Invitation May28

Thursday 28th May 2009 – 10.30am to 1pm – BVSC, Birmingham

The Minority Ethnic Enterprise Centre of Expertise1 (MEECOE) invites you to an interactive workshop on the challenges and opportunities of working with new migrant businesses. The West Midlands has recently seen a wave of migration from countries such as Somalia and Poland. This is sometimes called ‘new migration’ in contrast to established patterns from countries in the Caribbean and South Asia. Many new migrants establish their own businesses, a process of great importance for their economic integration. But little is known about this, in part because the phenomenon is so recent and in part because many businesses are small and operate in ways not readily accessible to standard forms of business support.

The workshop aims to:• Share experiences of working with new migrant business owners • Explore challenges and opportunities of working with new migrant businesses • Identify key issues for business support and policy in the region • Outline MEECOE’s plans for major research and practitioner initiatives in this area

MEECOE is keen to learn from your experiences of working with new migrant communities. Your input will help to highlight the contribution that new migrants are making to the region. Workshop facilitators:• Prof Monder Ram, MEECOE • Dr Kiran Trehan, MEECOE • Prof Paul Edwards, University of Warwick

Venue and schedule: The event will take place at BVSC Birmingham, full details to follow.

Cost and registration: The workshop is free to attend. Places are limited so you will need to register in advance. To register send an e-mail with your name, organisation and contact number to [email protected]

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MEECOE is funded by Advantage West Midlands. Led by the Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship (CREME) at De Montfort University, MEECOE is a two-year activity developing new approaches to supporting ethnic minority businesses in the West Midlands. De Montfort University and Advantage West Midlands may use the above contact details to inform you of their future contracts, approved lists, events, seminars, training and other initiatives. De Montfort University intend to fulfil all their obligations under the data Protection Act 1998 (the Act) and not disclose this information to any third party, without your consent, unless obliged by law to do so.