RDBDP iHUB2 Project
Developing and Sharing
Emerging Technology Hub
(D-SET Hub)
Transforming Ideas into Action
Statement of
Purpose
Regional Disenfranchised Business Development Project (RDBDP) is a powerful engine for the revitalization of small businesses, advancing technology solutions, and creating collaborations for economic growth in Central Valley, California. With funding from CalOSBA (California Office of the Small Business Advocate), RDBDP is partnering with the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship of Kern County (CIEKC) to launch D-SET. Through the Inclusive Innovative Hub (iHUB2), RDBDP is proposing the D-SET Hub, Transforming Ideas into Action Project, a technology, business and job creation project.
Our mission is to
develop, grow and launch
new business technologies, innovations and solutions.
What problem is the RDBDP iHUB2 Project addressing?
Closing the diversity and wealth gap in technology and other business ecosystems by stimulating the growth of new technologies, innovations and solutions; and creating a pipeline of new minority entrepreneurs and employment opportunities.
Owning a business is a tried-and-true path to wealth, but for many [minority] entrepreneurs, the ability to grow and scale a business is limited by a lack of access to capital.
How Black entrepreneurs can close the racial wealth gap – Tampa Bay Business Journal (bizjournals.com).
California is a thriving behemoth of creativity and innovation in technology and business with a strong entrepreneurial and investment culture. Yet, many entrepreneurs in Central Valley, California have not benefited from these entrepreneurial ecosystems and investor networks; and have been disproportionately left out of the financial gains from technological advancements.
Once an agricultural hub with good paying jobs, the Central Valley has been hard hit by drought, economic neglect, natural disasters and coronavirus pandemic. New skills are not keeping pace with emerging industries, lost jobs are not being replaced, and historical disparities persist.
Kern County, California is the focus area for the D-SET Hub. By bringing investors, educational, research, development, and business resources to D-SET Hub, African American, women and minority entrepreneurs can realize their dreams of one day owning a sustainable business in technology and other business and supply chain ecosystems.
(The iHUB2 Program launched on April 1, 2022. We will be providing continual updates on the D-SET HUB.)
