Grants for Minority Businesses
Grants for minority-owned businesses are available at both the federal and the state level. Although the federal government does not offer personal finance grants, it does offer financing for minority-owned business startup and expansion. Unlike non-minority-owned small business, grants are available for minority-owned businesses through federal programs specifically designed to assist these businesses.
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Minority Business Development Agency
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The U.S. Department of Commerce sponsors the Minority Business Development Agency. The minority business site is designed to aid these businesses with financing, contracts and business opportunities. According to its website, "MBDA works with minority entrepreneurs who wish to grow their businesses in size, scale and capacity." At this website (see Resources), many tools are available to the minority business owner. These include business plan development, a capital and resources locator, and entry into the federal government's Phoenix system to find business opportunities.
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Grants
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At the MBDA website, under the tab for finance, there is a "Grant" link to the state funding opportunities for minority-owned businesses. From this link, the owner can choose the state of residence or the state of business to find available grants. Each state offers different types of assistance, from starting a small business to financing technology resources.
The MBDA provides advice for those people wanting to start or expand a minority-owned business. The information presented on the MBDA site includes the debt/personal financing of the business, cash management tools and alternative financing.
Effects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
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The MBDA allocated nearly $1 million to improve minority business' access to contracting opportunities available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Minority businesses are encouraged to visit their local MBDA minority business center and register with the Phoenix database.
Financing Comes From Additional Sources
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The MBDA has structured financing in the form of loans for minority-owned businesses. These loans are based upon company size and sales. There are also sources of equity capital available for business. In the equity capital programs, the federal government and private financers work together to supply funds for the minority-owned businesses.
Other Sources for the Minority-Owned Business
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Grants.gov outlines the eligibility requirements to receive grants from the federal government. Minority businesses may meet these requirements. It is important to note that the government cautions grant seekers to be aware that only URLs ending in .gov are government-sourced and that there are no fees needed to access these sites.
FedBizOpps.gov provides businesses with the opportunity to search for government contracts and business opportunities. The contracts listed are diverse, from repairing taillights to constructing bridges.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit "cashed out" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: Robert S. Donovan (Robert S. Donovan) under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
