José Lira, Director of the Office of Small Business Programs

José (Joe) Lira, Director

José (Joe) A. Lira was appointed Director of the Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) as a career member in the Senior Executive Service by U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao in April 2003. OSBP administers programs to ensure the Department of Labor's procurement opportunities for small and disadvantaged businesses. OSBP serves as the Department's Ombudsman for small businesses under the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA), and is a resource for small businesses to obtain compliance assistance information and materials. In addition, OSBP manages the minority colleges and universities program in order to support the participation of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the Department's programs and plans.

Prior to his appointment, Lira served as President of Lira & Associates, a Texas-based business development, consulting, and marketing group providing assistance and counsel to minority-owned small businesses. From 1990 to 1993, Lira became the Director of the U.S. Commerce Department's Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA). He has also served as the national administrator of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Lira has been an active spokesperson on Hispanic and minority business and community development affairs. He has addressed national economic development conferences throughout the U.S.; testified before the White House Conference on Small Business; and appeared in various minority magazines (such as Hispanic Magazine, Hispanic Business, Minority Business Entrepreneur, and Minority Business News U.S.A.) and live television broadcasts on Telemundo and Univision.

Lira has received numerous public service awards from Federal agencies, business associations, and community service organizations including the National Conference of Black Mayors. He has also been previously recognized for his minority business and community leadership by governors and mayors in Indiana, Missouri, Texas, and other jurisdictions across the country.

In 1992, Lira successfully co-led a historic minority business trade mission to Mexico where U.S. minority entrepreneurs met with the President of Mexico to discuss the passage of NAFTA. As a member of the Presidential Task Force on Los Angeles Recovery, Lira also directed the MBDA's emergency loan packaging efforts for minority businesses affected by the riots in the city of Los Angeles. He was a delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business both in 1980 and 1995.

Born in Laredo, Texas, Lira was reared in East Chicago, Indiana. He is a graduate of the Indiana University School of Business in Bloomington, Indiana.