Pitt Professor Audrey Murrell Receives Award for Her Dedication to Advancing Small Business Interests

PITTSBURGH-Audrey Murrell, associate professor and director of the David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership at the University of Pittsburgh, was recently awarded the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Minority Small Business Champion Award. Murrell and nine other local small business owners and advocates were recently honored at the Western Pennsylvania SBA Awards Luncheon held at the Omni William Penn Hotel, Pittsburgh. Murrell was nominated by the University's Small Business Development Center.

The award recognizes Murrell's volunteer and research efforts to advance the small business interests of underrepresented populations within the community, state, and beyond.

Carl Knoblock, Western Pennsylvania SBA district director, noted Murrell is keenly aware of problems facing underrepresented populations through her research.

"Not only is she identifying problems, but she also is offering solutions for the area's minority business suppliers," he said. "She is taking her data full cycle, and her recommendations are an important cog for continued growth within the minority small business community."

Presently, Murrell is involved in an initiative to create a network of suppliers focused on building capacity in the area of supplier diversity.

"The project not only focuses on minority businesses, but also on training and education for firms on how to best engage and provide meaningful opportunities for qualified minority business enterprise (MBE) in the area," Murrell explained. "This is important work because it moves beyond the discussion of discrimination to solutions that impact sustainability of MBE's and the health of our region."

For more information about Murrell and the David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership, visit www.business.pitt.edu/berg.

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7/9/09/tmw