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Page 8 The Skanner MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISE EDITION September 27, 2017 MBE 2017 Special Business Edition MBE News Briefs SBA Announces FY 2017 State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) Awards The U.S. Small Business Administra- tion earlier this month announced that $18 million in funding has been award- ed to 44 State international trade agen- cies through SBA’s competitive State Trade Expansion Program (STEP), to support export growth among U.S. small businesses. The Oregon Business Development Department received $562,500 through the program. STEP is designed to increase both the number of small businesses that begin to export and the value of exports for small businesses currently exporting. Expanding the base of small business exporters and making the process as easy as possible is a key component of the Administration’s small business strategy. The 2017 STEP awards will allow states to assist small businesses with the information and tools they need to succeed in export related activities that are in line with the objectives of the program. These objectives include par- ticipation in foreign trade missions, foreign market sales trips, services provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce, as well as design of inter- national marketing campaigns, export trade show exhibits, training work- shops and more. STEP awards are managed and pro- vided at the local level by state gov- ernment organizations. The program is managed at the national level by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Offi ce of International Trade. See the full list of STEP awardees for FY 2017 at https://www.sba.gov/sites/ default/files/resources_articles/step- awardees-FY17.pdf. MBDA and Kauff man Foundation Partnership Providing Greater Access to the U.S. Census Bureau Data on Minority Entrepreneurs In July the U.S. Department of Com- merce’s Census Bureau released the 2015 Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs and this year’s survey data reveals an increase in the number of U.S. minori- ty-owned employer fi rms, payroll, and the number of people employed. The survey release is signifi cant because it provides an updated de- mographic snapshot of the Nation’s employer businesses broken down by gender, ethnicity, race, and veteran sta- tus. Prior to the Annual Survey of Entre- preneurs, this type of specialized data was only available every fi ve years when the Survey of Business Owners (SBO) was released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs is produced through a multi-year pub- lic-private partnership between the U.S. Census Bureau, the Ewing Marion Kauff man Foundation, and the Minori- ty Business Development Agency. This partnership was key in creating a solution to help the U.S. Census Bureau supplement gaps of data due to the length of time be- tween the release of their SBO reports. This is the second year in a row that both MBDA and the Kauff man Founda- tion have partici- pated in the part- nership with the U.S. Census Bureau to commission the annual survey. The Kauff man Founda- tion is a private, nonpartisan founda- tion based in Kansas City with a focus on entrepreneurship and education. The two organizations share an ongo- ing relationship dating back several years. Most recently MBDA staff par- ticipated in the Foundation’s fi rst-ever ESHIP Summit, an event designed to empower entrepreneurs and build en- trepreneurial ecosystems. Findings from the U.S. Census Bu- reau’s 2015 Annual Survey of Entrepre- neurs revealed the following: • The number of minority-owned em- ployer fi rms in the United States increased by approximately 4.9 per- cent in 2015 to 996,248 from 949,318 in 2014. • More than one-quarter (14) of the 50 most populous metropolitan statis- tical areas had approximately 15,000 or more minority-owned employer businesses. About one-third of the minority-owned employer fi rms (34.6 percent) were in the accommo- dation and food services sector. While by most indicators, minori- ty-owned employer fi rms saw slight increases in 2015, the disparity be- tween minority and nonminority fi rms remains: • On average, annual receipts for non- minority employer fi rms are 52% higher than minority-owned fi rms ($2.5M vs $1.2M). Hispanic, Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacifi c Island- er employer fi rms increased, but receipts for African American and American Indian employer fi rms de- creased by 5 percent and 2 percent, respectively. • Average number of employees re- mained the same for minority-owned fi rms at 8 employees per fi rm, while nonminority-owned fi rms saw the average number of employees grow from 11 to 12 per fi rm in 2015. To view the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2015 Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs vis- it https://www.census.gov/ or www. mbda.gov. MULTNOMAH COUNTY Supporting community empowerment, cultural diversity, and social equity. Increasing economic opportunities for State of Oregon Certi�ied Firms (minority-owned, women-owned, emerging small business, service disabled veteran, disadvantaged business enterprise) For more information contact: Lee Fleming at 503.988.7540 lee.�leming@multco.us Or visit us online at: https://multco.us/purchasing/ bidsproposal-opportunities or www.pdxprocurementsearch.com
