The U.S. Small Business Administration, the USDOT Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization and the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency have announced partnerships to assist small and disadvantaged businesses access needed resources.
USDOT is on target for 20 percent of federal contracts to go to small and disadvantaged businesses ― a major goal set by President Biden to help ensure the work to build America back better, benefits all citizens.
The partnerships are memorialized through three Memorandums of Understanding between the USDOT and SBA and the USDOT and MBDA, which advance the Administration’s commitment to ensuring equity in procurement initiatives and strengthening USDOT’s support for training, capacity building, and technical assistance in bonding and business development.
The first MOU between USDOT and SBA will help the two agencies better support small disadvantaged businesses and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises in the transportation industry by breaking down systemic barriers that have historically prevented SDBs and DBEs from fully benefiting from government contracting opportunities. It will help small businesses in transportation obtain bonds or increase their bonding capacity to compete in DOT-funded projects.
The second MOU between USDOT and SBA reflects commitments by both agencies to provide additional access to capital for small businesses, with a focus on small and disadvantaged businesses and disadvantaged business enterprise firms. It will make available to DOT stakeholders the network of SBA Small Business Investment Company-related resources and support from the SBA Office of Investment and Innovation to facilitate access to private capital for small businesses (with a focus on SDB and DBE firms) pursuing contract opportunities resulting from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The MOU between USDOT and MBDA will help the two agencies better engage and develop underrepresented Minority Business Enterprises in national transportation supply chains and related high growth industries, through coordination of data sharing and reporting tools.