The Obama administration wants to increase the number of minority businesses exporting to more than one country.

In an effort to narrow America’s trade deficit, the Obama administration unveiled the National Export Initiative (NEI), which among other things, is designed to foster growth in the number of minority owned enterprises that sell products and services in not just another country – but multiple countries.

This was underscored in Friday’s speeches by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and David Hinson, National Director of the Minority Business Development Agency given at the annual Minority Enterprise Development Week Conference (MEDWeek) in Washington DC.

According to Locke, the Obama administration wants to increase by 50% the number of minority businesses exporting to more than one country. He says minority owned businesses provide some 6 million jobs with gross receipts of over $1 trillion and almost $170 billion in payroll. “They are also are twice as likely to export as traditional companies either because of cultural or family ties or business connections that they have with other countries,” he says. “And that really plays into the President’s National Export Initiative, which seeks to double the amount of exports over the next five years.”

Locke points out that less than 1% of US companies export goods – a significantly lower rate than other developed countries. As it’s in the nation’s own economic interests to narrow the trade deficit, there are scores of resources available to small businesses looking to sell their products and services overseas.

•    Export.gov is a portal that aggregates resources from other government agencies to help entrepreneurs compete globally. Their services include market research, trade events, trade leads, and information on how to export. The site also offers the downloadable Export Programs Guide: A Business Guide to Federal Export Assistance

•    The Export-Import Bank of the United States provides export financing products that fill gaps in trade financing by assuming credit and country risks that.

•    The U.S. Commercial Service is the trade promotion arm of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration. U.S. Commercial Service trade professionals in over 100 U.S. cities and in nearly 80 countries help U.S. companies get started in exporting or increase sales to new global markets.

•    The International Trade Administration strengthens the competitiveness of U.S. industry, promotes trade and investment, and ensures fair trade through the rigorous enforcement of our trade laws and agreements. ITA has 2,100 employees assisting U.S. exporters in more than 100 U.S. cities and 77 countries

In accordance with President Obama’s desire to double U.S. exports in five years, two days will be devoted to international trade. Sessions will focus on export basics, such as market research, and resources, opportunities available through trade agreements, global business-to-business networking. Experts will provide tips on how to do business in Africa and representatives from the U.S. Export-Import Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development and other organizations will discuss financing options. A forum titled “Global Supply Chain: Merging Public and Private Sector Efforts for Supply Chain Capacity Building,” will feature executives from 3M, IBM and Johnson & Johnson, who will talk about how small businesses can position themselves on the global supply chains of major corporations.

MBDA National Director David Hinson

Minority owned businesses have for years expressed frustration over their inability to successfully penetrate the federal marketplace. Several sessions will focus on just that, including how to succeed in a tough construction market and how to form joint ventures, teaming arrangements and strategic alliances. MBDA Director David Hinson firmly believes that the latter holds enormous potential and is a way for MBEs to easily develop the capacity required to compete for larger contracts they would not be able to handle on their own.

Obama also has tasked 17 federal agencies with examining their contracting processes to determine how they can help minority owned businesses become more successful in the federal marketplace.

“We’ll talk about how you identify federal contracting opportunities, preparing a solid proposal, building the relationships that will [help] you successfully do business with the federal government,” Castillo said. “There are half a trillion dollars of federal contracting opportunities out there and we want to make sure that MBEs in particular are able to participate in that process.”

The conference will close with a business-to-business matchmaking session that Castillo says is “truly unprecedented” because MBEs will have the opportunity to meet with major corporations that can offer more than $20 billion in contracting opportunities.

According to Castillo MBEs should leave with the conference armed with the information and contacts they need to develop new skills, increase capacity and, she hopes, some actual deals. To learn more about MED Week forums and events, click here.

The Minority Business Development Agency, a branch of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is on a mission. Under the leadership of National Director David A. Hinson, the agency’s top goal is to achieve “economic parity,” by matching the percentage of private businesses owned by minorities with their representation in the U.S. population. If that target is reached, MBDA believes minority-owned companies would generate more than $2.5 trillion in annual revenues, create 16 million new jobs, and contribute more than $100 billion in annual taxes. The nation’s 4 million minority-owned businesses currently generate $660 billion in revenues and employ nearly 5 million workers.

President Obama Lifts U.S. Image Worldwide

The image of the United States has improved markedly in most countries under President Barack Obama, according to a 25-nation poll conducted by The Pew Global Attitudes Project. The survey found double-digit boosts in a number of countries viewing the U.S. favorably in 2009 versus previous years’ surveys. Israel was the only country where the U.S. is viewed less favorably now than at any time in the last 10 years, with a 71% favorability rating in 2009 versus 78% in 2003 and 2007.

