Government contracts can be key to growth, minority firms told

Minority Enterprise Development Week on Long Island provides resources to underserved small businesses. The Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce and the African American Small Business Foundation hosted this event at Hempstead Town Hall. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
Minority entrepreneurs can benefit from the increased commitment of the federal and state governments to award contracts to them — but only if they first have a strong, well-organized operation, officials said Tuesday.
President Joe Biden has pledged to boost the amount of federal contracting dollars spent with small businesses that are owned by members of minority groups from 5% to 15% by 2025. New York State has exceeded a goal set by then-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to spend at least 30% with minority- and women-owned firms per year.
However, to compete for the contracts entrepreneurs should pursue certification as a Minority and Women Business Enterprise, or MWBE. They then may want to serve as a subcontractor on a government project before attempting to become a prime contractor, according to the officials.
“This is a time that is unprecedented,” said Charlene Thompson, president of Thompson Economic Development Services LLC, a government contractor in Baldwin. “We have a federal government and a state government that has in mind to help small businesses, particularly those of us who have often been underserved, underrepresented.”
She continued, “But we have to make sure that we are ready … There are resources and corporate partners that can help you get your house in order.”
Thompson, an expert in government housing programs and a law professor at Hofstra University, delivered the keynote speech at the first Minority Enterprise Development Week on Long Island. The two-day event was organized by the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce.
The enterprise week aims to increase awareness about the Small Business Development Centers, Service Corps of Retired Executives, Hofstra’s Ascend Long Island and other programs that help people turn their ideas into companies, according to chamber president Phil Andrews.
“We want to give minority entrepreneurs access to information, tools and resources to grow their business,” he told about 60 people who attended the enterprise week event at Hempstead Town Hall. The 400-member chamber has been selected for the U.S. Small Business Administration's Community Navigator Program, a $100 million outreach effort to firms that haven't previously received assistance.
The second event of enterprise week — a workshop on expanding a business — will be on Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m. at Hofstra’s Leo A. Guthart Hall for Innovation and Discovery, Room 112.
At Tuesday's 90-minute ceremony, Tonya Lewter-Gordon, executive director of New Millennium Development Services Inc., said the Patchogue nonprofit will hold a virtual event on Dec. 8 where small businesses can meet government and private-sector procurement officers.
"We have the federal government, state government, city government and local governments that have made a commitment to make a difference in the lives of [minority- and women-owned] businesses” through contracting, she said. “But we have to be prepared.”
Brenda Stuart-Luke, a representative of the Internal Revenue Service, agreed, saying entrepreneurs should keep invoices, receipts, canceled checks and other records. “You need to keep records just in case you are audited by the IRS,” she said.
Stuart-Luke also said a business' bank account should be separate from its owner's bank account.
"The secret to keeping your business [open] is record-keeping," she said.
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