It's been my experience that if you go into any company at any time and you ask them if they do business with minority-owned suppliers, they will tell you yes. They're telling the truth. The plan calls for the exchange to be launched and fully operational during the first week of August. Roberts says many particulars of the site are yet to be worked out, but like many online exchanges, buyers will be charged a finders' fee when they use the site to close a deal with a minority-owned business. You will be able to know who the chairperson is, who the board is, how long they've been in business, what kind of customer base they have.
Suppliers can also list prices.
You'll see a full catalog for each minority-owned supplier. Roberts says the exchange will also offer consulting services for suppliers that are new to doing business over the Internet. For those who are not deeply entrenched in Internet commerce or Web-based operations, we want to teach them. Roberts is proud of the fact that the Reverend Jesse Jackson was on hand on March 21 when it was announced that M-Xchange would go live. It was great to have him with us because I think he, as well as the government, has said the Internet is central to economic equity and to social and political equality.