Flu Fears Don’t Increase Vaccinations

African Americans have higher rates of chronic illness, putting them at higher risk of developing flu-related complications. Despite the recent threat of swine flu and the annual occurrence of seasonal flu, a November BlackEnterprise.com poll shows that a majority of people have opted not to get vaccinated.

This article originally appeared in the February 2010 issue of Black Enterprise magazine.

Those were the words of the proclamation signed by President Barack Obama to launch the 2009 Minority Enterprise Development Week, better known as MED Week. During the conference’s first full day, the same sentiments were echoed by some members of the administration’s team charged with the expansion and evolution of minority business. The collective goal of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Commerce’s Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor Rick Wade, and Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) National Director David Hinson, among others, is to bolster the nation’s four million businesses which generate revenues of $660 billion and employ 4.7 million workers. In fact, Hinson believes if his agency can help these firms achieve “economic parity” by growing the percentage of companies owned by minorities to match their representation in the US population then such enterprises would produce $2.5 trillion in annual revenues and employ 16 million workers.

Before that objective can be met, however, the agencies within Commerce must ensure that minority entrepreneurs gain access to infrastructure contracts that’s part of the Obama recovery program; obtain capital in a tight credit market; and position firms to become players in “new economy industries” like renewable energy. Asserts Locke: “It’s our view that the economic recovery will not be successful unless minority business also shares in that recovery and are part of the turnaround and growth. It’s important for minority business to succeed if we want all of America to succeed.”

In three separate interviews with Black Enterprise Magazine Editor-In-Chief Derek T. Dingle, Locke, Wade and Hinson discussed the administration’s ambitious agenda and the future prospects for minority business. The following are excerpts from those interviews:

LOCKE: MINORITY FIRMS MUST GAIN RECOVERY DOLLARS

Small Business Administrator Karen Mills and I have been asked by the president and vice president to lead all of our cabinet activities to ensure that with all this stimulus money going out, minority firms are front and center and getting their fair share of those contracting opportunities. So in the next 90 days, we are going to have some 200 workshops and opportunities to inform minorities across the country about the contracting opportunities. We’re making it a high priority that minority businesses receive their fair share of dollars and are able to be part of this economic recovery.

We don’t really have firm targets but we are going to be using the power of the administration to inform the states that we really want minority firms to be part of the contracts and subcontracts whether its building a bridge, repairing roads, constructing dormitories and college laboratories or remodeling schools. The federal agencies will be working with all cabinet secretaries to make sure minority businesses are considered, encouraged and given the opportunity to compete and hopefully win some contracts. (See the full transcript of our exclusive interview.)

WADE: FINANCING IS AN IMPERATIVE

These businesses need access to capital to be able to survive. I spent a lot of time in Detroit as part of the Auto Recovery Task Force and the one thing I heard over and over again from suppliers is that they need capital and they need it now. They’re all understanding that they have to reinvent for the future but it’s about keeping the doors open. The president has made a commitment through the SBA and freed up some $15 billion in financing as well as through the MBDA. Our new MBDA director brings to this conversation a wealth of experience in how to create successes through creative financing, through partnerships, through acquisitions, through mergers. Partnerships are critical in this whole process if we want to create big business success stories we want to be engaged in. (See the full transcript of our exclusive interview.)

HINSON: REPOSITION COMPANIES FOR GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES

What the MBDA is focusing on is essentially creating an entire generation of substantial minority businesses across industry sectors. Businesses need to restructure themselves to position themselves to apply for and get the amounts of capital they need. On the contract side, it really entails creating the relationships and building the strategic partnerships that are necessary to compete for larger and more substantial contracts. Most of the great opportunities are in the private sector. We’re looking to improve the performance of minority-owned firms in the supply chain of substantial companies. On the government side, we’re looking to help minority-owned firms gain access to the relationships throughout the various channels of government so they are better positioned to compete for substantial contracts. It’s the larger contracts where the real economic value is. (See the full transcript of our exclusive interview.)

Inside MBDA, we’re creating an industry focus within key industries that we and the president believes are very important. We are aligning these firms together with the idea of taking those entrepreneurs who are interested in green technology, health care, IT and smart grid technology and looking to partner them with substantial companies that are already in those industries. We can create a sort of incubator and business relationship model so that firms have an easier path to gain these new and innovative technologies. We’re looking at those companies that have the management and capacity to actually get bigger work and work with them on an one-on-one basis so they can begin to gain access to the technologies first and the contracts that follow those technologies.

