New Business Development Center Offers Financial and Technical Assistance to Minority Businesses - Releases

(Washington, DC) Today, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), in partnership with the Department of Employment Services, launched a new Minority Business Development Center (MBDC). The Center, funded by a US Department of Commerce grant, is designed to support the development of minority-owned businesses in the Washington Metropolitan Area. NCRC is also partnering with the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business to provide technical services and research.

“It is clear that our city needs entrepreneurs and small businesses to build and thrive in our city; and the new Minority Business Development Center will give minority-owned businesses access to the technical assistance and resources necessary for them to develop and grow,” states Mayor Anthony A. Williams.

The Center will provide four primary services: delivering business consulting services to clients, facilitating access to capital through financing resources and procurement programs, brokering that identifies areas for partnerships and advocating for increased minority business development in the Greater Washington Metropolitan Area.

“The Department of Employment Services is excited about its new partnership with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition,” said Gregg Irish, Director of the Department of Employment Services. “Business growth and job growth are synonymous. The purpose of the Minority Business Development Center is to foster the creation and growth of minority-owned businesses in the Washington Metropolitan Area, which will also increase the availability of jobs for District residents.”

As the minority population in the United States grows, shifting the demographic makeup of the country, there will be an increasing need for programs that offer opportunities for the growing minority business community.

“What better way is there, than opening the first minority business development center in the nation’s capital to illustrate what NCRC and its members do to achieve equal access to capital and credit for traditionally underserved populations? Communities’ need entrepreneurs and small businesses to thrive. This Center will be able to provide the technical assistance and the resources necessary for minority businesses to develop and grow,” states John Taylor, President and CEO of NCRC.

NCRC is a national non-profit membership organization that promotes economic justice and equal access to credit, capital and financial services to traditionally underserved communities.

For more information on the Minority Business Development Center call 202-671-1552.