News and Announcements

Strengthening the economy domestically and internationally for small businesses is a big key to success, according to Alejandra Castillo, national deputy director of the Minority Business Development Agency, or MBDA.

“We want small businesses to thrive and flourish,” she said this morning as the keynote speaker at the White House Bi-State Minority Business Development Roundtable at the i wireless Center, Moline. The event, hosted by the Greater Quad-Cities Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, also included roundtable discussions.

Many more minority men and women are embracing entrepreneurship, with minority females becoming entrepreneurs at a faster rate than any other group. Minority female-owned firms once again grew faster than all other groups of firms in number of firms, gross receipts and employment between 2002 and 2007.

In 2007, there were about 5.8 million minority-owned firms, of which 2.2 million or 38% were owned by minority women primarily (with a 51 percent ownership rate) and 2.9 million or 51% firms were owned by minority men. The remaining 11% equally owned by minority women and minority men in 2007.

African American female-owned firms grew the fastest than any other group of firms in number of firms by 67%, and in employment by 39 percent. Firms owned by Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander women had the highest increase in gross receipts, with a 90 percent growth during the same period. Asian women-owned firms followed African American women-owned firms with the second fastest growth in number of firms and employment; and Hispanic female-owned firms ranked third in terms of growth in those two business measures during the same period.

Earlier today, I had the privilege of traveling with members of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness to visit Permac Industries, a small manufacturer just outside Minneapolis, Minn. Why Permac? Because the firm represents the best America has to offer – a company that has grown from a simple machine shop into a state-of-the-art facility that manufactures precision parts for customers worldwide in virtually all industries.

I was glad to have a chance to talk about the Obama administration’s commitment to giving businesses like Permac the tools they need to win in the global economy. That effort is a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, we’re aggressively incentivizing investment here in America, as highlighted by key provisions that President Obama insisted be included in the December tax package, such as a new expensing benefit that will let companies write off 100 percent of their machinery and equipment purchases made in 2011.

Nominations are now being accepted for the Minority Business Development Agency's 2011 Excellence in Minority Business Awards. The awards are designed to recognize exemplary minority businesses and their accomplishments and best practices.

The MED Week Awards Program is designed to celebrate and recognize the outstanding achievements of minority entrepreneurs, as well as individuals and organizations that have demonstrated leadership and commitment in advancing minority business enterprise.  The diversity of the awardees, as it pertains to the constituency served by MBDA, is a key objective of the MED Week Awards Program.