New York, N.Y. March 09, 2006 - The National Urban League announced today that The Urban League of Greater Cincinnati has been designated as one of five national pilot centers for the creation of an Economic Empowerment Center funded in part through the National Urban League, the Ewing Kauffman Foundation, the Business Roundtable, the National Economic Council, the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency. As part of the launch of its new Center, it also announced that it has appointed a local banking executive and business consultant Myron Kilgore, Jr., as its Director.

The new Center is in partnership with the Urban Entrepreneur Partnership (UEP), a program that was announced initially by the National Urban League in October 2004. The UEP brings together several of the country's top private, public and nonprofit organizations to improve minority entrepreneurship, business development and job creation in historically neglected and economically underserved urban areas nationwide, also known as Empowerment Zones.

"These new resources reflect our belief that growing small and medium-sized minority owned businesses is one of the best ways to close the wealth gap in America and provide real economic empowerment to our communities," said Marc Morial, President and CEO, National Urban League. Business owners may also benefit from access to $127.5 million in New Market Tax Credits administered through the National Urban League/Stonehenge Capital Empowerment Fund.

"It speaks volumes to the potential of minority-businesses in the greater Cincinnati area that we've been selected as one of the national pilot centers for this important initiative," said Donna Jones Stanley, Urban League of Greater Cincinnati president and chief executive officer. "Cincinnati has a rich history of minority-owned businesses and our goal is to help as many as possible to expand and reach their next-level of growth and development."

According To Census Bureau data, the number of black-owned businesses in the U.S. nearly doubled in just a decade, to nearly 1.2 million in 2002 from 620,000 in 1992. In Ohio, the number has grown 57 percent in that time period, to 35,661 from 22,690, while the latest statistics from the Cincinnati metropolitan area show 7,473 minority-owned businesses. The Urban League believes many of these businesses are primed for growth and its new Center is focused on providing them with the right tools.

In particular, the Urban League's Cincinnati-based Empowerment Center will give special focus on those minority businesses that have been in operation for at least two years or longer, providing business training, counseling, financing and procurement opportunities.

"We believe that it is extremely important to reach businesses that are still in an early growth phase and could use resources such as partnering, mentoring and access to capital, which we'll be able to provide," said Myron Kilgore, Director of the Empowerment Center. "With the opening of our new Center at the Urban League we'll be able to meet Cincinnati's minority-business owners where they are and help position them to compete and win more business and employ more of our city's workers."

Kilgore recently held an executive position with PNC Bank in Cincinnati in commercial banking and since 1990 has held a variety of positions in banking and investments, management consulting and business development. So far UEP pilot centers have been established in Kansas City, Cleveland and Atlanta, with Cincinnati and Jacksonville rolling out this year. For application and criteria information, Mr. Kilgore can be reached at 513-487-6535.

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