SSM Health presented a $100,000 check on Tuesday to the Urban League of Greater Madison to support the completion of The Black Business Hub and the organization’s efforts to encourage local Black- and minority-owned entrepreneurship opportunities in the greater Madison community.
“We are very thankful to have SSM here today and to accept the $100,000 donation that they are giving to the Black Business Hub. This is one of many donations that they have given us over time. This contribution, and many like this, allow us to advance the Black Business Hub project,” said Dr. Ruben L. Anthony, Jr., president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Madison, at a press conference at the Urban League headquarters on South Park Street overlooking the construction of The Black Business Hub.
The Black Business Hub will be the Madison region’s premiere enterprise center devoted to incubating, accelerating, and networking Black and other BIPOC entrepreneurs. The Hub is a 4-story, 76,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art center of commerce and entrepreneurism led by Black business owners and entrepreneurs.
SSM Health, a not-for-profit organization based around providing quality health care, has been a supporter of the Urban League of Greater Madison (ULGM) in the past, and their collaborations have been mutually beneficial. With the advances that ULGM has made in providing opportunities and resources for those on the South Side, this contribution to the Black Business Hub will assist in continuing that mission.
“SSM made a multi-year pledge to our successful 50-year anniversary, and also to our 1,500 Jobs Initiative. So this partnership, as I mentioned, continues to grow,” Anthony said. “This contribution today will grow the scope of our partnership and allow us to help provide many opportunities to assist BIPOC citizens who are interested in starting and developing businesses. When our doors open, it’s going to be an exciting opportunity for many of those who have not had access to capital, access to training, access to mentoring, and many other things.”
SSM and the ULGM have already been successful in their goals for past collaborations that have seen an increase in diversity along employment and in the supply chain for SSM. This past work also includes hands-on engagement for individuals in the community looking to be trained in medical fields through programs such as pharmacy technician training and healthcare administration training.
“We know that the Urban League is a trusted, deeply-rooted community organization, focusing on lifting others up and creating and fostering meaningful economic opportunities for community members,” said Sue Anderson, regional president for SSM Health Wisconsin. “The vision and values of the Urban League align with our own values at SSM Health, which is why strengthening this partnership is so important to us. We believe the Black Business Hub will foster new and unique entrepreneurial opportunities that will help infuse South Madison with new wealth, and build generational wealth. By investing in the wealth of our community, we are in turn investing in the health of our community. Because we understand individual health is dependent on so much more than wellness checks, prescription medication, and health care services.”
Anderson spoke to the potential that engagement around wealth and health brings for long-lasting growth and prosperity in the community. Such potential is reflected in SSM and the ULGM coming together in the construction of SSM Health’s South Madison Campus. The SSM Health Dean Medical Group location on Fish Hatchery Road exceeded goals and expectations through its dedication to include BIPOC, women, disabled, and veteran workers who completed almost a fourth of the project’s work overall.
To learn more about the Urban League of Greater Madison and the Black Business Hub, visit their website here.
