Alabama minority-owned businesses can play a vital role in revitalizing the U.S. economy, the Bush administration's point man for minority business development said Tuesday.                                                   
                                                                           
Ronald Langston, in a town hall meeting at the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce, urged minority entrepreneurs to take advantage of the president's tax relief plan to further expand their businesses.                                                         
                                                                           
Despite great progress, minority businesses have a long way to go to 
achieve parity, said Langston, national director of the Commerce Department's Minority Business Development Agency.                          
                                                                           
Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and other minorities comprise 27 percent of the U.S. population, but own only 14.5 percent of the nation's companies and take in 3 percent of all business revenue, he said.                         
                                                                           
Alabama's numbers are even more dismal. Langston said minority firms accounted for only 1.4 percent of Alabama business revenues of $3.2 billion in 1997, the latest figures available. In the Birmingham metro area, the figure is 0.77 percent of about $580 million in revenue.                    
                                                                           
A 2004 State of Black America report issued last week by the National Urban League found that blacks lag in many areas economically from home ownership to income and employment.                              

Langston, an Iowa native and a Republican, said he has made promoting minority entrepreneurship a high priority since he was appointed to his post in 2001.                                                               
                                                                            
"We've got to create an entrepreneurial spirit in the minority community,"  Langston said. "If minority businesses are not economically viable, the United States is the loser in the long run."                                
                                                                           
Langston's talk was part of an Alabama swing that will take him to Selma and Montgomery today. His visits are part of an aggressive national outreach tour to educate minorities about the government's initiatives and Minority Business Development Agency programs designed to boost minority entrepreneurship. He met with U.S. Rep. Artur Davis, D-Birmingham, Tuesday to discuss ways to boost minority businesses in Alabama and is scheduled to speak today with Selma Mayor James Perkins and Gov. Bob Riley.              
                                                                           
While in Birmingham, Langston presented Building & Earth Sciences, Inc., a Birmingham minority-owned geotechnical and materials engineering firm, with the MBDA Vision of Excellence Award for serving as a role model and advocate for minority business enterprises. He then met for 90 minutes with area minority business people to discuss ways the Bush administration can assist them.  

Langston said the administration has been unfairly accused of being insensitive to the needs of blacks and other minorities. He noted that
several blacks are in high-ranking positions, including Birmingham native Condoleeza Rice as national security adviser and Secretary of State Colin Powell.