like these are necessary to exponentially move the needle with diverse businesses in non-traditional spaces.”

AMAC is the only national, nonprofit trade association organization dedicated to promoting the full participation of minority-owned, women-owned, and disadvantaged business enterprises (M/W/DBEs) in contracting opportunities and professional development throughout the aviation and aerospace industries. Morehouse College is a men’s liberal arts college and a member of the Atlanta University Center Consortium, which facilitates the MIEC and Small Business Executive Programs. MIEC’s mission is to build an innovative and entrepreneurial ecosystem across Morehouse College and external communities, which includes the development of creativity, critical thinking, communication, strategic thinking and problem-solving skills to find and develop solutions for solving real problems in the community and the world.