Minority Business Development Agency

The Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency is a civilian federal agency that funds technical assistance, capacity-building, and business development programs for minority-owned enterprises and underrepresented business communities through contracts and grants. The agency operates grant programs supporting nonprofit and community-based recipients and also procures consulting, technical, and administrative services via contract. The Minority Business Development Agency's activity spans both procurement and grant-making, with recent volume trending downward on the contract side and flatlined on the grant side.

The agency has awarded 377 federal contracts totaling $103.2 million in combined potential value since 1988, with $99.8 million obligated. Contract activity has declined sharply: 10 awards in 2022, 25 in 2023, 14 in 2024, 5 in 2025, and 2 year-to-date in 2026, with the most recent recorded award on July 28, 2026. Among prime contractors over the last five years, competitive concentration is fragmented. Software Information Resource Corp. leads by award count with 7 awards ($4.4 million combined potential value), followed by Thundercat Technology, LLC and CSP Enterprises, LLC at 4 awards each. By potential value, Corner Alliance Incorporated and Maclovia LLC each hold $7.5 million and $5.9 million respectively, though across fewer transactions. The top five primes account for 34 percent of recent awards by count and 26 percent by combined potential value. The contractor base is diverse: 180 distinct prime contractors have been awarded across the portfolio history, and only one prime appears in both top-five lists. The vast majority of contract awards—72 percent—carry no set-aside designation; 20 percent are small-business set-asides, 3 percent are 8(a) sole-source, and the remaining 5 percent are scattered across SDVOSB, Very Small Business, Competitive 8(a), Partial Small Business, and WOSB categories.

On the grant side, the agency has obligated $766.4 million in federal dollars across 574 awards since 2001, with total project value (federal plus non-federal match) reaching $1.07 billion. Grant activity has been episodic: 14 awards in 2019, 42 in 2020, 91 in 2021, 38 in 2022, and 67 in 2023. The most recent recorded grant award closed on September 1, 2023, indicating no grant activity recorded for the past three years. Grant recipient concentration is highly fragmented. The top five recipients by award count hold only 10 percent of recent awards, led by Young Women's Christian Association Of Oahu with 3 awards ($8.2 million federal dollars). By federal dollars obligated, the top five recipients account for just 5 percent, led by Capital Region Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc. and Native American Development Corporation, each at $9.6 million across 2 awards. The recipient base spans 185 distinct entities. Cooperative Agreements dominate the grant-assistance mix at 76 percent of awards, with Project Grants comprising the remaining 24 percent.

No recent contract opportunities or grant opportunities are recorded against the agency.

By providing techincal assistance and access to capital, contract opportunities, and new markets, the Minority Business Development Agency promotes the growth of businesses owned and operated by members of the minority and Diaspora communities.