Articles

MBDA Announces Grant Competition to Operate Business Center

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) issued a call for applications from prospective candidates to operate a new MBDA Business Center in one location with a significant American Indian or Alaska Native population. Applicants are required to choose one of the following locations: Bridgeport, Connecticut; Buffalo, New York; Green Bay or Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Jackson, Mississippi; or Portland, Oregon. The grant amount will be $255,000 per year for a four-year cycle.

The primary objectives of the business centers is to provide strategic consulting services to minority-owned firms that will result in the creation and retention of jobs for Americans through business growth as well as to foster global business expansion by promoting export opportunities. The successful applicant of this competition is also expected to address the unique economic challenges and opportunities in Indian Country and Native Alaska.

For-profit entities (including but not limited to sole-proprietorships, partnerships, limited liability companies and corporations), non-profit organizations, state and local government entities, American Indian Tribes and educational institutions are eligible to apply to operate a business center.

Applicants must review and adhere to the full Announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO). This document outlines program details and instructions for submitting an application. The FFO can be accessed at www.Grants.gov or www.mbda.gov. Only one location among the specific cities listed may be proposed within an application.

Applications must be submitted electronically and time-stamped at www.Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on June 22, 2013. Applications that are time-stamped after the deadline will not be considered.

The NCAIED Announces Business Scholarship Opportunity and 40 Under 40 Awards

The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (NCAIED) is now accepting applications for the NCAIED American Indian Fellowship in Business Scholarship and nominations for our 2013 “Native American 40 Under 40" Awards.

The NCAIED American Indian Fellowship in Business Scholarship Awards is presented annually to several deserving American Indian undergraduate or graduate students majoring in business. These scholarships are awarded to recipients who have demonstrated a commitment to pursuing excellence in academics and giving back to the American Indian community.

The NCAIED “Native American 40 Under 40” Awards recognizes 40 emerging American Indian leaders less than 40 years of age who have demonstrated leadership, initiative, and dedication to achieve significant contributions in their businesses, communities, and Indian Country.

The scholarship awards and the “40 Under 40” Awards will be presented at the 38th Annual Indian Progress in Business Awards (INPRO) 2013, which will be a part of NCAIED’s new, fall Regional Reservation Economic Summit Arizona (RES Arizona) to be held in October.

The deadline for application and nomination submissions is August 2, 2013. For more information and to download forms, please visit http://www.ncaied.org.

The Small Business Administration, Women Impacting Public Policy and American Express OPEN Launch New Program to Close the Gap in Women Contracting

American Express OPEN, the small business division of the financial services company, has announced a new partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) to help boost government contracting opportunities for women-owned small businesses. The new initiative, called ChallengeHER, will deliver free events and workshops, online curriculum, mentoring and access to government buyers to provide women entrepreneurs with the knowledge and connections they need to successfully compete in the government marketplace. ChallengeHER kicked off at a luncheon in Washington, D.C. where representatives from the SBA, WIPP and American Express OPEN came together to unveil the new program to an audience of women-owned businesses.

Earlier this year, President Obama signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which removed caps on eligible federal contract awards under the Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contracting program. Originally, there was a $4 million and $6.5 million cap on awards to women-owned businesses under the program. Launched in February 2011, SBA’s WOSB program enables federal agencies to set aside contracts specifically for women-owned small businesses to help the government meet its goal to give at least 5% of contracting dollars to women-owned small businesses.

More information is available at www.open.com.

MBDI Partners with DASNY on Statewide Surety Bond and Capital Access Program

The Minority Business Development Institute (MBDI), a not-for-profit committed to helping socially and economically disadvantaged businesses prosper through surety bonding preparedness, announced that the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) has renewed its contract with The Cayemitte Group (TCG) under which MBDI will administer the educational component of the Statewide Surety Bond and Capital Access Program. Through this program, MBDI will continue to provide strategic consulting and technical training to Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) construction businesses so they can optimize their surety bond capacity.

The DASNY Surety Bond and Capital Access Program are designed to help create MWBE Prime Contractors. The DASNY program works with participant firms to acquire the surety bonding and working capital needed to compete for work on state construction projects, in order to increase the number of MWBEs qualified to bid on state jobs.

Through the executive workforce development component, MBDI will provide the DASNY Surety Bond and Capital Access Program participants with the following: education for CEOs and management personnel to improve managerial, operational and financial functions with an emphasis on financial literacy and community development; preparation for both participant’s first contracts requiring surety bonding, and for growing capacity to compete for larger contracts requiring larger bonds; support during the preparation process for surety bond application; and development of road maps for the participant firm’s continued growth and success.

More information can be found at www.mbdi.org.