December 2011

Small businesses play a critical role in African American communities across the United States—spurring investment, creating jobs, and meeting community needs. Since the beginning of the Obama Administration, the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), part of the Department of Commerce, created nearly 11,000 new jobs and saved tens of thousands of existing jobs while helping minority-owned firms obtain nearly $7 billion in contracts and capital. Just last year, minority-owned businesses overall created $1 trillion in economic output and 5.8 million jobs directly - View data from the Minority-Owned Business Growth & Global Reach

Winning the future in the global economy requires a government that efficiently allocates scarce resources to maximize efficiency and effectiveness so that it can best support American competitiveness, innovation, and job growth.

To support economic growth and job expansion, the federal government must make it easier for businesses to access the full range of government information, programs and services they need to compete globally, without having to navigate their way through an overwhelming bureaucracy.

Recently, I participated in a small business roundtable with the Asian-American Pacific Islander community in Philadelphia. The event was co-hosted by the National Association of Asian American Professionals and the Mayor’s Commission on Asian American Affairs, and we were joined by 40 small business owners for a lively discussion on how to do business with the Federal Government.

Part of our mission at the General Services Administration (GSA) is to make sure that small firms across the country have the opportunity to do business with the government, and we were able to pass on several strategies that small businesses can use to successfully compete in the Federal market.

First, FedBizOpps is an online tool to help businesses learn about upcoming opportunities with the government. Small businesses can use this tool to preview what the government is looking to buy in the near future. GSA also posts a Forecast of Contracting Opportunities, informing vendors of anticipated contracts offered by GSA for the current fiscal year.

Expanded Tax Credit for Hiring Unemployed Veterans

The work opportunity credit has been expanded to provide employers with new incentives to hire certain unemployed veterans.

On November 21, 2011, the President signed into law the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011. This new law provides an expanded work opportunity tax credit to businesses that hire eligible unemployed veterans and for the first time also makes part of the credit available to tax-exempt organizations.

2011 proved to be another highly productive year for Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)—the only federal agency tasked to promote the growth and global competitiveness of the minority business community. MBDA is a leader in strengthening the economy and improving the lives of all Americans. We support job growth and economic expansion through a network of MBDA business centers, collaboration with federal, state and local government agencies, and strategic partnerships. The U.S. economy continues to benefit from a strong minority business sector as illustrated by our big numbers below.