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Posts tagged as “minority-owned businesses”

U.S. Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency Awards $31.5 Million in Grants

By goodblacknews on May 22, 2016

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article by Carolyn M. Brown via blackenterprise.com
New resources and funding is underway to help minority-owned firms create jobs, compete in the global economy, and grow their businesses.  This comes from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency, awarding $31.5 million in federal funding to 21 grant recipients as part of its MBDA Business Center Program.
“For more than 40 years, MBDA has led efforts to support minority firms and provide them with the tools and technical expertise they need to excel. This is the very foundation on which this agency was founded back in 1969. It’s the core of who we are and what we represent,” said MBDA National Director Alejandra Y. Castillo. “This funding goes far beyond just the monetary aspect. This is a long-term investment in our community and in our nation.”
According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2012 Survey of Business Owners, minority-owned firms in the U.S. increased from 5.8 million in 2007 to 8 million in 2012, and employed 7.2 million people in 2012.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), is the only federal agency dedicated to the growth and global competitiveness of U.S. minority-owned businesses. Since 2009, MBDA Business Centers have assisted minority firms with gaining access to more than $31 billion in capital and contracts, while creating and retaining nearly 142,000 jobs.
The grant recipients will join an established network of MBDA Business Centers across the United States and Puerto Rico. The recipients will receive the federal funds during a five-year period. They include:

  • Georgia Tech Research Corporation ($298,255) to operate the MBDA Business Center in Atlanta.
  • Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc. ($312,750) to operate the MBDA Business Center in Chicago.
  • Dallas Fort Worth Minority Supplier Development Council ($301,675) to operate the MBDA Business Center in Dallas.
  • Michigan Minority Purchasing Council ($310,225) to operate the MBDA Business Center in Detroit.
  • Mid-South Minority Council TADP, Inc. ($285,400) to operate the MBDA Business Center in Memphis, Tenn.
  • Southern Florida Minority Supplier Development Council ($301,975) to operate the MBDA Business Center in Miami.
  • South Bronx Overall Economic Development Association ($321, 800) to operate the MBDA Business Center in New York or northern New Jersey.
  • The Enterprise Center ($304,475) to operate the MBDA Business Center in Philadelphia.
  • North Carolina Institute of Minority Economic Development ($294,100) to operate the MBDA Business Center in Raleigh, Charlotte, or Durham, N.C.
  • Capital Region Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc. ($310,550) to operate the MBDA Business Center in Washington, D.C., or Northern Virginia.

MBDA is expected to make additional announcements regarding grant winners and future grant opportunities.

Minority Business Development Agency Puts $7.7 Million Toward New Business Centers

By goodblacknews on November 5, 2015
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), is the only federal agency dedicated to the growth and global competitiveness of U.S. minority-owned businesses. MBDA recently launched a search for prospective partners to operate their newly improved business center program.
Under the new program, the nationwide business center network is more integrated, places more emphasis on collaboration, and was designed to ensure the quality and consistency of service delivery throughout their nationwide network of business centers.
For-profit entities, non-profit organizations, state and local governments, and educational intuitions are all encouraged to apply. MBDA plans to award five individual cooperative agreements to operate MBDA Business Centers beginning in September 2016. The awards will cover a 5-year period and total $1.5 million annually for each center. The Centers will be located in Baltimore, Maryland, Boston, Massachusetts, Manhattan, New York, Pasadena, California, and St. Louis, Missouri.
“The success of minority-owned businesses is vital to the U.S. economy. These Centers will help our inventors, manufacturers, and entrepreneurs remain on the cutting edge at the speed required in the 21st century,” said MBDA National Director, Alejandra Y. Castillo in a statement.
MBDA is looking for organizations to deliver business consulting services to minority-owned firms, providing them increased access to public and private sector contracting opportunities, financing, and capital investments. Successful applicants will be those that have experience in assisting minority firms with obtaining large scale contracts and financial transactions; accessing corporate supply chains; facilitating joint ventures, teaming arrangements, mergers, and acquisitions; inducting export transactions; and performing minority business advocacy.
article by Carolyn M. Brown via blackenterprise.com

Black Women Represent Fastest-Growing Group Of Entrepreneurs In U.S.

By goodblacknews on July 5, 2015

Black businesswoman in conference room with co-workers
(Source: Getty Images)

A new report shows that the number of businesses owned by African-American women has grown 332 percent since 1997, according to Fortune magazine.
The recently published study, 2015 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report (pdf), commissioned by American Express Open, shows that the overall number of female-owned businesses grew by 74 percent between 1997 and 2015, which is 1.5 times the national average.
From Fortune:

Women now own 30% of all businesses in the U.S., accounting for some 9.4 million firms. And African American women control 14% of these companies, or an estimated 1.3 million businesses. That figure is larger than the total number of firms owned by all minority women in 1997, the report found.
“The only bright spot in recent years with respect to privately-held company job growth has been among women-owned firms,” according to the report. These businesses have added an estimated 340,000 jobs to the economy since 2007, while employment at companies owned by men (or with equally shared ownership) has declined…
The highest concentrations of black woman-owned businesses are in Georgia, Maryland, and Illinois, but African American women are launching companies in growing numbers across the country. In Detroit, where city leaders, foundations, and even President Obama have promoted entrepreneurship as an economic development tool, a tiny nonprofit is making outsize efforts at helping black women become business owners. Since it was formed in 2012, the Build Institute has graduated nearly 600 students from its eight-week courses, which teach the basics of starting and running a business, including such topics as money management and how to determine your break-even point. Nearly 70% of those students are women, and 60% of them identify as a member of a minority group.

This is a bit of good news that comes at a time when America is awakening from the slumber that has long tried to subjugate women of color in the workplace, and as progress in the so-called post-recession era appears to elude Black women. Congrats, sistas!
article by Lynette Holloway via newsone.com

Minority Business Development Agency Announces Record Client Performance

By goodblacknews on January 15, 2014

minority business development agency jobs

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) increased its efforts last spring to bolster its support of minority business owners with a grant competition, and it reported record job creation for those businesses for fiscal year 2012. The MBDA’s good work in that arena was highlighted once more after a record-setting fiscal year in 2013 that saw the agency help lead the creation and retention of 25,704 jobs.

On Tuesday, the MBDA released a press release reporting on the agency’s job creation, the capital it provided the businesses, and the contract support given to participants in the programs. More than $4.8 billion in capital and contract awards were doled out, leading to the agency’s highest job-creation goal in its 45-year history.

More from MBDA’s National Director, David A. Hinson:

“These FY13 figures illustrate the crucial role MBDA continues to play in helping minority-owned businesses create jobs and strengthen local communities nationwide. This outstanding performance is a hallmark of the Obama administration’s efforts to help strengthen small- and- medium-sized businesses, which are fueling our economic recovery.

In total under the Obama administration for the years between FY 2009 and FY 2013, the MDBA has helped business owners and participants gain $19.4 billion in contracts and capital, which led to the creation and/or retention of 58,752 jobs.

A full version of the MBDA’s Annual Performance Report will be released at a later time.

article by D.L. Chandler via newsone.com