Mid-South Minority Business Council Recognizes Memphis Bioworks for Policies Supporting Minority Businesses

MEMPHIS, Tennessee, November 29, 2007 - The Mid-South Minority Business Council (MMBC) has awarded Memphis Bioworks Foundation the Creative Visionary Supplier Award. The award was presented to the foundation during the Robert R. Church, Sr. Achievement Awards Luncheon on November 16 during a ceremony held at the University of Memphis Holiday Inn.

Each year, the MMBC recognizes outstanding individuals and businesses that work to promote and advance minority and women-owned businesses in Memphis and the surrounding region. The ceremony, which also includes the awarding of scholarships to deserving inner-city youths, is held in honor of Robert R. Church, Sr., the city’s first African-American millionaire.

According to Luke Yancy, president and CEO of the Mid-South Minority Business Council, the creative supplier of the year looks for innovative ways to do business with minority and women-owned businesses, and there were two distinct reasons for selecting Memphis Bioworks as this year’s winner.

“The Memphis Bioworks Foundation came to our attention as a result of its interest in including minorities in the bioscience field, whether that is in research, construction, manufacturing or supply,” said Yancy. “If there was a business opportunity, they practiced inclusion.

“The second reason is their explicit desire to include minorities and women in development and procurement of goods and services, the use of contractors in the development of the UT-Baptist Research Park and in all other facets of bioscience development in Memphis. This is expressed very strongly in Memphis Bioworks’ Equal Business Opportunity Program Supplier Diversity Policy.”

“One of the most important initiatives our organization can accomplish is to provide better economic opportunities for people,” said Dr. Steven J. Bares, president and executive director of the Memphis Bioworks Foundation. “This award from the Mid-South Minority Business Council is truly an honor because it means the Memphis Bioworks Foundation is helping make a difference.”

The Memphis Bioworks Foundation, a not-for-profit organization, was formed in 2001 to establish the Memphis region as an internationally recognized center for biomedical technology through education, research, job training, and commercialization. Baptist Memorial Health Care donated its property in the Memphis Medical Center to the Foundation for the site of the UT-Baptist Research Park, which serves as the focal point of the city’s biomedical economic development.