Minority Business Development Agency

The Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that promotes growth and competitiveness of the United States' minority-owned businesses, including Hispanic and Latino American, Asian Pacific American, African American, and Native American businesses.[1] The current Under Secretary is Don Cravins Jr. and the current Deputy Under Secretary is Jessica Cavazos.

Minority Business Development Agency
Seal of the Minority Business Development Agency
Agency overview
Formed1969 (1969)
HeadquartersWashington, D.C.
Employees50-100
Annual budgetUS$30 million (2009)
US$32 million (est. 2010)
US$32 million (est. 2011)
US$34 million (est. 2017)
Agency executive
  • Don Cravins Jr., Under Secretary of Commerce for Minority Business Development
Parent agencyU.S. Department of Commerce
Websitewww.mbda.gov

MBDA's stated mission is to promote the growth and competitiveness of minority-owned businesses by providing access to capital, access to contracts and access to market opportunities - both domestic and global. The main feature of the organization and its site is to provide business consulting services to minority business owners.[2]

History

On March 5, 1969, President Richard Nixon issued Executive Order 11458, establishing the Office of Minority Business Enterprise. On October 13, 1971, President Nixon issued Executive Order 11625, which clarified MBDA's authority and expanded the scope of its operations.[3] In 1979, the agency was renamed the Minority Business Development Agency.

The agency was cut in President Trump's FY18 executive budget,[4] but subsequently restored in the President's FY19 budget - the only Federal agency to be restored after its proposed elimination.[5]

On November 15, 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which established the Minority Business Development Agency as a permanent agency. Prior to this, the agency was operating solely under Executive Order 11458.

National Minority Enterprise Development Week
President Trump with 2017 National MED Week Award Winners in the Oval Office

The Agency holds National Minority Enterprise Development Week in the month of October, observed in the United States to recognize and celebrate the achievements and contributions of the minority business enterprise community.

President Ronald Reagan first recognized National MED Week in 1983.[6] The week is formally celebrated each year by the Minority Business Development Agency, a U.S. government agency housed within the U.S. Department of Commerce.[7]

On October 20, 2017, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation which officially designated October 22 through October 28, 2017 as National Minority Enterprise Development Week.[8][9]

On October 24, 2017, President Trump recognized minority-owned businesses in the Oval Office during National MED Week, when he welcomed winners of the National MED Week Awards with Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and MBDA Acting National Director Christopher A. Garcia.[10][11]

See also

References
  1. Boyd, Eugene (November 9, 2017). Minority Business Development Agency: An Overview of its History and Current Issues (PDF). Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  2. "About MBDA". Minority Business Development Agency. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  3. "Executive Orders". August 15, 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  4. Gregory Krieg; Will Mullery. "Trump's budget by the numbers: What gets cut and why". CNN. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  5. "Efficient, Effective, Accountable: An American Budget Fiscal Year 2019" (PDF). whitehouse.gov. Retrieved April 15, 2018 – via National Archives.
  6. "Remarks at a White House Ceremony Marking the Observance of Minority Enterprise Development Week, President Reagan". Minority Business Development Agency. March 28, 2012. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  7. "2017 National Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week". Minority Business Development Agency. October 11, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  8. "Minority Enterprise Development Week, 2017". October 26, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  9. "Trump promises "jobs, jobs, jobs"". CBS News. New York City: CBS. October 24, 2017. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  10. "Trump says minority-owned firms to succeed 'especially with Trump as your president'". The Washington Times. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  11. "Trump promises "jobs, jobs, jobs"". CBS News. Retrieved April 16, 2018.

Further reading
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