|
MBDA Awards $7.8 Million in Grants to Advance the Growth of U.S. Minority Businesses
|
Washington, DC / May 3, 2011 / --The U.S. Department of Commerces Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) today announced $7.8 million in funding for 27 MBDA Business Centers (MBC) located across the country to boost job creation and foster the economic growth of minority firms in the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
MBDA Business Centers assist minority entrepreneurs with access to markets, contracts and capital and offer strategic business consulting services to facilitate 21st century growth in today’s global economy. MBCs interface directly with minority business owners and managers at the local level and provide enhanced assistance through MBDA’s national strategic partners, both within the Federal government and the private sector.
“The MBDA Business Center program has shown remarkable success, and with a renewed focus on job creation in high-growth industries that leverages global business opportunities and teaming arrangements, we’ve raised the performance bar,” said MBDA National Director David Hinson. “MBCs are catalysts for minority business development, and by investing in these centers at the local level, we will see reverberating effects throughout the national economy.”
The newly restructured MBC program extends the cooperative agreements from three to five years and expands the reach of the MBC nationwide network to meet President Obama’s challenge to out-innovate, out-build, and out-educate the rest of the world. Two new centers will serve minority businesses in Cleveland, Ohio, and Denver, Co., and join MBDA’s Business Center network.
“A new MBDA Business Center in Cleveland will not only boost the local minority business community but also create additional economic benefits for the entire region as well,” said Andrew Jackson, operator of the Cleveland MBC.
“We look forward to a operating a MBDA Business Center and building more competitive minority business enterprises both across the state and the country,” said Stan Sena, operator of the Denver MBC.
While each of the 27 centers are strategically located in areas with significant minority business activity, the redesigned program’s broad geographic focus aims to help all minority enterprises, regardless of where they are located.
MBCs will play a particularly important role in helping minority-owned businesses increase their exports. In an increasingly global economy, where opportunities are just as likely to be found overseas as they are around the corner, minority businesses are critical to achieving the goals of President Obama’s National Export Initiative.
“Minority-owned businesses excel at exporting, and with unique language and cultural connections to other countries, they are exporting powerhouses with great potential for growth,” Hinson said.
Minority business owners who are interested in receiving assistance from an MBDA Business Center can find their closest center by visiting www.mbda.gov.
FY 2011 MBDA Business Center grant recipients include:
MBC Location (State, City)
|
Federal Funding Per Year
|
Cooperative Agreement Partners
|
Alabama –
Mobile
|
$230,000
|
Mobile Area Chamber
of Commerce
|
Arizona -
Phoenix
|
$290,000
|
Arizona Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce
|
California –
Los Angeles
|
$365,000
|
University of
Southern California
|
California –
San Jose
|
$365,000
|
Asian, Inc.
|
Colorado –
Denver
|
$243,359
|
Rocky Mountain
Minority Supplier Development Council
|
Florida –
Miami
|
$332,112
|
M. Gill &
Associates, Inc.
|
Florida –
Orlando
|
$230,000
|
Florida Minority
Supplier Development Council
|
Georgia –
Atlanta
|
$250,000
|
Georgia Tech
Research Corporation
|
Hawaii –
Honolulu
|
$295,500
|
University of
Hawaii
|
Illinois –
Chicago
|
$590,400
|
Chicago Minority
Supplier Development Council
|
Indiana –
Indianapolis
|
$225,000
|
Indiana Business
Diversity Council
|
Michigan –
Detroit
|
$290,000
|
Michigan Minority
Business Development Council
|
Mississippi –
Biloxi
|
$250,000
|
Mississippi
Development Authority
|
Nevada – Las
Vegas
|
$270,000
|
New Ventures
Capital Development Company
|
New Mexico –
Albuquerque
|
$237,957
|
NEDA Business
Consultants, Inc.
|
New York –
Manhattan
|
$500,000
|
National Community
Reinvestment Coalition, Inc.
|
New York –
Williamsburg
|
$291,000
|
ODA Community
Development Corporation
|
North Carolina
– Raleigh
|
$250,000
|
North Carolina
Institute of Minority Economic Development
|
Ohio –
Cleveland
|
$225,000
|
Economic Growth
Foundation
|
Pennsylvania
– Philadelphia
|
$275,000
|
The Enterprise
Center
|
Puerto Rico –
San Juan
|
$241,000
|
Asociacíon
Productos de Puerto Rico
|
South Carolina
– Columbia
|
$250,000
|
DESA, Inc.
|
Texas –
Dallas
|
$295,238
|
Dallas/Fort Worth
Minority Supplier Development Council
|
Texas – El
Paso
|
$228,378
|
El Paso Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce
|
Texas – San
Antonio
|
$242,490
|
University of Texas
at San Antonio
|
Washington –
Seattle
|
$270,000
|
Seattle Business
Assistance Center
|
Washington,
District of Columbia
|
$301,000
|
National Community
Reinvestment Coalition, Inc.
|
About the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)
MBDA, www.mbda.gov, an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, promotes the growth and global competitiveness of the minority business community, making them better equipped to create jobs, impact local economies and compete successfully in domestic and global marketplaces. With a nationwide network of more than 40 business centers and strategic partners, MBDA assists minority entrepreneurs and business owners with consulting services, contract and financing opportunities, bonding and certification services, building business-to-business alliances and executive training.
About DiversityBusiness.com
Launched in 1999, DiversityBusiness, with over 50,000 members, is the largest organization of diversity owned businesses throughout the United States that provide goods and services to Fortune 1000 companies, government agencies, and colleges and universities. DiversityBusiness provides research and data collection services for diversity including the "Top 50 Organizations for Multicultural Business Opportunities", "Top 500 Diversity Owned Companies in America", and others. Its research has been recognized and published by Forbes Magazine, Business Week and thousands of other print and internet publications. The site has gained national recognition and has won numerous awards for its content and design. DiversityBusiness reaches more diverse suppliers and communicates more information to them on a more frequent basis then all other organizations combined. We also communicate with mainstream businesses, government agencies and educational institutions with information related to diversity. Our magazine reaches over 300,000 readers, a monthly e-newsletter that reaches 2.4 million, and website visitors of 1.2 million a month. It is a leading provider of Supplier Diversity management tools and has the most widely distributed Diversity magazine in the United States. DiversityBusiness.com is produced by Computer Consulting Associates International Inc. (CCAii.com) of Southport, CT. Founded in 1980.
|
|
|
|