Full interviews of Locke, Wade, and Hinson will be available next week on BlackEnterprise.com and on the fall premiere of the Black Enterprise Business Report television show.

Derek T. Dingle is the editor-in-chief of Black Enterprise Magazine.

Derek T. Dingle: Secretary Locke, thank you for granting us this interview.

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke: Oh, it’s my pleasure.

Dingle: We are here at the MEDWEEK conference and I’m wondering if you can outline Commerce’s agenda for minority business and how are you going to support minority business and what are your goals and objectives?

Locke: It’s our view that the economic recovery will not be successful unless minority businesses also share in that recovery and are part of the turnaround in the growth. It’s important for minority businesses to succeed if we want all of America to succeed. Minority businesses are such a large component of small to medium-sized businesses in America now. In just the last four years they’ve grown from just a couple of hundred thousand minority businesses to more than 4 million, employing millions and millions of Americans all across this country.

So, for instance, Small Business Administrator Karen Mills and I have been asked by the President and the Vice President to help lead all of our cabinet activities to ensure that with all the stimulus money that is going out, that minority firms are front and center in getting their fair share of those contracting opportunities. So in the next 90 days we’re going to have some 200 workshops and opportunities for minority businesses all across the country about the contracting opportunities. So we’re making it a high priority to ensure that minority businesses receive their fair share of dollars and are able to be part of this economic recovery.

Dingle: So is that to answer some of the frustrations that we’ve heard, in terms of minority firms being able to access recovery contracts, and in terms of that, what are the specific targets that you have for minority businesses, in terms of gaining those contracts?

Locke: Well, we don’t really have firm targets. We’re going to be using the power of the administration to inform the states, notify the states that we really want minority firms to be part of contracts and subcontracts that are let, whether it’s building a bridge, repairing roads, constructing dormitories and college laboratories or modeling schools. Within the federal agencies we will be really working with all the cabinet secretaries with the money that they administer, even if it is unique to that federal agency to make sure that minority businesses are considered and encouraged and given the opportunity to compete and hopefully win some of the contracts.

Further Reading: Mission: Prosperity

Dingle: How do you monitor that on the local level? Many minority businesses have been very enthusiastic about what the Obama Administration proposes, but the challenges that they have on the local level where you are dealing with different bureaucracies, different systems, different priorities, how do you reconcile that so that minority businesses gain the contracts that they deserve and that they grow their businesses?

Locke: Well, it all starts with data collection and monitoring all those contracts so that, for instance, the State of Washington gets a contract for road repair. We will be working with state officials to document where the money goes and to what extent minority firms were either prime contractors or subcontractors. And, of course, the Vice President is having very frequent telephone conversations, conference calls, with the country’s mayors and governors. This is one of his key issues.

Dingle: I think the real challenge for a number of firms is gaining financing. Without financing they can’t handle the contracts. Even though there’s been glimmers of hope, as the President has said, credit is still tight. It’s still a challenge in terms of getting financing.

How do you ensure that minority businesses gain financing they need to complete contracts and strengthen the infrastructure of their companies?

Locke: A very good and legitimate point because we are seeing that problem, access to capital, adequate capital for businesses of all sizes, all the way from GM and Chrysler, and you can imagine that it’s even tougher for small to medium sized businesses, especially minority businesses. Minority businesses are sometimes newer and don’t have quite the credit history as other well-established firms. That’s why, for instance, under the Recovery Act over $100 million was made available in terms of higher guarantee loans and funding available for small and medium sized companies, including minority firms. And even within the Small Business Administration they’re using some of this to offer up to 90% guaranteed loans. That is if you’re able to get a bank loan, the SBA and the federal government will guarantee to the bank that we will back it up, 90% of that loan. It still requires the bank to assume 10% of the risk, but by raising the guaranteed level, we’re making it a lot easier for minority firms to access that capital.

Dingle: But are you concerned that, at this point, looking at through August 14th, that guaranteed loans are down 43% from last year? Isn’t that a concern, especially with what the government has put in place to make the guaranteed loans more accessible and more palatable?

