Minority Business Development Agency


The Minority Business Development Agency 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. The current National Director is Henry Childs II.
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.

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. In 1979, the agency was renamed the Minority Business Development Agency.
The agency was cut in President Trump’s FY18 Executive budget, but subsequently restored in the President’s FY19 budget - the only Federal agency to be restored after its proposed elimination.

National Minority Enterprise Development Week

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. 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.
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.
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.

Resources

. The African American Experience in Cyberspace. Pluto Press, 1994.