{ "id": "R45015", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "R", "number": "R45015", "active": true, "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov, EveryCRSReport.com", "versions": [ { "source_dir": "crsreports.congress.gov", "title": "Minority Business Development Agency: An Overview of Its History and Current Issues", "retrieved": "2021-05-31T04:03:12.782494", "id": "R45015_10_2021-04-30", "formats": [ { "filename": "files/2021-04-30_R45015_1f0d96bddbbf5dfd919d25962e7188f699b2ac53.pdf", "format": "PDF", "url": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R45015/10", "sha1": "1f0d96bddbbf5dfd919d25962e7188f699b2ac53" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/2021-04-30_R45015_1f0d96bddbbf5dfd919d25962e7188f699b2ac53.html" } ], "date": "2021-04-30", "summary": null, "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov", "typeId": "R", "active": true, "sourceLink": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=R45015", "type": "CRS Report" }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 585861, "date": "2017-11-09", "retrieved": "2020-01-02T13:54:31.987422", "title": "Minority Business Development Agency: An Overview of its History and Current Issues", "summary": "The Department of Commerce\u2019s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) is the lead federal agency dedicated to supporting the development and expansion of the minority business community. President Richard Nixon originally established this agency as the Office of Minority Business Enterprises (OMBE), with the signing of Executive Order 11458. The MBDA\u2019s mission is to assist medium and large-scale minority businesses, specifically, but not exclusively, in overcoming social and economic disadvantages that have limited their participation in the nation\u2019s free enterprise system. Through a network of local business development centers, the MBDA carries out this mission by providing technical and managerial expertise, support and resources as well as advocacy and research on behalf of minority-controlled business enterprises. \nBecause the MBDA, and its predecessor OMBE, were created by executive order, the MBDA\u2019s continued survival has rested with each President, in the absence of Congress passing authorizing and enabling legislation. The Carter Administration renamed the agency and refocused its efforts on medium and large-scale businesses, particularly in growth industries. Successive administrations since the Carter Administration have continued to support the mission of the MBDA by refining the agency\u2019s focus and reorganizing the delivery of assistance and services. For example, in 1981, the Ronald Reagan Administration established the Minority Business Development Center program, which became the MBDA\u2019s primary method for delivering technical and management services to minority businesses. The George H.W. Bush Administration proposed eliminating the agency and transferring its mission to the Small Business Administration (SBA), but ultimately continued the agency as an entity within the Department of Commerce. The Clinton Administration supported substantial increases in the agency\u2019s budget to fund the establishment of Rural Business Development Centers, and the activities of the Minority Business Development Centers and Minority Business Opportunity Committees. The George W. Bush Administration continued efforts to coordinate the MBDA\u2019s programs with the programs of the SBA, pledged to focus its resources on minority firms with at least $500,000 or more in annual revenues, and to increase their presence in the global economy. The Obama Administration placed increased emphasis on quantifying the impact of MBDA activities, increasing the efficient delivery of its services to minority business communities, and increasing coordination with other federal agencies. \nCurrently, the MBDA provides a number of services principally through a network of business centers located in areas with the largest concentration of minority populations and the largest number of minority businesses. The Trump Administration\u2019s budget request for FY2018 proposes to reduce the agency\u2019s appropriation from $34 million appropriated for FY2017 to $6 million for FY2018. The proposed funds would be used to cover the cost of terminating the agency and its activities. Contrary to the Administration\u2019s request, the House Committee on Appropriations approved a Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations bill (H.R. 3267), which was later incorporated into H.R. 3357 that the House passed on September 14, 2017, and would provide $34 million for MBDA. On July 27, 2017, the Senate Committee on Appropriations approved S. 1662, its version of the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Appropriations bill for FY2018. The bill also recommended an appropriation of $34 million for MBDA.\nThis report will be updated as events warrant.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R45015", "sha1": "93e25468db34ec72024f1b7fde37595cf27a371e", "filename": "files/20171109_R45015_93e25468db34ec72024f1b7fde37595cf27a371e.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R45015_files&id=/1.png": "files/20171109_R45015_images_015d33841e12febd6137ee27e025e9a115dc7b93.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R45015_files&id=/0.png": "files/20171109_R45015_images_411b2e63d1790ae0d4220992673f16527d106663.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R45015", "sha1": "6b1490fb1ea0c8514d765daae4dd44e0ecbfc00a", "filename": "files/20171109_R45015_6b1490fb1ea0c8514d765daae4dd44e0ecbfc00a.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [ "Foreign Affairs" ] }