The U.S. Department of Commerce has expanded the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), which will likely grow further through the Minority Business Development Act of 2021. A large number of regional offices across the country will be created.

As we reported earlier this year, African American small business owners have shut down at twice the rate of small businesses owned by white people during the coronavirus pandemic.  The National Bureau of Economic Research has shown that 41 percent of black-owned businesses had closed down between February and April of 2020, a figure representing 440,000 businesses.

Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards has argued that the launch of MBDA offices and business centers in regions across the country reflects President Joe Bide's commitment to helping minority business enterprises (MBEs) recover economically from the pandemic. 

Mayor Woodards emphasized, “making the MBDA Program permanent with the passage of the historic legislation heralds the beginning of a transformative new era, one where minority business enterprises can grow and thrive well into the future.”
 
The Minority Business Development Act of 2021 will include the following changes moving forward: expand the geographic reach of the program to rural businesses by creating additional regional offices, increasing the MBDA’s grant capacity, creating the Parren J. Mitchel Entrepreneurship Education Grant Program, and creating a council to advise the Under Secretary on supporting minority business enterprises.