Minority Business Development Agency
Awards $13.9 Million in Grants
Federal funding will expand MBDA Business Centers to new
locations in Alabama, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina,
New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma and Virginia
WASHINGTON (September
9, 2021) — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development
Agency (MBDA) is awarding $13.9 million in federal funding to 35 grant
recipients as part of its MBDA Business Center Program. The program is designed
to help minority-owned firms create jobs, compete in the global economy and
grow their businesses.
"The Biden Administration is firmly committed to helping
minority-owned businesses of all sizes grow, prosper, and compete in the global
economy,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo. “Minority-owned
businesses are essential to a vibrant economy and MBDA Business Centers have
been an invaluable resource for so many of them throughout the country. I am
thrilled to expand MBDA’s footprint to new locations across the country and do
our part to ensure minority entrepreneurs have access to resources they need.”
According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 9.2
million minority-owned firms in the U.S. employ over 8 million American workers
and pump $1.7 trillion dollars into the American economy, with minority
women-owned businesses now the fastest rising group within the spectrum of
entrepreneurial effort.
These Awards will add nine (9) new MBDA Business Centers and
expand coverage of the national network of MBDA Business Centers from
twenty-seven (27) to thirty-five (35) locations across the country.
“The MBDA Business Centers are results-driven business
development resources that advance the interests of minority business
enterprises,” said Miguel Estién, Acting National Director of the Minority
Business Development Agency. “The new program expands the network to include
locations in Alabama, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina,
New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma and Virginia, with all locations having an increased
focus on capacity building services to create greater access to capital, contracts
and markets.”
MBDA Business Center grant recipients include:
· Alabama: Walker’s Legacy ($375,000)
· Arizona: Hispanic Chamber of Commerce ($400,000)
· California
(Los Angeles): Pacific Asian
Consortium in Employment ($410,000)
· California
(Sacramento): California Asian
Pacific Chamber of Commerce ($410,000)
· California
(San Jose): Asian, Inc.
($410,000)
· Colorado: Rocky Mountain Minority Supplier Development
Council, Inc. ($400,000)
· Florida
(Miami): Gill & Associates
($410,000)
· Florida
(Orlando): 3-D Strategic
Management ($410,000)
· Georgia: Georgia Tech Research
Corporation ($400,000)
· Hawaii: University of Hawaii ($410,000)
· Illinois: Strategic Exception Pro Consortium ($400,000)
· Louisiana: Southern University and A&M College
($375,000)
· Maryland:
L.S. Caldwell &
Associates ($400,000)
· Massachusetts: Greater New England Minority Supplier
Development Council ($410,000)
· Michigan: Michigan Minority Supplier Development
Council ($400,000)
· Minnesota: Metropolitan Economic Development Association
($375,000)
· Mississippi:
Tri-County
Contractors, Inc. ($375,000)
· Missouri: Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council
($375,000)
· Nevada: CPLC Nevada, Inc. ($400,000)
· New
Jersey: The Enterprise Center
($400,000)
· New
Mexico: The City of
Albuquerque ($375,000)
· New
York (Bronx): South Bronx OLIM
Lifestyle Management, LLC ($415,000)
· New
York (Manhattan):
Business Outreach Network ($415,000)
· North
Carolina: North Carolina Dept.
of Administration Office for Historically Underutilized Businesses ($385,000)
· Ohio: Economic Growth Foundation ($385,000)
· Oklahoma: Rural Enterprise of Oklahoma ($375,000)
· Pennsylvania: The Enterprise Center ($400,000)
· Puerto
Rico: Asociación Productos
De Puerto Rico, Inc. ($415,000)
· Tennessee: Mid-South Minority Council TADP, Inc.
($375,000)
· Texas
(Dallas): Dallas Minority
Supplier Development Council ($410,000)
· Texas
(El Paso): El Paso Chamber of
Commerce ($410,000)
· Texas
(Houston): Houston Community
College ($410,000)
· Texas
(San Antonio): The University of
Texas at San Antonio ($410,000)
· Virginia: Capital Region Minority Supplier Development
Council, Inc. ($400,000)
· Washington: City of Tacoma ($400,000)
The five-year grants will run through June 30, 2026, with annual
awards in the amounts listed. For the latest information on MBDA programs and
announcements, please visit www.MBDA.gov.
