Georgia MBDA Centers Client SquarePac Wins $100K in First-Ever National Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurs Challenge
Minority-owned Georgia business provides environmental, cost- saving solutions.
By Asha Morton
Atlanta Minority Business Development Agency Business (MBDA) Center client SquarePac was one of nine winning minority business enterprises (MBEs) that shared in the Metropolitan Economic Development Association’s $1 Million Challenge Powered by Chase.
SquarePac, which was awarded $100,000 in financing, was one of 250 MBE teams vying for the challenge prize money at the Jan. 30, 2019 event held in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Austell, Georgia-based SquarePac, an intelligent packaging solutions company, bore the brunt of the -12-degree weather to pitch its eco-friendly solutions to become one of the finalist teams.
The company uses its design and metal fabrication expertise to create solutions that help clients maximize space, reduce freight, save money, and promote safety.
Comprised of a team that has more than 100 years of combined industry experience, SquarePac has been helping companies to optimize supply chains and save money in logistics since 2013.
The Georgia MBDA Business Center and sister program, the Advanced Manufacturing Center, provide business and technical assistance to help emerging and existing MBEs achieve significant growth and meet sustainability objectives. The Georgia MBDA Centers, which are programs of the Georgia Institute of Technology and funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce, aim to create long-term economic impact in Georgia through the creation of jobs and revenue.
“Partnering with the Georgia MBDA has given us national exposure,” said Walter Griggs, SquarePac’s president and founder.
Griggs said his company also benefited from programs such as the Georgia MBDA Centers’ National MBE Manufacturers Summit, which provide MBE manufacturers with the opportunity to meet and make connections with global enterprises.
“We met Ingersoll Rand through the Summit and because of that opportunity we were able to become a strategic supplier to the company and worked on a returnable packaging and pallet racking and shelving projects for them,” Griggs said, adding the company’s other clients include Georgia Power, Cox Enterprises, and Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Downtown Atlanta.
“Being a part of the Georgia MBDA Business Center has given us access to corporate clients that we otherwise would not have been exposed to,” Griggs said.
About the Atlanta MBDA Business Center
As part of a national network of 42 centers, the Atlanta MBDA Business Center helps minority business enterprises (MBEs) access capital, increase profitability, and scale and grow their businesses. Funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Georgia MBDA Business Center is a program of part of the Enterprise Innovation Institute, which is Georgia Tech’s economic development arm, and is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive university-based program of business and industry assistance, technology commercialization, and economic development. To learn more, please visit mbdabusinesscenter-atlanta.org.