A group of Senate lawmakers is urging the Department of the Treasury to expand opportunities for underserved and underrepresented small businesses and entrepreneurs nationwide by diverting funding to the Minority Business Development Agency.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and six colleagues sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to request the transfer of $200 million in technical assistance funding from the State Small Business Credit Initiative to support the MBDA’s Capital Readiness Program, Wyden’s office said Monday.
According to the lawmakers, there are nearly 3,000 organizations nationwide applying for CRP funding and the program’s current budget may not be sufficient to accommodate requests from qualified applicants.
“It is clear to us that $100 million in funding is not nearly enough to close the gap in access to capital, capacity building and network access for underserved entrepreneurs and small businesses,” the letter states.
The senators added that the repurposed funds from SSBCI would enable MBDA to expand its reach to more rural communities and expand its existing network of accelerators and incubators.
“Given the economic challenges of minority and underserved enterprises, we believe it is imperative that Treasury productively re-deploy the remaining $200 million of SSBCI technical assistance funding to MBDA for its Capital Readiness Program,” the lawmakers said.
