On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) announced partnerships with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) to help small and disadvantaged businesses access resources they need to succeed.
The agencies announced they will host a Business Forum at the USDOT focused on helping small and disadvantaged businesses and improving their access to capital, resources, and relationships.
“Through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are making historic investments in our transportation infrastructure—and that represents major opportunity for historically excluded Americans and our nation’s small businesses,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “These new initiatives with our partners at SBA and MBDA will help more small business owners secure federal contracts to modernize our country’s infrastructure for decades to come.”
Officials said the forum will include multiple panels with business leaders and senior officials with the Biden Administration, including Buttigieg, SBA Administrator Isabella Guzman, and U.S. Department of Commerce for Minority Business Development Under Secretary Don R. Cravins, Jr. The forum is designed to give small business owners an opportunity to hear first-hand from Administration officials about how they can successfully market their services to state and federal agencies.
The forum will also feature a business matchmaking session connecting small businesses, large prime firms, and various transportation modal representatives from the federal, state, and municipal levels.
“These historic agreements between the U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation will leverage the SBA’s lending, investment capital, and bonding support to help ensure that small businesses receive the funding they need to build America’s critical infrastructure systems,” said SBA Administrator Isabella Guzman.
The US DOT said it is on target for 20 percent of its federal contracts to go to small and disadvantaged businesses – a goal set by the President to ensure work to build America back better benefits everyone.