Locke: Well, what we’re trying to do is we know that with the tough economic times that a lot of companies are facing, they are not taking advantage of these. Earlier in the year we saw a lot of banks just not offering loans to anybody. Even if it was almost a 100% guarantee they just weren’t offering loans because they didn’t have any money to give out, and it’s still up to them to give up the money even though we might guarantee the loan and the repayment of the loan down the road. There was so much scrutiny on the banks that they weren’t giving out loans, even to their most trusted, longtime customers. But now we are seeing the banks starting to free up money and by us raising, the federal government raising the guarantee behind these loans, we’re seeing a lot more receptivity and a lot more action. But nonetheless, this is something the President is very much committed to, very much focused on, because we know how tough it is. Because companies, minority firms are still having to pay their monthly bills and pay their expenses. At the same time they are not getting timely payment for products delivered or for services rendered. So they are really facing a cash flow crunch and that’s where access to capital, even short-term loans can be very, very important.

Dingle: That’s the challenge. On the one hand we say get prepared for these emerging industries, become innovative, embrace them, and right now so many firms are dealing with survival. How do you reconcile those two issues? How do you keep companies going while focusing on the emerging industries of tomorrow?

Locke: Well, it’s actually a combination of both. We need to focus on making sure minority firms stay strong, viable, are able to survive because so many companies, especially small companies, are not able to survive in this tough economic recession. So many of the job losses that we have seen in the year 2008 and part of early 2009 have occurred among those small businesses, and we know so many of them are minority owned businesses.

So we’ve got to help them and that’s why the president is really focused on, through the Recovery Act, providing funds, guaranteed loans, even outright grants for small to medium-sized businesses. And especially grants and loans in the emerging fields. And I want to say if you’re a minority firm and you are able to hang on and survive, start thinking about these emerging industries. Be prepared to start diversifying your activities to get into these emerging industries, especially surrounding alternative energy and energy efficiency. This whole new green jobs, alternative energy, environmental energy efficiency really has very few players in it and what players there are are all new, so they don’t have a huge credit history themselves. Because it is relatively new everybody is on the same early-stage of development. They are not these companies that have been around for 20, 30, 40 years that have such a monopoly on it that it’s very difficult for others to enter into the field.

So what is the hallmark of many of our minority businesses is that they are aggressive. A lot of sweat involved, a lot of passion, a lot of hard work, a lot of ingenuity and creativity, those same skills and strengths that will help them move into these new emerging fields, especially in energy.

Dingle: You’re seeing a lot of that around this conference –

Locke: That’s right.

Dingle: — the passion and the energy. In terms of accessing the green economy and these opportunities, how does Commerce and MBDA or SBA support that? For example, do you develop incubators for companies to go into these emerging industries? How do you create or help companies redesign themselves to take advantage of the green economy?

Locke: Well, the Minority Business Development Agency is the only federal agency committed to helping minority businesses grow and thrive and succeed. We’ve been able to, in just the last year, help minority businesses gain access to some $2 billion in capital and to increase their profits, just the ones that we’ve helped, and secure sales of some $2 billion. So we’re really focused on them. We’ve got a whole array of services to help minority businesses and all businesses in general. We have various programs that can, for instance, take a look at their operations and suggest ways in which they become more efficient, leaner using technology, therefore becoming more profitable. We also have programs to help the company sell their products all around the world. And too many small businesses that export export only one country. If they are exporting to one country there really is no reason why they should not be exporting to three, or four or five. We have people in consulates and embassies all around the world that will help these companies, American companies, find customers, find clients all around the world.

Dingle: So how do you get small firms to embrace the global market, to think of themselves as global companies? Because a lot of companies they don’t have the resources or they don’t have the capital to do so? Is there another answer that we can provide minority businesses to make sure that they access these opportunities globally?

Locke: Well, if a minority company, for instance, is already manufacturing the product, there is not much of a leap to ship it from one part of the United States to another corner of the United States. It doesn’t cost that much more to send it and ship it to another country. We have the people that will help find those customers, find those clients, and do the due diligence into the background checks on these potential customers. And all you have to do as a company is take advantage of our services, eventually perhaps travel to that foreign destination. We’ll line up all of the interviews and bring in all of these companies to meet with you and we will have prequalified them. Then we’ll help you even with the financing steps and all the credit issues that might be involved in selling your product to another country and receiving payment.

Dingle: I talked to a representative of your business liaison area and he said major corporations meet with Commerce all the time, but small businesses don’t because they don’t know that those resources are available to them. How do you get small businesses to access the liaison office and grow from small entities to larger entities?

