Friday March 19th, 2004

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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency (USDoC/MBDA) recently signed a memorandum of understanding to increase minority participation in business opportunities made available through major housing authorities in the Southwest Region which include the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

HUD's Fort Worth Regional Office and MBDA's Dallas National Enterprise Center will team to conduct workshops/seminars and technical assistance for minority business enterprises (MBEs) in targeted cities throughout the 5-state region.  HUD will use its procurement officials to facilitate the workshops and contracts and MBDA will use its marketing staff and network of technical centers to provide assistance and, identify and recruit MBE participants.

MBDA, whose mission is to "empower minority business enterprises and create wealth in minority communities", expects to duplicate additional agreements with HUD in other regions.
In addition to its technical assistance network, MBDA has many other resources and services available to the minority business community such as statistical data on minority businesses, capital information, electronic tools for market studies, loan application and analyzers, resource location for specific geographic areas and a procurement match system. 

Mr. John F. Iglehart, MBDA's Dallas Regional Director, stated that the agreement will overwhelmingly increase the number of business opportunities for MBEs in the 5-state region.

MBDA is the only Federal agency created to foster the establishment and growth of minority-owned businesses in America.  MBDA provides business counseling and program services to assist minority-owned companies to grow and expand.   For more information on the workshops/seminars, call the Dallas National Enterprise Center at 214/767-8001.