Sunday, August 16, 2009

Dunn Family Fosters Business Opportunities

Businessman and former Councilman Malcolm Dunn is well known for his tireless efforts to advance minority entrepreneurship and employment. With a new tunnel under the Hudson River looming as one of the biggest job opportunities ever, Malcolm and his son Jeffery have created a portal of information that is interesting even to those who just want to learn more about "THE Tunnel."

Click here to link to the B.O.S.S. Tunnel Vision web site. It has profiles of businesses interested in getting contracts for the project as well as links to project information.

Within the NJ Transit information there is a page on Business Diversity assistance. This is a key element of the Dunn family's work over the years, helping minority business owners learn how to navigate the system in order to access opportunities. As anyone who has ever dealt with governmental or public agencies knows, there are many, many steps to be accomplished before the doors open.

The B.O.S.S. Tunnel Vision Team is a natural outgrowth of what has gone on for many years in the building at 320 Park Avenue. Early on, it was the headquarters of Dunn & Sons Maintenance, one of the first firms to benefit in a big way from minority enterprise programs. More recently, it houses a variety of business support programs and is known as "The Incubator." Here is a link to Business One-Stop Services, Jeffery Dunn's enterprise in The Incubator.

While Malcolm Dunn was on the City Council, he kept awareness of minority entrepreneurship in the limelight locally and also worked with legislators at higher levels to advance the cause. Jeffery Dunn's work has been highlighted on the city's local access Channel 74, among many other places.

Starting or maintaining a business has never been easy, but the Dunn family has undoubtedly increased the chances of success for many minority firms, both through advocacy and practical instruction.

This is just a brief look at these subjects. Comments are welcome.

--Bernice Paglia

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Malcolm Dunn has at times carried his zeal for minority business development way too far. Remember back in the early 2000's when he killed two major redevelopments (worth $40 million) --the downtown North Ave historic block mixed use renovation and the Marino's block supermarket-anchored commercial development because the proposed developers were not minorities. Where are those blocks today -- still peppered by empty buildings, deteriorated conditions and marginal uses.

12:26 PM  
Blogger Bernice said...

I know how zealous he could be, but as Rick Taylor used to say, you have to be able to count to four on the council to move something forward or to shoot it down.

12:47 PM  
Anonymous Laurence@ business opportunities said...

Dunn family must have been thought well of their business before they started it out. As a result of this effort is what we can see now.

They are lucky enough to experience it now.

11:42 PM  

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