The International Visitors Council - Detroit, hosted a U.S. State Department sponsored delegation of 15 entrepreneurs and business professionals from 12 nations in the Middle East and North Africa. The delegation consisted of entrepreneurs, business professionals and CEOs from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and Yemen.
The objective of the Department of State funded project is to provide an overview of current economic, political and social factors influencing and encouraging the development of small business and entrepreneurship in the U.S. It also highlights public-private sector partnerships and programs supporting small businesses at the federal, state, local and grassroots levels.
As part of their trip to Metro Detroit, the delegation requested a tour of the Arab American National Museum and a meeting with ACCESS Growth Center to learn about the Immigrant Entrepreneur Development Program and its individualized technical assistance & business coaching, business training & workshops delivered in Arabic, and its Microloan program. The delegation was provided with a full tour of the Arab American National Museum (AANM) and its exhibits and later met with Hassan Bazzi, Manager of ACCESS Growth Center and Imad Agh Morad and Ashraf Mustafa, two entrepreneurs who graduated from the Growth Center’s entrepreneur and small business training programs and received technical assistance and business coaching. The Immigrant Entrepreneur Development Program is made possible by funding from New Economy Initiative (NEI). One of the entrepreneurs, a refugee from Iraq, received a Microloan through the Growth Center’s Microenterprise Development Loan Program, a program funded by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).