Locke: Well that is really a burden and challenge for us. We and the Department of Commerce are revamping our services to make ourselves a lot more accessible, relevant, and known to small businesses all around the country. We’re starting what we call one-stop shop, business advocacy centers where you come in to one office, let’s say in Detroit, you meet with one person who will be cross trained in all the different programs and services at the Department of Commerce, as well as even some other federal agencies like the Small Business Administration, or even something in the Defense Department that will help manufacturers diversify and repair or supply parts for let’s say military vehicles and military equipment. But we’re offering and we’re going to be starting these one-stop shop businesses advocacy centers first in Detroit and, if successful, all around the country, so that a small business owner who is so consumed about how to find customers and clients and meet the payroll and keeping the operations going, that owner doesn’t have time to go to five separate different Commerce Department offices in their local city. And if you are 50 or 60 miles away you probably don’t have time to go to any place. So we’re going to be offering these one-stop business assistance centers, one place that you go to to get the full array of Commerce Department services, and we’re going to do it over the Internet, so you don’t even have to go by car to a city.

Dingle: So you provide the infrastructure, they access the opportunities?

Locke: That’s right.

Dingle: Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

Locke: My pleasure.

Further Reading: Mission: Prosperity

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency hosted a two-day summit to gather input on the effectiveness of minority business enterprise programs and create a blueprint for government and private sector programs that will help minority businesses survive and thrive for the next 20 years. “This is an important event that provides an opportunity for minority business stakeholders from across the country have a dialogue around important issues like the Recovery Act and how to access and become more aware of where those opportunities are,” says Rick Wade, deputy chief of staff at Commerce. “There are myriad issues but one that I think is recurring is access to capital and how you get from competing for contracts to real dollars floating back to our communities.”

Most of the concerns expressed by entrepreneurs in attendance focused on funding and contracting issues. If MBE programs are to be truly effective, they maintain, the agency must offer mentor-protégé opportunities with major corporations, help firms build their size to compete for large contracts, and provide clear goals, timetables and metrics for MBDA programs. Roughly 400 pages of comments and suggestions were collected from summit participants. MBDA officials say they will present a full report by July 28 and offer an action plan during its MEDWeek conference in late August.

Ed DeSeve, a special advisor to the Office of Management and Budget’s  director for implementation of the Recovery Act, encouraged minority businesses to compete for federal, state, and local contracts available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. He told them to provide his agency with feedback on the process and report any barriers they may face to MBDA via e-mail at public_affairs@mbda.gov. Citing that the nation’s economic recovery will not be possible without the participation of minority businesses, DeSeve and Wade emphasized the administration’s commitment to helping entrepreneurs navigate federal bureaucracy.

In order to gain access to assistance, however, minority entrepreneurs find out how stimulus funds have been allocated in their states, research potential business opportunities and identify officials charged with awarding contracts. At the same time, experts say, business owners must be prepared to act quickly, making sue they have the requisite capacity, staffing, and other resources in place. “If you don’t do your homework, you won’t be able to reap any of the rewards. Know where the money is, research the projects that they’re putting the money on, and find the niche that you can show that you’re best person to fill it,” advises Glen Delgado, assistant administrator for NASA’s Office of Small Business Programs. “The other thing is you have to be able to be flexible and react quickly because there’s a lot of pressure on every agency to spend the money quickly. They’re going to be awarding contracts in a rapid fashion so you have to be able to put together a meaningful proposal in a short period of time.”

Delgado also stresses the importance of developing a network among small business specialists at various agencies. “Develop relationships, show them your capabilities and let them introduce you to the program and technical people and to their large prime contractors so you can start getting your foot in the door as a sub,” he explains. “Then the people at the agency start to recognize your name and work. That helps build the relationship so when a requirement does come out they’ll think, ‘Oh, this guy does that work; he’ll be a good fit for that.’ But it takes time; don’t get discouraged.”

Richelle Thomas, deputy director of the Maryland Department of Transportation’s Office of Minority Business Enterprise, offers similar advice. “I wish there was some magic formula, but unfortunately there isn’t,” she says. “Stay informed, market your firm, and don’t wait for the opportunity to come to you. Be in touch with the agencies involved and go to pre-bid conferences. You’ve got to commit the time.”

If entrepreneurs are encountering hurdles in their pursuit of contracting opportunities, they should be able to offer solutions when seeking help, maintains Steven Sims, vice president of programs and field operations for the National Minority Supplier Development Council Inc., a trade association that connects minority-owned businesses with major corporations. He says: “If you have a problem, you go to someone to resolve it but have an idea about how it should be resolved. Say ‘Here are a couple of ideas I think might help, but if I can work with you we can make it happen,’ as opposed to ‘He won’t let me in the door, she won’t let me have access to a contract. Can you help me?” Using Obama as an example, Sims adds. “He didn’t get elected because he’s a nice guy or because he had a message. He got elected because he understands how the system works and how to get what he needed out of the system to get to where he needed to go. We’ve got to start doing that.”