MBDA Agency

In 2010, MBDA achieved substantial agency wide level results including several that were of historic nature. Establishment of the first MBDA-led National Advisory Council in nearly 40 years In early 2010, MBDA petitioned U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to establish a secretarial-level advisory council on minority business enterprises. On November 3, 2010, the Secretary approved the creation of the National Advisory Council for Minority Business Enterprise (NACMBE).

Ford Motor Company announced recently that it had exceeded its supplier diversity sourcing goal, purchasing $4.1 billion in goods and services from minority-and women-owned companies.

The success of Ford’s supplier diversity efforts illustrates how valuable minority-owned business enterprises are to our country’s top companies and our economy overall. From heavy equipment to financial services, no matter what the demands of your supply chain are, there’s a minority-owned firm that can fulfill them.   In fact, the number of high-quality minority-owned businesses spread across every sector of the economy totals 5.8 million.

To better assist corporate America in locating minority business enterprises with scale and capacity, supplier diversity executives should put the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), a bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce, on speed dial.  MBDA can help you find these firms and put you in contact with them so you can establish the kinds of profitable partnerships that more and more Fortune 500 companies are seeking out. In 2010, with the help of the MBDA network of business centers, MBDA helped the private sector secure more than $850 million in products and services from minority firms. 

As I travel around the country, I am in awe of the tenacity and the indomitable spirit of minority business owners and their unwillingness to quit in the face of overwhelming odds. That’s the spirit that makes America great.

As the National Director of the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), I am proud to be a part of this Administration and a part of an Agency where our work helps to expand the U.S. economy and create new jobs through the historically underutilized minority business community.

I have the privilege of serving on the senior staff of the Secretary of Commerce and serving as Bureau Chief of MBDA, as well as engaging with various stakeholders, members of Congress, minority-owned and operated businesses, and nonprofit organizations that support minority business development across the nation.

MBDA is a national organization with more than 46 business centers in five regions, which generates nearly $4 billion in contracts and capital for minority-owned businesses. We also create thousands of jobs for all Americans and help save thousands of existing jobs.

There is a tremendous opportunity to interact with over 500 Chinese government leaders and business representatives from a wide spectrum of industries.  These Chinese firms will meet with U.S. exporters and explore investment opportunities in several U.S. cities, including Chicago, Houston, Raleigh, N.C., and Washington, D.C.

Many firms are intensifying their efforts to market their products and services to countries such as China.  Today, American companies are selling more merchandise and services to China than ever before. Exports to China totaled $85 billion in 2009, a 72 percent increase from 2005. In the first 11 months of 2010, total U.S. exports grew 17 percent compared to the same period in 2009.

MBDA encourages you to take advantage of this unique opportunity to expand your growth and profit potential with one of this country’s largest trading partners. China is a key export market for U.S. goods and services, and a focus of President Obama’s National Export Initiative that calls for doubling U.S. exports in five years to support millions of American jobs. Read the Report to the President on the National Export Initiative: The Export Promotion Cabinet’s Plan for Doubling U.S. Exports in Five Years