Minority businesses are playing an integral part in keeping the ‘Made in America’ product strong as the U.S. manufacturing sector continues to rise. Minority-owned manufacturing firms employ 342,000 workers and have recently grown faster than their non-minority counterparts in three areas—number of firms, employees and gross receipts.
The Minority Business Development Agency’s (MBDA) increased focus on manufacturers over the past few years is producing results. Just in the last three years, MBDA has facilitated more than $3.3 billion in contracts for minority-owned manufacturing firms, making manufacturing one of the top industries for MBDA clients.
One example of this success is Hanzo Logistics, LLC in Indianapolis, Indiana. Hanzo Logistics operates a state-of-the-art warehouse and provides fulfillment management, distribution, and transportation services. Nate Ghaim, President and CEO of Hanzo Logistics, attributes the success of the manufacturing company to the collaboration with the MBDA Indianapolis Business Center.
For example, through the help from MBDA Business Center in Indianapolis, Hanzo Logistics has been able to expand their operations. Last year, James Knight, director of the Indianapolis MBDA Business Center, facilitated a $600,000 operating line of credit as well as a $200,000 equipment line of credit to grow the business. In June 2015, Knight also facilitated a $12.5 million capital investment from Cabot Investment Group. These investments resulted in a 25% increase in revenue and enabled Hanzo to retain 69 employees and hire an additional 55 new workers.
By working with the MBDA business center in Indianapolis, Hanzo Logistics has been able to access strategic business consulting and has been helped in finding secure financing that allowed the company to grow in size and scale. Today, Hanzo is one of the most well-managed and tech savvy companies in Indianapolis.
MBDA is very proud of the tremendous achievements of minority-owned manufacturing businesses like Hanzo Logistics that help grow the national economy.
