AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY
Washington, DC
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Good Afternoon.
Thank you for the kind introduction.
When the Minority Business Development Agency was established over 40 years ago, its mandate was to build the wealth and capacity of minority owned firms, in support of U.S. job growth. As we just witnessed the second inauguration of our first African-American president, Barack Obama, the state of U.S. minority business enterprises (MBEs) has greatly improved, but there is still a lot of work to be done.
But while there is still more work, under the Obama Administration, there is increasing evidence the American economy is moving forward again following the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Minority-owned businesses have a critical role to play in maintaining the momentum. MBDA has a 40 year history of promoting the growth and competitiveness of large, medium and small minority-owned enterprises (MBEs).