Date of Award

1979

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Community Planning (MCP)

Department

Community Planning and Area Development

First Advisor

Mitchell Cushman

Abstract

This report represents a comprehensive analysis of the performance and efficiency of a regional private sector program. After a rather inauspicious beginning in 1975, the New England Minority Purchasing Council (NEMPC) has gained acceptance from an increasing segment of the majority and minority business community. The Council's role and function is to "encourage and facilitate the growth and expansion of minority-owned business by educating and informing purchasers as to the availability of minority-produced products and by increasing the amount of purchasing from minority-owned businesses." The New England Council is one in a network of 35 regional councils across the country, with national headquarters in New York City. A terse history and profile of the development of this program will be offered in Part I. Hopefully, the reader will gain insight as to the political, economic, and racial climate of our nation at the time of NEMPC's creation.

Part II will address and examine the programmatic aspects of the New England Minority Purchasing Council, information and comments will be drawn from forty interviews conducted with members, minority clientele, and non-members of the organization. Recommendations for improved service delivery will conclude Part II.

The final segment will address and examine the jurisdictional boundaries governed by the Council. A review of the sociologic, demographic and economic contours of the Council's "activity area" will be rendered so as to properly introduce the concluding chapter; that of recommendation of a regional network. The chapter will advance a model which, if adopted, will increase the program's efficiency, visibility and assist the New England Minority Purchasing Council in accomplishing its long-term objectives.

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