Thank you, Henry, for that kind introduction. And thank you for the work that you and your team are doing at MBDA to support not just minority businesses, but the economic development of our entire country. Thank you, also, to the Milken Institute and to Mintz for co-hosting this event. The Milken Institute has been instrumental in driving a constructive national dialogue and agenda for growing...

The following is a cross-post from the White House During Minority Enterprise Development Week, our Nation celebrates the success of minority-owned businesses and recognizes their significant role in strengthening our country’s robust economy. The contributions of these enterprises ensure American companies remain world leaders in the global marketplace. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the...

Introduced by Henry Childs, National Director of the Commerce Department’s Minority Business Development Agency Thank you, Henry, for that kind introduction, and for your hard work and dedication to the economic development of America’s minority communities. Welcome, everyone, to the 2019 National AAPI Business Summit. It is great to see such a large turnout. Yesterday, I had the privilege of...

Thank you, Henry, for that kind introduction. Fifty years: A lot of dedicated, passionate people have made it possible for the Minority Business Development Agency to achieve such a milestone. Congratulations! And thank you — to all the people who work in the small but mighty MBDA — for maintaining a five-decade tradition of excellence. Your service is needed now more than ever to assure the...

On Tuesday, the Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) celebrates its 50th anniversary. When President Nixon signed the executive order creating MBDA, the nation’s minority population was less than 40 million. Nixon recognized that, although minority-owned businesses then were only 4 percent of America’s businesses, empowering the entrepreneurial spirit of minority...

The U.S. Department of Commerce was hard at work this year protecting American trade and security interests, reforming outdated government practices, planning the critical decennial census, providing crucial weather information to protect lives and property, stewarding the Nation’s marine resources, in addition to supporting minority and community economic development, among countless other vital...

Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced that the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) of the Department of Commerce awarded over $13 million to 35 projects in communities across the country. The grants, which are part of MBDA’s new Broad Agency Announcement initiative, reflect critical Department of Commerce priorities including space commerce, aquaculture, disaster relief...