A group of lawmakers recently forwarded correspondence to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo encouraging funding support for minority-owned small businesses.
U.S. Rep. Brenda L. Lawrence (D-MI) spearheaded the letter, joining 32 colleagues in advocating federal funding deployment to the Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) via the State Small Business Initiative.
The legislators maintain the effort would ensure relevant partners have access to technical assistance programs focused on minority-owned businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“While we recognize that small businesses continue to face enormous challenges due to COVID-19, minority-owned businesses have suffered at a disproportionate rate,” the lawmakers wrote. “The number of small businesses open and operating has plummeted to 33.6 percent, with Black-owned businesses seeing a 41 percent reduction while Latinx business owners saw a 32 percent drop in the number of active business owners between February and April 2020.”
Under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the MBDA is eligible for the $500 million allocation for technical assistance funds under Section 3301 – the State Small Business Credit Initiative.
“With technical assistance funding from the CARES Act having been spent, it is critical that additional funding is provided so that MBDC network of business counselors, minority chambers of commerce, minority business leagues, entrepreneurial centers, and non-profit organizations continue providing services that address minority small businesses’ needs,” the legislators concluded. “We must ensure minority-owned small businesses have access to resources available from the federal government and that the MBDC network of business counselors, minority chambers of commerce, minority business leagues, entrepreneurial centers, and non-profit organizations stand ready to assist in these efforts.”