The Department of Commerce has established a new council whose function is to provide the Minority Business Development Agency with advice to help promote the growth of minority-owned businesses.
The Minority Business Enterprise Advisory Council, the establishment of which was mandated by the Minority Business Development Act of 2021, is composed of 19 members from the private and public sectors, who will serve on a two-year term with an opportunity for reappointment, the Commerce Department said Friday.
The council’s members include leaders of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Foundation, U.S. Black Chambers Inc. and the Potawatomi Business Development Corporation, and representatives from the Small Business Administration, the Department of Labor, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Treasury.
Undersecretary of Commerce for Minority Business Development Donald Cravins Jr. described the council as “a critical lever of MBDA’s role as a leading authority for minority and underserved businesses.”
Cravins went on to say that the leadership and influence of the council’s members “will be invaluable to MBDA’s impact and mission to create a strong, equitable economy that gives every American a shot at building a successful business.”