The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that it renewed its partnership agreement with the Minority Business RoundTable (MBRT) to continue joint outreach efforts to minority entrepreneurs. The strategic alliance is part of SBA’s ongoing effort to support small business development initiatives in underserved communities. The agreement allows the organizations to share resources and educate minority entrepreneurs on how to use SBA products and services to establish and grow their businesses.
“The Urban Institute recently conducted a study that found that women and minority-owned businesses are three to five times more likely to be approved for an SBA-backed loan than a conventional loan. We know that providing lending and access to federal contracts to minority businesses can lift up entire communities,” said SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet. “I’m determined to get more loans and federal contracts into the hands of entrepreneurs who reflect the diversity of America.”
In FY 14, the SBA approved 15,620 minority owned business loans totaling $6.5 billion. Minority-owned businesses continue to account for about 28 percent of the agency’s overall lending and 12.9 percent of its microloans. Also in FY 2014, the number of SBA loans to African Americans grew by roughly 36 percent from the previous year and 14 percent for Hispanics and women.
In FY14, Small Disadvantaged Businesses (SDB), which constitutes a majority of minority-owned businesses, continued to receive awards valued in billions of dollars through federal contracts. During FY13, the federal government far exceeded its goal of awarding 5 percent of prime contracting dollars to SDBs, awarding 8.61 percent or $30.6 billion.
That achievement represents the highest percentage of contracts the government has awarded to Small Disadvantaged Business in American history.
MBRT is a national membership organization for minority CEOs that serves as a unified voice for minority businesses. Through this partnership, the SBA and MBRT intend to help more of these businesses succeed and stimulate economic growth in their communities and the nation’s economy.
The SBA and MBRT alliance is intended to strengthen and expand small business development across the nation for minority entrepreneurs. SBA will provide MBRT with timely information on the agency’s programs, services and resource partners, participate in roundtable discussions and conferences and advise them on events that will impact their mission.
As part of the resource pooling, MBRT will cooperate with SBA and its resource partners to provide information to members about its business development programs and services, and share current SBA news and information.
The two-year agreement is a renewal of the partnership that started between the SBA and MBRT in 2010.
