MOBILE, Ala. — The University of South Alabama’s Melton Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation has been named the Mobile Chamber’s 2026 Reverend Wesley A. James Minority Business Advocate, an honor recognizing organizations that open doors for minority-owned businesses. The award highlights the center’s work both on campus and across the Central Gulf Coast, where its community programs have helped dozens of entrepreneurs launch and grow their companies.
Supporting entrepreneurs at every stage
Starting a business takes more than a good idea. Entrepreneurs also need practical knowledge, mentoring and opportunities to test what they have learned. The Melton Center, part of South’s Mitchell College of Business, aims to provide all three.
Beyond the classroom, the center operates two community programs designed for business owners at different points in their journey:
- Minority Business Development Program: Helps aspiring entrepreneurs shape and refine early-stage business ideas.
- Minority Business Accelerator: Supports established businesses that are ready to expand.
Both programs offer intensive, customized business development, the chance to compete for financial awards and continued support after participants graduate.
Results by the numbers
Since the community programs began, more than 80 entrepreneurs have completed them. Together, graduates have received about $250,000 to help start or grow their businesses. Eighty percent of the program’s graduates are minority entrepreneurs.
That combination of training and funding is aimed at a common challenge for small-business owners: access to the capital, contacts and expertise needed to move from a plan on paper to a working company.
Building entrepreneurs on campus
On campus, the Melton Center combines instruction, hands-on collaboration and pitch competitions. Students develop business concepts, present them to panels of judges and gain confidence along the way, experience meant to prepare them for the next step, whether that means launching a company or bringing an entrepreneurial mindset to an existing employer.
According to the university, the center’s student offerings include Launch USA, the Creative Pitch Competition and a chapter of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization, while its community programming also includes an initiative called Build-A-Bridge. The center describes its mission as fostering entrepreneurship and innovation in the Central Gulf Coast region by drawing on federal, state and local resources for education, engagement and development.
Through that mix of education, outreach and community partnerships, the center is helping more people gain the skills and support to turn ambition into opportunity and contribute to the region’s economic growth.
About the award
The Reverend Wesley A. James Minority Business Advocate Award honors a company or organization that champions supplier diversity and inclusion and supports minority-owned businesses. It is named for the Rev. Wesley A. James, a community leader remembered for working to give minority-owned businesses fair access to contracting and procurement opportunities, and credited with many of the area’s supplier diversity accomplishments.
The award is presented alongside the Mobile Chamber’s Eagle Awards, which have recognized minority-owned businesses since 1998. To be considered, an organization must be a Chamber member in good standing or a resource partner, show a strong commitment to expanding opportunities for minority-owned businesses, have at least three full years of operation and maintain an office in Mobile, Baldwin or Washington County. Nominees submit applications and reference letters, and finalists may be interviewed.
Previous recipients include the City of Mobile, which received the award in 2013 and again in 2020 for its commitment to supplier diversity, and JESCO Inc. Construction, honored in 2024 for its diversity and inclusion efforts.
Congratulations from the Chamber
The Mobile Chamber congratulated the University of South Alabama’s Melton Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation on receiving the 2026 honor.
Entrepreneurs interested in the Melton Center’s programs can learn more through the University of South Alabama’s website, southalabama.edu/mcei, or by contacting the center at the Mitchell College of Business, 5811 USA Drive South, Room 123, in Mobile. The center can be reached at 251-460-6730 or [email protected].
